Businesses in Ballarat are gearing up for a strong trading weekend as RoadNats fever hits the city.
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Until Sunday, Ballarat will host the AusCycling Road Nationals Championships, with routes taking riders through the CBD and out around Mount Buninyong and Federation University.
On Friday, Sturt Street will be closed from about 10am to host the club, under-19s, under-23s, and elite criterium circuit races.
The road race will then take its way though Buninyong on Saturday and Sunday, with the winner taking home national championship glory.
In the lead up to the race, cyclists from across the country have converged on Ballarat roads, bringing strong patronage to the region's cycling shops, cafes and restaurants.
At Cyclescape bike store on Sturt Street, workers have been busy providing last minute services and repairwork for competitors.
"We get quite a few walk-ins from interstate. The other morning we were pretty busy with interstate people looking for various parts," Cyclescape's Steve Kennedy said.
"They might need a quick service or tune. We are pretty busy in that sense. Being central, we are probably the first bike shop people see."
The shop also sponsors the gravel ride section of Fiona Elsey Cycle Classic, which comes to Ballarat in February, providing on-site repairs to participants on the day.
"The beauty of the Ballarat RoadNats is that if you win the elite road race you wear the national Australian jersey in all of those other races for the entire year," Mr Kennedy said.
"That is why you get a lot of ... guys coming to Ballarat because they want to race in that jersey.
"Any time there is cycling, kids see it and grow up and want to ride bikes. It all helps the business along."
Another Sturt Street cycling shop, MyRide, sits near the end of the RoadNats criterium track and has also been busy fulfilling last minute repair orders.
MyRide's Graham Beatty said the shop does well with the extra attention from the race.
"Lots of people come into town, it is a great spectacle. A lot of people come down, and we get a lot of people in the shop, so it is good for all people in the row here," he said.
"We get a lot of riders, usually they come in a week early, sometimes later than that, and we get a lot of bikes in.
"We get a lot of work out of it."
Other industries, like hospitality, also see a lot of business from the yearly race - with Visit Ballarat printing special edition coffee cups featuring local artwork for the event.
One café selling the cups has been LYDIARDgeneral, whose loyal customer Tomas Lineker has designed one of the cups.
"It is just different, it is a talking point. The cyclists that come back like to see the different cups every year," LYDIARDgeneral owner Rachel Sheehan said.
"This will be our second year with the cups. Each year we get the same people coming back, and new ones on top of that. The cups are really good.
Ms Sheehan said it had been a bumper start to the year for the business, which would last until after RoadNats and the school holidays.
"Business has been phenomenal. Coffees and food. There is also cricket on in town at the moment. There are lots of little different things so we are just swamped. It is a good problem to have.
"We are busier now up until the end of January than we are in the lead up to Christmas. This is like our Christmas."
Visit Ballarat also has compiled a "one-hour coffee ride" for cyclists in the city, beginning at L'espresso Cafe and ending on Webster Street - taking cyclists 30.7km through the Creswick State Forest along the way.
