The dust ( or rather mud) has well and truly settled for those who recently participated in the Mike Carney Toyota Paluma Push on the weekend of July 15th and 16th. Muscles have recovered and the joy of crossing the finish line is a fond memory along with many formed around the warmth of the bonfire at the Hidden Valley Cricket Oval.
Paluma village was inundated with rubber, spokes and lycra but mostly smiles and laughter as people prepared for the start of their race. The beauty of the rainforest trails and bush land makes for a truly unique cross country mountain bike race which even had some of our local residents registered as participants including Rob, Sandi and Jamie. All of whom finished their designated distances hale and hearty!
The RFS and SES volunteers plus a few ‘local’ volunteers assisted with registration and monitoring various checkpoints along the routes and were able to enjoy viewing and encouraging the participants going hell for leather along the trails.
Seeing the youngsters set on doing their best in their very own race is possibly my fondest memory of Paluma Push 2023.
Paluma Push is such a great event for our village and a credit to Outer Limits Adventure for again bringing life to our sleepy little misty village on the mountain.
Text and photos (except where indicated) by Juanita Poletto
Was most impressed seeing Jill and Cheryl sorting thru the recycle bins late into Sat night at Hidden Valley to eliminate the food scraps etc.
And next day turning up at the cafe lugging leftovers tins of soft drinks, with more cleaning still to be done up at the hall.
It’s this attention to the fine details, and all the work before and after the event that volunteers do, which contributes to a seamless enjoyable event for those involved.