In less than two weeks, the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships for downhill (DHI) and cross-country Olympic (XCO) will begin in Cairns, a return after 21 years to this lush rain forest region on the north east coast of Australia, world-renowned for the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Athletes from around the globe will compete for the rainbow jersey of UCI World Champion in Junior and Elite categories for DHI, and Junior, Under-23 and Elite categories for XCO. Cairns also hosted rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano in 2014 and 2016.
Mark Liddle is the Event Director for the Worlds in Cairns, where his organisation has been busy preparing for the big event. He says riders and spectators will notice some changes and improvements to both the DHI and XCO courses used for the UCI World Cups.
"There have been some significant changes leading into the World Championships, mostly around spectator access for the DH Course. One of the biggest drawbacks to the Cairns course was the difficulty for spectator access, due to the dense rainforest preventing them from viewing the DH course easily.
"After a lot of negotiating and work with the Queensland government we have now installed a spectator access trail that follows alongside the DH course from the finish bowl all the way up to the rock garden; this will give really convenient access with good viewing most of the way along.
"Glen Jacobs and his team at World Trail have done some incredible work, giving the downhill course a new lease on life, with many sections receiving some attention to increase the safety, but also to make it more interesting for spectators and the riders.
"They have also given the XCO course a good going over, with the Caterpillars section being completely reworked so it will be even faster now, and a brand new section at the Crusher. World Trail have completely changed this section and it will now be a highlight of the course.
"September is the traditional end of the dry season in Tropical North Queensland, so history says it should be dry. It will be highly unlikely that there will be any significant rain, unlike this year's World Cup season! However, it is a rainforest, so we have done a lot of work to make sure that the venue is a lot better than it was in 2014 when we had a bit of a mudfest."
Liddle also says that, for those with memories stretching back to the 1996 UCI World Championships, there will be a few reminders: "The sport and trails have evolved so much since '96 that the rainforest has reclaimed many of the old sections of trail although some remain, such as Alien Tree on the DH and Croc Slide on the XC. We will be paying homage during the week to the 1996 UCI World Championships and also the unique MTB culture that allowed it to happen."
He also put out a request for help: "Many people have asked about the 'Sharks Head' start gate from 1996, and we tried really hard, but no-one knows where it went after '96 - if anyone can tell us where it is we would love to know! Unfortunately, [at this point] it won't be part of the event in 2017."
Organisers are expecting over 20,000 spectators to attend, and volunteers will work 1500 shifts. Liddle also noted that over 35 kilometres of tape will be used to mark the courses.
He hopes people coming to the Championships will recognise the unique region they are visiting: "Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest and most spectacular coral reef. I expect it will be the number one activity outside riding that the athletes and spectators are keen on.
"Outside of that, there is a bunch of stuff to do in the region apart from riding, including white water rafting, bungie jumping, and exploring the World Heritage listed rainforest. It will be hard to fit everything in!
"We are all really excited to welcome people from all over the world to come and see this amazing place that is so important to mountain biking in Australia and the world, and we want them to enjoy the tropical hospitality, reef and palm trees!"