What Riders Miss When They Cannot Afford to Compete

The 2025 AusCycling BMX Racing Territory Series was something to see.

Riders across the NT coming together on the track. Junior racers who had been grinding through Friday night sessions all year, finally getting to test themselves against proper competition. Families travelling hours to watch their kids race. The energy that only a race series delivers — the stakes, the motos, the finals.

If you were there, you know what I mean.

I'm Brad Bellette , founder of Ride Together Australia. I've raced and volunteered in NT BMX for years — as Club President at Red Centre BMX, on the AusCycling National Advisory Council, and as Chair of the NT State Advisory Council. I know our riders. And I want to talk about the riders who weren't at the Territory Series.

Because for every rider who made it to the Territory Series, there were others who didn't. Kids with genuine ability who couldn't get there because the travel cost too much. Teenagers who had spent the year training but couldn't afford the entry fees or the accommodation. Families who wanted to go but had to make a different call that weekend.

Competition is where development accelerates. Racing against new riders, in a new environment, under proper race conditions — there's no substitute. You can train at your home track every week, but until you're in a full field of eight, getting off a proper gate, racing for a result that matters, you're missing a fundamental part of the sport.

That gap — between the rider who gets to compete and the one who doesn't — is what Ride Together is about.

The AusCycling Territory Series represents exactly the kind of opportunity that should be within reach of every regional NT rider. Not just the ones whose families can absorb the cost. Not just the ones who happen to live close enough to make it work without sacrificing a week's wages.

All of them.

When we fund competition entry for a rider who couldn't otherwise afford it, we're not just paying an entry fee. We're giving them the experience that pushes them forward. The memory of their first series race. The benchmark against which every future performance is measured.

That's what competition does. And it's what every rider in regional Australia deserves access to.

If you want to help put a regional rider on the start gate at the next Territory Series — your support makes it happen.