{"id":20308,"date":"2021-04-29T23:40:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T23:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/?page_id=20308"},"modified":"2021-04-29T23:40:18","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T23:40:18","slug":"eight-tableland-towns-18-april-2021","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.longrides.bike\/?page_id=20308","title":{"rendered":"Eight Tableland Towns – 18 April 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Five years after our first ever FNQ Audax ride from Atherton, we re-visited the Eight Tableland Towns 100km and 200km routes on 18 April 2021. And just to make the anniversary stuff complete, we threw in a re-visitation of (some of) the first ever dirt route from October 2016, with a 50km jaunt along the channel access road to Tinaroo Dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a drizzly Tablelands morning, with lots of clashes with school holidays and other sporting events, but over 60 riders joined the group that huddled in the slightly moist dawn to kick off another FNQ ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And just like our original ride, a few late minute course changes were needed to avoid road closures and other unsavoury bits for cyclists…….which meant the 100km and 200km courses both headed downhill and downwind towards Mareeba for their first 50km. The dirt riders took to the rail trail and then followed the irrigation channel road (by special Sunwater permit) to Tinaroo Dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chris at the Sunwater channel gates where we definitely weren’t trespassing).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A quick stop-off at the spillway on the dam wall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The dirt riders arrived at their control on the edge of Lake Tinaroo, ready to devour the goodies Herby had ready and waiting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was a slightly damp return to Atherton via the farm roads, with most riders making a bee-line for the coffee shop after locating the finish point (which had sneakily moved from the starting point). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And just in case you missed it, Jimmy has provided a bike’s-eye-view of the ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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