Get on your bike and off the beaten track in Noosa
Loved for its sandy beaches, vibrant café life and quaint beauty of Hastings Street, Noosa also boasts a network of scenic country towns and mountainous hinterland that border the entire region, making it an ideal cycling destination.
A well-kept local secret is that the quiet, undulating rural roads and off-road stretches of forestry make this an incredibly diverse – and largely undiscovered- terrain for mountain biking and road cycling.
With its unique blend of tranquil village life, ideal riding and mild winter conditions, Noosa is a perfect year-round cycling destination that rivals even some of the best global cycling hotspots.
Plan your next cycling holiday in Noosa, and take in one of these great local bike events on the calendar.
The Trails
On the northern side of Noosa, just a thirty-minute roll from the bustling heart of Hastings Street, lie the Ringtail and Yurol State Forests, a large parcel of forestry land that makes up one of the most important wildlife corridors in the Noosa Biosphere Reserve. The forestry is also home to the little-known Noosa Trail Network. With its vast network of crisscrossing trails, swathes of country farmland and long stretches of gravel roads, the Noosa Trail Network is an undiscovered haven for gravel and mountain bikers.
The Events
A trio of local cycling events is letting others in on the secret and bringing cyclists to the region for some idyllic cycling in Noosa. With a calendar full of diverse cycling events on offer, the Noosa winter and spring offer a refuge for cyclists from the southern states looking to escape the chill and get plenty of kilometres in their legs.
Sunday 30 July 2023
The history of the Noosa Enduro is woven into the fabric of local event folklore; the event was started by the team behind the iconic Noosa Triathlon more than a decade ago and made its re-entry onto the event calendar in 2021.
Reimagined for 2023, this slick one-day cycling festival has multiple events on offer to suit all levels. The course remains virtually unchanged from the original and follows the Noosa Trail Network almost in its entirety but also includes events for the booming gravel and e-Bike categories, as well as a kids’ race and event village.
Setting off from the township of Tewantin, the Noosa Enduro heads deep into the forestry and graces the towns of Kin Kin, Cooran and Cooroy before tackling the formidable Mothar Mountain- a chance to test your legs, or engage the motor on your e-Bike, depending on your perspective! Finish back in Tewantin with a well-deserved cold beer in the buzzing event village, with craft beer stalls and food trucks, live entertainment and kids' learn-to-ride sessions by Wheely Fun Camps.
There are various events on offer across the day, with distances from 30 - 150kms. Our tip: don’t miss the Specialized Adventure Gravel, with 100km and 140km distances to choose from; this is one for gravel lovers and roadies that don’t mind getting their socks dirty.
Sunday 9 October
The Noosa Strade Bianche is a one-day, vintage-style gran fondo event set in the Noosa country in October. Styled after the prestigious Italian race, l’Eroica Strade Bianche, it has risen to become one of the premier vintage cycling events in Australia.
It is the ‘strade bianche’ (the white gravel roads) of the Tuscan countryside in the original that make this event so iconic, and the Noosa Strade Bianche seeks to replicate this by including the gravel roads of the Noosa Trail Network - which must be ridden on a steel-framed bike.
A weekend in celebration of these vintage machines, this event is as much about appreciation of this retro style of riding as it is about racing. The course loops to the north of its starting point at the Noosa Marina, taking in the hinterland towns of Pomona and Cooroy, where pastry stops are not only recommended but encouraged via the Brevet Card System.
There are three distances to choose from: a 33km Piccolo Fondo, a short cut 86km version of the Gran Fondo and the main event, the 115km Gran Fondo which includes a gruelling 1600m of elevation, making it suitable for experienced riders only. The weekend also features a Vintage Show & Shine; a mini expo where you can pay to exhibit your pride and joy for other vintage bike enthusiasts to admire.
