Far North Queensland is known for its reef and rainforest, however it’s quick changing into a prime vacation spot for guests testing their abilities on two wheels.
Key factors:
- This yr, the far north has hosted 11 completely different bike sport occasions
- Cairns hosted world cup races in 2014 and 2016 and the UCI World MTB Championships in 2017
- Tourism consultants estimate $20 million has been generated by bike sports activities within the far north this yr
Main bike sporting occasions are injecting thousands and thousands into the native financial system and placing a highlight on the far north as a motorbike tourism mecca.
To date in 2022, the far north has performed host to a document 11 biking occasions.
Among the occasions embody the “Reef to Reef” four-day mountain bike occasion, which occurred in August, adopted by the Gran Fondo bike competition in September, and most not too long ago the BMX state titles in Cairns.
This week, the “Crankworkx” World Tour additionally makes its mountain bike competition debut in Cairns.
Based on a spokesperson from Tropical Tourism North Queensland, the occasions have generated greater than $20 million for the native financial system.
Lovely roads
After driving between Palm Cove and Port Douglas, Bade Stapleton got here up with the thought of the Gran Fondo bike competition, the place cyclists experience from Palm Cove to Port Douglas between the rainforest and the reef.
“I am initially from down south and once I drove the spectacular Nice Barrier Reef Drive, I noticed an ideal alternative to run a motorbike experience that gave cyclists the chance to get pleasure from that spectacular street with out vehicles,” Mr Stapleton stated.
“Folks did not realise simply how spectacular it’s up right here, not simply the area but in addition the climate, significantly when it is chilly down south.”
The inaugural Gran Fondo occasion in September attracted greater than 1,000 riders from each state and territory and subsequent yr plans are afoot to lure worldwide members.
“This yr, we did not even hassle advertising to the worldwide market as a result of we weren’t certain what was occurring with the borders,” he stated.
“Biking is a tremendous sport that individuals will journey for, they’ve cash, and so they need to discover the rainforest and the reef.”
Dwelling to a world champion
Mountain bike athlete Tracey Hannah has known as Cairns house for nearly 30 years and through that point she has gained 11 nationwide championships, a junior world championship, and in 2019 she was the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Cup champion.
Hannah put her sporting prowess all the way down to the Cairns atmosphere.
“Coaching in humidity is like coaching at altitude, it does the identical factor to your oxygen and your blood,” she stated.
“I can 100 per cent say that I might not have achieved the issues that I’ve achieved had I not grown up in Cairns.”
Hannah stated bike driving within the far north was given a lift throughout COVID.
“You could not journey, you could not go anyplace, and bike gross sales have been the best they’ve ever been throughout COVID,” she stated.
“Bringing Crankworkx or the BMX state titles to Cairns implies that the game now has much more followers and assist.
“It is what we’ve got been saying for a very long time — come to the far north and produce your mountain bike.”
Bike sports activities spreading
The Cassowary Coast Regional Council (CCRC) has seen the worth of the rising market, and in July it accredited funding for a enterprise case to research 94 kilometres of proposed mountain bike trails at Cardwell, south of Cairns.
The enterprise case follows a feasibility research by World-Path, the corporate that constructed the Smithfield Mountain Bike Park — the oldest mountain bike observe in Australia.
The Smithfield observe was the brainchild of world-renowned mountain bike path designer and Cairns native Glen Jacobs, who has created a whole bunch of tracks all over the world.
“In 1992, we held the Queensland State Championship right here in Cairns and the riders stated that that they had by no means ridden trails like this earlier than, as they have been used to driving on grime roads,” Mr Jacobs stated.
“Then in 1994, we held the primary world cup spherical within the Southern Hemisphere after which we held the world championships right here in 1996.
“We do not have surf and we do not have snow, so the following smartest thing is mountains and waterfalls.”
Mr Jacobs stated the rise in recognition of motorcycle tourism had so much to do with social media.
“In case you see pictures of golden seashores with coconut bushes and you’ll mountain bike there, it’s extremely engaging,” he stated.
“After they come right here there are different issues to do aside from simply driving a motorbike.”
