Personally I thought the place was a dump, totally didn't get it, but everyone seems to rave about it.

Brown muddy sand for miles with signs everywhere "Do not swim" "Crocodiles" Not my idea of a getaway.

Flick me your email as yours is at my old email & I have a new one so lost it. One of our athletes is from there originally, her parents still live there they'd love someone to cheer for and I'll connect you with Shelley she's done Cairns, grew up there & knows where you can train.

Good luck with the wildlife ;)

---

http://www.sweat7.com
Facebook Page: Sweat7
Twitter: @sweat7coaching

Noosa is triathlon mecca here in Australia, clear roads etc. There are many pros who live up there so you will be in good company who will show you where to ride etc

Jan Frodeno wasn't impressed with the attitude of drivers when he was training at Noosa.

For us who have lived in Australia all our lives it's just normal. We do have problems where major newspapers like to incite hate against cyclists, especially in Sydney and we don't have the infrastructure.

As for Cairns, i agree with the post above that calls the place a dump, it's a swampy mud flat with imported sand, I found Townsville to be much more pleasant. But in reality it's not a massive city so you should be able to find somewhere decent to ride.

I did ironman cairns 2014. Just ride up the main road towards Port Douglas on the ironman course and ride back. It is quite a spectacular ride once you get closer to the coast. Traffic wasn't a problem when I was there and I stayed downtown. As for swimming, there's plenty of pools. I swam in Tobruk Memorial: http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/...ublic-swimming-pools.

As for it being a dump. I disagree with that. I really liked it. Go to Green Island and check out the world's largest croc in capitivity, visit the Great Barrier Reef etc. There's plenty of niceish restaurants along the main promenade also.

He just raced in Houston so he can obviously handle crappy scenery. That's really beside the point of the original post though.

The scenery gets better as you head north out of the city :)
I've stayed at Ellis beach and it was pretty nice, far enough from the river that you get proper sand and probably less chance of coming across a croc too.

Staying in Port Douglas is probably the better option. It's a nicer town than Cairns, the roads north of PD are a little quieter than those in and out of Cairns. There are a couple of 25m pools or a 50m pool just up the road in Mossman. Swimming on Four Mile beach is okay as well.

Thanks everyone. All great. And, yes, I'm just looking to train and not get hit by a car. Quality of scenery is not that important. For one of my pre-race rides in Houston, I rode 90min on a 5km loop of road. I can definitely do boring...

---

"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Fortunately the odds of getting eaten by a croc are only one in however many people there are. Unless there's a concerted croc ambush of sorts.

I am considering this race for next year if one or fewer people gets eaten up.

I think in the race crocs wouldn't be much of a concern, i just wouldn't do any solo practice swims.

Was a croc sighting by the road in 2013....;)

Rapp

My parents live in Cairns and based on their attitude and that of their friends I would not want to do tons of riding around there. They and other locals bitching about how the race screws everything up. Not a cycling friendly place by any stretch.

Agree, Cairns area is not the best for cycling and I definitely would not stay in Cairns itself.

If it was me I'd simply stay in Palm Cove which is the venue for the race start. Really chilled, quiet beachside village. There's a 50m pool about 8km down the road at Smithfield and as I recall you can find reasonably quiet roads around Smithfield for doing cycle laps. Pretty decent runs from Palm Cove heading South - if you google it you can do most of your running on quiet ocean front roads without hitting the main highway.

Given I assume you'll be tapering I'd say Palm Cove is close to the perfect spot to base yourself.

Good luck and enjoy it!! Despite what others say once you get out of Cairns it is beautiful in far North Queensland. We holiday at Palm Cove nearly every winter and I love it for swimming and running.

 
Did you fly yet Rapp?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/80538443/a-search-is-on-for-a-kiwi-woman-after-a-croc-attack.html

---

http://www.sweat7.com
Facebook Page: Sweat7
Twitter: @sweat7coaching

tomorrow night. I saw that. So my new plan is not to be first on the swim. Or last.

---

"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp