Cairns cyclist maps epic 90km banana cart route for uniquely FNQ weekend ride

Sixteen banana carts, 90km, one determined cyclist, meet the man who’s turned Cairns’ iconic fruit stands into the ultimate bike route.

Keen cyclist Kevin Paine has mapped out the location of every roadside banana stall in Cairns, and has planned a bike ride to every one of them, taking a photo at each trailer along the way. Kevin has invited other eager bike riders to join him on his 90 kilometre cycle this Saturday, starting at the giant marlin at Earlville Shopping Town. Picture: Brendan Radke

A “bananas” Far north ultra-bike rider has mapped out the city’s most important road stops to create a truly iconic cycle this weekend.

Regularly riding hundreds of kilometres in a day, Kevin Paine was determined to find a new route to spice up his training.

After tracking down every banana cart in Cairns, Mr Paine had an idea.

“I wanted to find a bit of variety on my rides because if you’re just doing the same thing it gets boring,” he said.

“I always stop at them so I thought why not stop at all of them.

“I started out by asking people where each of the carts were located and then I said anyone that wants to come along and join in.”

With the help of fellow banana cart enthusiasts, Mr Paine tracked down 16 stops spanning a 90km course.

The 16 stop journey will cover roughly 90 kilometres and take about 5 hours to complete on Saturday morning. Picture: Kevin Paine.

Despite riding his entire life, Mr Paine only fell in love with ultra-long distances relatively recently.

“I’ve been a bike rider all my life but never been fast, but I could ride long distances,” he said.

“In 2019, I entered a race the ride across Australia thinking I could get to 800km ... I ended up finishing in Melbourne 3900km later.”

The fruity fun kicks off at 7am at the big marlin outside Earlville shopping centre with all riders welcome.

Mr Paine was surprised by the outpouring of support for the idea but said the carts were an iconic addition that provided genuine help.

“I had a couple of organisations such as the North Queensland Hospital foundation and banana bros get in contact and start promoting it,” he said.

“Supermarkets only take certain shapes and sizes for bananas so a lot of bananas just get tossed out … If these carts weren’t there they would all just get binned.

Originally published as Cairns cyclist maps epic 90km banana cart route for uniquely FNQ weekend ride