BMX racing wasn’t Nick Benetti’s idea.

In fact, as an eight-year-old, he hadn’t even heard of the sport. Sure, he’d rode his bike plenty, like most elementary-aged youngsters, but racing wildly over dirt hills and jumps?

That was all foreign to him until, of all people, his mother, Karen, suggested he give it a try.

“The first time I tried it was at the bike track in Langley. My mom had been over there and saw the track, and she thought that maybe it was something I’d like,” Benetti, now 17, explained.

“So I went out there and watched it, and she was right. When I tried it, I liked it right away.”

Listening to his mother has certainly paid off for the Earl Marriott Secondary student, who left last week for Adelaide, Australia, where he’ll represent Canada in the junior elite division at the World BMX Championships.

Benetti left July 14 and will spend some time training before world championships begin July 28.

It’s not Benetti’s first World Championship appearance – he competed in the age-group division in 2007, when the event was held closer to home in Victoria – but this year marks the first time he’ll race in the highly competitive junior elite division. Next year, he plans on racing with the pros.

“Of course, I’m pretty nervous because this is a big race for me, and it’s a pretty highly skilled class,” Benetti told Peace Arch News last week, two days before he went Down Under.

“And the world championships are probably the second or third biggest BMX event there is, next to things like the Olympics.”

Benetti has had a busy year on the bike, competing on the North American BMX circuit on tracks from Calgary to Kingston in Canada, and Oklahoma, California, Arizona and Florida stateside.

“I’m only ever home for about a week-and-a-half at a time,” he said. “I can’t even remember the schedule I had this year, I was just so busy.”

The teenage racer said the busy schedule helped him improve his skills immensely.

“The amount that I’ve improved this year is just incredible. At the start of the year, I never thought I’d be going to the Worlds,” he said. “It’s just been an improved mindset – I’m more confident and I’ve trained really hard.

“There are some guys who are just naturally talented, but I’m not really one of those guys. I really had to work hard at it.”

Keeping up with his schoolwork wasn’t easy during the racing season, Benetti said, adding that his teachers were helpful in keeping him from falling behind during his Grade 11 year.

But now, with school out until the fall, he is focusing solely on racing.

After the World Championships, Benetti will have a three-week break before travelling with other Team Canada riders to San Diego for an event on an Olympic-replica track. From there, he’ll move on to Reno, for a race in early September.

And in between the travel, Benetti will try and schedule in a few local training rides with his friend, Scott Erwood, a Cloverdale BMX racer who represented Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Not surprisingly, Benetti, who lists the Olympics as his long-term goal, looks to Erwood for motivation.

“He’s definitely a guy I look to for inspiration, but we’ll also be going for that same spot (on the Olympic team) one day, so he’s also some pretty good competition, too,” Benetti said.