Denise Carter catches up with Richie Bates, Cairns Regional Council councillor, chairman of Cycling Far North and vice president of Cairns Cycling Club, to discover how he spends his weekends.

I coach cycling to kids on Saturday mornings at the Smith Park cycledrome from about 7.30am to 9am.

They range in age from six and seven right up to about 16. The number varies – it is usually about a dozen but it waxes and wanes. Last weekend we had about 15 so that was a few more than usual.

We train for track racing but it’s introductory stuff. A lot of the kids come from the street so, although the focus is on racing, we also teach a lot of basic skills.

I love cycling, particularly for the exercise. It’s for health and fitness, so I like to cycle from that perspective.

Apart from Saturday mornings, I don’t have a set weekend.

On Friday evenings, I used to have a beer at the Cape York Hotel until it closed down but now I’m more likely to have a beer at home.

A lot of the time I might have to go to a function at the weekend or I might go down to the Esplanade to see what’s happening.

Routinely, the coaching starts off the weekend and then I go to ABC studios where I have a spot on Bluey Forsyth’s Far Northern Grandstand, the Far North sports show.

Then I usually have a midday lunch.

If I don’t have a council engagement on the Esplanade, I like to stay home because I have had such a big week. I’m often out every night of the week so on a Saturday night, if I can, I stay home and watch a DVD.

I’m not a big reader for pleasure because I’m always reading my council work.

I am a movie buff. I love all sorts of genres and will usually hire a couple of DVDs if I can’t get to the movies. I will watch anything, really.

I like going out to the movies when I can, though. I’m looking forward to the Sydney Travelling Film Festival coming up in October (19-23).

I like Australian movies. I’m also a big fan of American film director Stanley Kubrick.

I think the last movie I went to see was with my son. We went to see The Campaign at Cairns Central. (It’s a comedy with Will Ferrell about two CEOs seizing an opportunity to oust a long-term congressman by putting up a rival candidate).

On Sundays, sometimes I’m catching up with work and going out to visit constituents who might be five minutes away from me because during the week it might take me three or four days to get to them. 

If I have the day off, however, I like to do a bit of gardening, mowing the lawn and that sort of thing. I like it but I’m not mad on it. It’s just if the lawn is mowed I feel a lot better.

I don’t have a set routine for the rest of the day but I like a beer on a Sunday afternoon and I like to listen to music.

I like rock and blues. I like Rory Gallagher and I also like Van Morrison, so I like a lot of stuff in general.

Again, if I can, I’ll have a quiet night in, as the weeks are so big.

Maybe I will catch up with my son and do something over the weekend. I also do a bit of horse-racing too, so if I get time, I will go to the races but most of all I like to stay home, relaxing.

I’m from Melbourne originally but I’ve been in Cairns for 25 years and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I love the tropics.

My inspirations in life are my mother and father. My father was a good and loving man, very intelligent and sharing.

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