Ready for Gibb River Challenge

Preparations are hotting up for riders taking part in this year's Gibb River Challenge, with just four weeks to go until the relay event kicks off.

Now in its ninth year, the campaign attracts hundreds of applicants annually from the Kimberley and beyond, keen to grapple the gruelling 700km mountain bike ride along Gibb River Road.

This year's event will be held from May 7-21.

Regarded as a "life defining" and unique adventure, the Gibb Challenge takes participants from Derby to the world-acclaimed million acre El Questro Wilderness Park.

Along the way, they aim to raise community awareness and money for local charities.

Event director Simon Rimmer said he received an "overwhelming response" from people across Australia eager to clinch a spot in the 2015 competition, with all 70 team positions filled quickly.

Since then, the selected participants have been busy hosting various events to raise funds for the Kyle Andrews Foundation, this year's principal beneficiary.

With just a month to go until the big day, Mr Rimmer said everything was generally on track.

"We had the smallest of hiccups with Imintji's (store) closure … it was a measure of concern in terms of how we might look at refuelling some of the vehicles but otherwise, things are going swimmingly," he said.

"We're hitting some great fundraising milestones … we've got a fairly ambitious total of close to $350,000 for the Kyle Andrews Foundation and we're sitting already at just under $200,000 so I'm very happy with that."

One returning team is Broome-based quintet Sparkle Motion, who raised more than $10,000 last year.

As part of their fundraising efforts, the group was out in force on Easter Thursday engaging Mollie Bean customers during their morning coffee run.