Life in the village during RoadNats

THE whooshing of bikes, the clunky rattle of cow bells, the encouraging shouts of locals and visitors, the echoes of amplified expert commentary, and pop music in the gaps.

These were the sounds in Buninyong’s Warrenheip Street during the 2020 Federation University Road National Championships last Sunday, as elite men and women raced around the township and Mount Helen for an Australian title.

Buninyong local, Kim Lowe has headed to this main drag every RoadNats for the last 10 years, supporting competitors, and enjoying the atmosphere, both sporting and social.

She said the event is packed with “great excitement,” and its quality has grown organically, putting Buninyong on the map.

“We just love the way Buninyong comes alive. The week or two before, you start to feel the momentum growing with the amount of cyclists that come into town,” Mrs Lowe said.

“The road race showcases the village and that we can stand on our own as a town. We love the amount of people it draws to the village, the scenery and the way the community supports the race.

“To think that some of the same riders are actually doing the Tour de France, they’re really world athletes on our doorstep. The quality of the teams has grown. That’s fantastic.”

Throughout the busy township, hospitality businesses boom, like coffee shop Espresso Depot that Mrs Lowe said, “goes off.”

Brigid Corcoran, owner of Saltbush Kitchen, usually only opens her bushfoods store on Commercial Street every Sunday, but during the RoadNats she operated daily.

Also serving morning teas, grazing plates and light lunches, it’s been her business’s first January in the heart of Buninyong, so she took the opportunity to test the water of the RoadNats period.

“Because it’s such a unique Australian experience at Saltbush Kitchen, my thinking was that for visitors or locals, it’s a point of interest,” she said.

“They way it’s designed, it’s like walking into a little cave… It’s so nice to be able to share it with lots of different people.”

With Ms Corcoran’s store so central, she was mindful of the moments of village down-time during each lap of the road races, offering an unusual space for those wandering around until the action passes by again.

“It’s not just somewhere to sit down and eat but somewhere to discover some new Australian experiences. When people come in, they comment that it’s so unexpected to find this in Buninyong.

“There’s that sense of discovery for Australian people, they find it exciting, and then you have international people who come in and it’s another level of interest because they’ve not experienced it before,” she said.

In the past Ms Corcoran’s both worked and been a spectator during the cycling festival. It’s simply a joy for her to see new people in town.

“That’s the highlight for me. Ballarat people come out but also visitors and tourists from all around the place. I’ve had a lot of interstate people in,” she said.

“People find their home in the town, camping around and becoming that semi-local over three or four days. It’s just a different vibe.”

The City of Ballarat’s profile as a cycling hub will continue to grow over the next few years, with news this week that the city secured the RoadNats rights for another three.

But looking back a decade, Mrs Lowe said people used to say, “where’s that?” at the mention of Buninyong. Things have changed.

“A lot of people say they know Buninyong now, ‘oh, that’s it’s where the cycling is.’ You can’t underestimate what the RoadNats do for Ballarat and Buninyong,” she said.