For many competing at the weekend's NSW Junior Under 9-13 Track Cycling Championships, it was their first time racing at a major carnival.
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You wouldn't have known it though as some of the state's most exciting young riders lit up the Dubbo track in two days of exciting competition in tricky conditions.
"It was pretty windy and that put a bit a bit of a dampener on setting any records but that didn't seem to worry the kids too much and they weren't complaining about it," Dubbo Cycle Club president Ben O'Brien said.
"There weren't any records but there were still some pretty bloody fast times and there was certainly some kids there who you'll see at a high level in a few years' time."
The carnival has a proud record of helping develop future stars over the past two decades.
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Caleb Ewan is one of the most famous to previously have ridden at Dubbo and he's gone on to race at the Commonwealth Games and win stages at the Tour De France.
Cameron Scott is another who raced at the Dubbo carnival in the past and while the 2022 edition of the event was running on the weekend the Australian representative was celebrating a win in the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic.
"Seeing those guys who've come to the carnival in the past, you know you're going to see the kids winning on the weekend up there on Australian teams or doing very well in five, six, or 10 years' time," O'Brien added.
One of the riders who certainly put his name up in lights at the weekend's carnival was Bankstown Sports Cycling Club's Peter Samuel.
The rising star did a clean sweep of all the under 11 events while he capped off his weekend by winning the prestigious Jackson Pascoe Memorial Trophy feature race.
"He's going to be one to watch," O'Brien said.
"He was impressive, as was Jenna Gallagher from Bathurst. She came up and was very impressive in the under 13s girls.
"Encouragingly for us, Cooper Farr was in his first year of the under 13 boys and he came second in the time trial and third in the sprint derby.
"The boys who were ahead of him were in their second year of 13s so next year they'll graduate to the 15s and Cooper will be very hard to beat."
When people come up and get to the facility it just looks professional and that sets the tone for the whole weekend.
- Ben O'Brien
Farr was one of the standouts for the Dubbo club, but it was a memorable weekend for all hometown riders as they had the chance to compete in elite competition in their own backyard.
"They all raced really well and for most of them it was their first big carnival and they hadn't experienced a crowd like that," O'Brien said.
"The other pretty impressive thing was we had a kid come from Townsville to compete and one from Canberra.
"Both those people said they wanted to come to Dubbo because there was a higher level of competition and more competitors in the field and it was a better experience for those kids."
O'Brien added it meant plenty to the Dubbo club to have people think so highly of the carnival and facility and travel that far to compete.
He thanked the club volunteers and Dubbo Regional Council for ensuring the track and facility looked in top condition for the weekend.
"When people come up and get to the facility it just looks professional and that sets the tone for the whole weekend," he said.
"It's a professional facility and we ran a pretty professional carnival and no-one had anything to complain about."
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