The inaugural Al Dente Winter's Edge XC bicycle race, part of the Evocities MTB Series, supported by Fairfax Media, will bring the competitive riding spirit to our city on Sunday.

Bathurst Cycling Club will host the event at the Bathurst Bicycle Park off College Road.

According to president Phil Egan, it is a huge success for the city to obtain the third round of such a big event.

"It is the first major mountain biking event held in Bathurst and the first major event for the Bathurst Cycling Club," he said.

The event offers a variety of categories for people of all abilities to participate in as individuals or teams.

Serious competitors are encouraged to enter the open male and open female soloist categories, while there are also soloist categories available for older men and women, held separately, which are the masters (40-49) and super-masters (50+).

Separate open male, open female and open mixed categories are also on offer for riders wishing to compete in a pair.

Soloists will ride in a four- hour event, while those in teams will ride for six hours in total.

"For our event, we've also included a teams of three category for the more social rider," Mr Egan said.

Bathurst Bicycle Park was recently upgraded from a two- kilometre loop trail to 10km.

It has been described as a challenging, varied course, but not insurmountable for the inexperienced rider.

"We're expecting that the fast riders may be doing lap times of 25-30 minutes," Mr Egan said.

In addition to the main event on Sunday, Bathurst Cycling Club is offering a shorter junior event for younger riders on Saturday, May 30 called the Al Dente Junior Winter Waahoo.

The event is two hours long for teams, and will take place on a shorter 3km trail that is predominately flat.

Registration is on the day between 10am and 11:30am, at a cost of $10 per rider, and the race itself will kick off at midday.

For more information about the Winter's Edge XC, visit the website at www.wintersedgexc. com.