90 riders at vintage festival

More than 200 cyclists registered for the Noosa Strade Bianche steel-framed bicycle competition on Sunday in what has been dubbed Australia’s premier vintage bike festival.
Organiser Mal Taylor said there had been a 30 per cent increase in attendance at this year’s event.
“We started seven years ago with 40 riders,” he said. “It’s growing in popularity.”
The Strade Bianche began on Saturday morning with more than 90 riders heading off at 7am for a 37km Piccolo ride.
During the day on Saturday, riders gathered at Noosa Marina where vintage and retro steel bikes were displayed and sold, some fetching prices in the thousands of dollars and some on show dating back to the 1930s.
On Sunday, there were three rides including the longest being 162km. Each one took riders along both bitumen and gravel roads.
“It’s fairly testing terrain,” Mal said of the circuits that included imposing climbs and challenging descends throughout the hinterland towns of Cooroy, Cooran and Kin Kin.
For more information on the event, visit www.noosa-stradebianche.com.au/