Professional bike riders, Ryan Gilchrist and Zoe Cuthbert will be showing off their skills this weekend at the opening of the West Kempsey Pump Track.
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The event is on Saturday, December 4, from 2 to 4pm at the Pump Track on Polwood Street, and everyone is invited.
The opening is to celebrate the hard work of the community and council. The project has been in the pipeline for nearly three years.
It all started when the Kempsey Shire Council was awarded a $65,000 grant from the Department of Communities and Justice to deliver a recreational facility in West Kempsey.
The council then formed a committee with community groups including Kempsey Neighbourhood Centre, Rotary of West Kempsey, Community Housing and more, who reached out to the locals of West Kempsey to gauge what they wanted. From that, the pump track dream was turned into a reality.
Ryan is one of Australia's leading Gravity Enduro riders and is the current national champion for pump tracking, and Zoe has represented Australia for cross country riding, and placed second for pump tracking at the national championships.
"I'm very keen, I've heard a lot of good things, so it'll be awesome to see how it rides," Gilchrist said.
"It's just such a great tool, and great opportunity for children to access, especially having one in the community where you are able to just rock down out of your house and have this place where you can have fun, gain skills and stay fit is awesome."
Gilchrist said he believes pump tracks provide a great foundation for kids to develop their riding ability.
"I've been a huge advocate for pump tracks ever since I was young, basically all of my skills come from BMX, and BMX is a sport that is heavily reliant on generating momentum without the need for pedaling, and pump tracks are basically a smaller more local and accessible version of a BMX track," he said.
The riders will be showing off their lighting pace around the track, but will also have time to provide pointers for the kids.
"Wherever possible, it's all about spreading the knowledge and making everybody the best rider they can be," Gilchrist said.
Next year the plan for Zoe and Ryan is to compete in Europe and North America in their respective disciplines.
There will also be a DJ playing music, clothing giveaways, free food, and one lucky kid will be able to take home a brand new dirt jumper bike, courtesy of the pump track builders.
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