SOME of the world's best riders will converge on Bathurst this Sunday for the fourth round of the BMX NSW State Series, but there to take them on will be a strong contingent from the host club.
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Amongst the impressive 19-strong contingent of Bathurst BMX Club riders will be those who have already tackled rounds of this year's State Series like Dom Pappas, Bradley Martin, Joel Goulding and Hayley Wolfenden.
But in the main the Bathurst contingent are junior riders who are stepping up to this level for the first time. Emerging talents like Thomas Gordon, who will make his State Series debut in the 11 boys category.
"He's new and has got a lot of potential and natural talent, which excites me," Wolfenden said of her fellow Bathurst club rider.
"It's great to see him entered and I'm excited to see we have 19 riders all up, a lot of them are juniors and we've got three girls.
"I'm excited for it. Some of the country's best will be there from different age groups. There will be world plate holders scattered in amongst the entries - world finalists."
READ MORE: Pappas makes his first semi-final
READ MORE: Wolfenden wins a nail-biter at Macarthur
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The Bathurst round follows on from the three State Series events which have already been staged at Lake Macquarie, Macarthur and Hawkesbury.
Bathurst is one of just three 'country' tracks which has been given hosting rights in the annual series, but Wolfenden pointed out it is not just the club which will benefit.
"It's a big thing and it gets people out to Bathurst, hopefully the community will come along and get to see what the sport is like as well," she said.
"There are 570 entries and that's a pretty decent number. You will get some riders that will double enter, race in a couple events, but it's still going to bring over 500 riders to Bathurst.
"For every rider, they bring family and crew of some sort, so at the end of the day the event is going to attract easily over 1,000 people.
"And of those 1,000-odd people, you are going to have a high percentage of them staying overnight too because we've got coaching and track time the day before."
With the event free for spectators, Wolfenden is encouraging members of the Bathurst community to come and cheer on the local riders as they tackle three heats - called motos - and try to qualify for finals.
Racing begins at 10am.
