Top riders for Bike the Lake race

BIG FIELD: Rotorua's Bike the Lake race is being held this weekend. Pictured are competitors taking part at the event last year. PHOTO/FILE

Breakfast-goers on Rotorua's Eat Streat will get a meal and a show tomorrow when the popular Bike the Lake race gets under way in the inner city.

The Bike the Lake event is being held tomorrow - as part of the Rotorua Bike Festival - and includes two laps around Lake Rotorua for the main race.

Event organiser Shane Hooks said they expected about 500 riders on the start line, with racing getting under way at 7.30am on Eat Streat.

"It is a really popular event with out of towners, especially Aucklanders and riders from the Bays," he said.

"It is nice when they can come into town and it is all about the bike - with the Rotorua Bike Festival being held at this time of year."

Hooks said he had not had a good look at the entry list but the event regularly attracted some top riders.

Last year, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sam Gaze (Cambridge), who specialises in mountain biking, won the race in just over two hours. Auckland's Bronwyn MacGregor took out the women's title last year in just over 2 hours 13 minutes. The race finishes on Rangiuru St.

Hooks said a lot of riders taking part in the event would also line-up at the Flying Kilo race at Rotorua Airport this afternoon.

"All the riders that do this race get free entry into the Flying Kilo, which is a 1km time trial on the airport runway."

Cycling enthusiasts have plenty of other bike races to watch or compete in this weekend.

Today there is a huge BMX meeting at the Rotorua BMX Club, the Runway Project is being held at the Rotorua Airport, and the 2W Gravity Enduro event is being held in the Whakarewarewa Forest.

Tomorrow, as well as the Bike the Lake race being held, there is also the Mountain Bike Rogaine Series event and the Triple D - Descend Downhill Dash.

The Rotorua Bike Festival started yesterday and runs until next Sunday.