Mike Le Roux , winner of the Ultraman World Championships in 2010 and local Challenge Cairns age-group winner, announces his support for the Far North Wilderness Bike Tour.  

“This Tour is a real opportunity for novices through to experienced mountain bike riders to challenge themselves in a fully supported, self-paced riding environment.” said Mike Le Roux. “This region has some spectacular wilderness areas.  It’s great that this ride can show people the unique environments of Far North Queensland and contribute to protecting them at the same time.”

The support is part of a sponsorship agreement with local bike store, Pump N Pedals . You can find Mike at the Sheridan St store every Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.  He has a good idea of what is entailed on the tour and can give you some great advice about training, equipment and looking good in lycra.

A big thank-you to the diligent and friendly geeks at Rutten Technology Services for coming on board for the 6th year running.  These guys do awesome content management systems - that is, web-sites that you can keep updated yourself - just like this one. 

They've set-up a fabulous way that members of the CAFNEC staff can keep everyone up to date through the web, social media and e-newsletters. 

Sarah Hoyal (CAFNEC co-ordinator and wizz bike rider) will be leading our first social ride for the Far North Wilderness Bike Tour.  A few of the riders from last year will be coming along too so you should be able to find out first hand what to expect.  So, if you want to start training and meet some other people that are interested in doing the tour come and join us.

Copperlode Road turnoff

7am, Saturday 31st March

There will be some options and consideration for those that can't make it all the way up.  After all - it is a social ride! 

 To help make this year's Bike Tour as strong as ever, we have welcomed Tania Cobham to the team.  She has the task of Marketing and Promotions for the 2012 ride.  Tania was part-rider part-volunteer in the 2009 and ride so has a good idea of what's involved.  On top of that she's a keen urban cyclist and strong supporter of CAFNEC's work. 

If you'd like to help out you can get in touch with her directly on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  She'd love it if you sent her your photos from previous rides, any ideas for sponsorship, told your mates about the ride or just posted some words of encouragement on Facebook. You'll be hearing more from her soon, no doubt.

Here's some of the feedback we got from riders and volunteers of th 2011 ride:

• Food: Top marks for quality and quantity.  One person went as far as saying it was the best food they have ever had on a bike tour.
• Campling: Yourka station was the favourite campsite, followed closely by the Black Gully campground on the banks of Tinaroo Dam. 
• Best riding day: Over 30% of the riders thought the last day through the bush behind Tinaroo and the rainforest around Copperlode dam was the best.
• Value for money: Everybody rated the tour as good value for money once they had experienced the ride.
• Information: We got a lot of feedback on how to improve our communications before, during and after the ride.  We're taking lots of those comments on board this year to assist you in having a better understanding of the tour details.