Charity ride cancelled

CYCLING: The Granite Belt's annual charity cycling event has been postponed due to bushfire concerns.

The organiser of That Dam Ride, Dan Cuthbert, said there were concerns about the amount of smoke hanging around town.

"It's going to be very windy. If the fires flare up again it won't be pleasant for the riders,” Cuthbert said.

He said there were about 100 riders registered for the event, which was meant to occur this Saturday.

"Everybody will get a full refund or they can roll it over to the new date.”

The new date is yet to be confirmed but Cuthbert said it would be in either May or June.

"There's a lot on for the next couple of months, so if we were going to change it we'll make it in winter so visitors can experience the colder months,” he said.

"We'll start the ride a bit later and hopefully get a bit of rain between now and then.”

The bicycle ride, which raises funds for Stanthorpe Lions Club, has four courses: a 20km course around Storm King Dam, a 45km course around Mt Tully and Storm King Dam, a 75km course down Ballandean, along the cycling track and back to town, and a 125km event, which is the 75km course plus a loop through Spring Creek and Amiens Rd.

Cuthbert said the main concern was how close the courses were to the fires still burning.

"If all of a sudden the fires flare up, there will be emergency vehicles everywhere and we wouldn't want to get in their way,” he said.

"We're really upset we had to change it but we know it's for the best.”