Bathurst riders enjoy Country and Metropolitan Junior Track Championships, Central West Track Open action

Bathurst came away with a great haul of medals and age championships victories in a great showcase of the city's up-and-coming junior track talent, while the city's senior riders also found their way to the podium later in the meeting.

Bathurst's track racing co-ordinator Marian Renshaw said the club's young riders can certainly be proud of the way they performed.

"All our riders performed extremely well. I was pleased with all of them," she said.

"Our juniors haven't had a lot of time on the track and they certainly haven't been training for track, as they have their state roads on, so that was a very pleasing result.

"The whole day went really well. We made it through the whole program, and we decided to do the derby championships on the day instead of Sunday [in Orange] because of the weather, which did prove to be the right decision. I'm sure the juniors appreciated being able to race in that."

Ebony Robinson's winning performance in the 500 metre time trial (37.61 seconds) was a brilliant time, and helped the Bathurst rider achieve an overall silver medal finish in her age group.

James Swan and Theodore O'Connor achieved a Bathurst 1-2 finish in the boys under 9s, while David Kirby won bronze in the under 11s boys championships with Sebastian Gallagher close behind in fourth.

Bathurst made up the full field in the under 13s girls championships, and it was Jenna Gallagher who led the way ahead of Sienna Allen, Hallie Allen and Amelia Kirby.

David Kirby and Jenna Gallagher's champion performances were especially impressive as they were victorious in all three events they contested.

Ryan O'Connor narrowly missed the medals in the under 13s boys but he did claim a scratch race victory.

Regular Bathurst rider and Orange native Lachlan Crump won bronze in the 15s boys, and fellow Orange rider Xavier Bland was the gold medallist in the under 17s overall battle.

Bathurst's Nadia Gallagher and Audrey Smith were also impressive in their participation events.

"We have four young girls in the 13s who are all great mates off the track but on the track they're very competitive. They're all going to be a force to be reckoned with," Renshaw said.

"Jenna went very well and the twins, Sienna and Hallie, have developed well. Amelia has just come into 13s and she's a very tenacious rider.

"Ebony put in an outstanding performance for a first year under 17s rider. She showed that she's got a future in cycling ahead of her. Based on her gearing too ... it shows that she's got quite a bit left in the tank.

"I was extremely pleased with both Lara Allen and Charlotte Lovett. They're both in the first year of their age groups. Cadel Lovett did a magnificent job and he's been training hard for this and states."

Strong results continued into senior racing.

Craig Hutton won silver in the division one men's elimination race but then earned his revenge over Dubbo's Daniel Barber with a hard earned gold medal in the snowball.

Hutton narrowly took the crown 46 points to Barber's 44.

Toireasa Gallagher and Dan Googe also medalled in their two-lap handicap races.

The event also drew plenty of praise for AusCycling NSW staff, who were thrilled to see competitive racing finally getting underway after a string of COVID-19 related cancellations.

NSW's Competitions and Events Manager James Nguyen said it was a beautiful sight to see racing taking place again.

On top of that, numbers for the Bathurst event gave him a pleasant surprise.

"It's really awesome. It's been a long time since we've seen racing like this," he said.

"Most people haven't been able to get back to the track, so it's wonderful to see this event bring more than 120 riders here, which is better than what we expected.

"We've returned here to Bathurst and Orange for the first time in years and it's been well supported. We're so happy to be here."

NSW State Handicapper Robyn Sprouster echoed those sentiments.

"This is the first track I've been to since earlier this year. I've been to a couple of roads events, and it was wonderful just to catch up with people. It's hard to believe just how much some of these kids have grown since then," she said.

"It's lovely to see kids out on the bikes again riding."

Sprouster said the strong numbers in the younger age groups bodes well for the future of track cycling, especially following the challenges that the pandemic presented for the sport.

"I think the number of under 11s and 13s racing, in particular, is fantastic," she said.

"It's wonderful to see the younger ones on their bikes because there was a period there for a while where we didn't have as many under 11s or under 13s. Now they're coming back through again."

Sadly for Orange the planned Sunday leg of racing for the Central West Track Open was forced into postponement due to wet weather.

Next on the agenda this weekend for the Bathurst Cycling Club will be one of the premier events on the calendar, the Rockley Cup.

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