Caroline Buchanan. Where did it all start? I never felt like a true mountain biker. BMX is gnarly. It was so hard to get sponsorship. What's been the most challenging thing that you attempted so far? Just proved myself. You don't need sleep. You can be in the worst headspace possible and you can win.

Caroline Buchanan is a professional BMX and mountain bike athlete. She is a two time Olympian, eight time world champion Has 32 World Cup wins and landed world's first tricks in slope style.

She has also launched her own mentorship program, has been a presenter, and even wrote a children's book. She really has done it all. As it rolled over me, fortunately it went back onto four wheels. But if it had stayed on its roof, like, it would have pinched me and I'd be dead. They did final surgery, it all healed and recovered.

And then from there, it was a I would say nine months recovery from that surgery. Was there a time where It was really or a moment where you thought like, I don't know, you know, like a really tough time where you thought maybe you don't want to do it as a career.

All right. Um, Caroline Buchanan. Thanks, uh, so much for joining me. Uh, it's really cool to have you on. It's good to be a part of it. Congratulations on. Dropping your first episode. Was it just this week? Thank you. Thank you. No, I was stoked. Um, I wanted to start with, uh, what, what's your mission in, uh, in life and particularly with Ignite and, and women in sport, um, you know, what's, what's your main focus?

Oh, wow. Well, I think the bio is you could call it for my Ignite scholarship program. I had a quote on there that said like, I want to be that rebel role model that. It continues to do things a little bit differently and changes the mold and creates like a new trajectory and pathway. And instead of, I guess, leaving that ladder up, like leading that ladder down for the future, um, especially girls.

So I think that's what the bio would say. Um, but probably for me personally, especially going through like, I guess a lot of health challenges and highs and lows of being a professional athlete. Um, and diversifying my career from BMX to mountain biking, I would say it's much more like I feel like I'm this generational talent and I've been given these like gifts.

And I think if we come to, you know, the purpose of like why I'm here on earth and why I've got this amazing opportunity to inspire and be inspired and, um, yeah, I think I just want to uphold like this. Stoke and show people that you can chase a dream. Cause I was that little girl that wanted to be a BMX bandit, but there was no future and no career.

And at the moment there was no girl that was really, you know, there wasn't slope style, there wasn't crank works. There weren't all these career opportunities in mountain biking. So I had to really like forge that path and forge that way. So I really feel like I'm inspired now, um, just to give back. And that's been a huge part of that legacy piece with.

Ignite and then with all of my partners that I work with and sponsors, they're like, be you, do you, continue inspiring, like, um, yeah, it's a pretty cool position to be in. Yeah, that's, yeah, it's, it's really cool to see. And, uh, I mean, there's been definitely a big push in the last couple of, in the last few years, I guess with particularly the women's side, um, certainly in mountain biking and it's, yeah, it's been really cool to see.

Yeah, it's been a massive wave. And that was actually, I almost wanted to just wind back the needle for, you know, how hard I was pushing in mountain biking and that level of risk. And it was like, as soon as I missed out on my third qualifying for the Tokyo Olympic games, BMX racing. I like close that chapter.

And I thought, you know what? Like I've spent the last 10 years of my career doing BMX and mountain bike and jumping between Olympic cycles. I said, what could I actually achieve if I, if I dedicated everything to mountain biking? Like. Let's close that chapter. Let's commit fully all in. And when I did that and made that choice that next week, the Audi nines called me and said, it was opened for, you know, now women's free ride and women's slope style.

Um, and they basically just said like, we know that you're, you've probably been this race of your entire career and you've dabbled in a few little tricks here and there. And. Um, at the time I'd gone and done freestyle BMX and attended a FISA van and gone to like the world champs and got a top 10, but I wasn't fully passionate about fees and freestyle BMX.

So they're like, Hey, we know that you've got this sponsorship support. We know that you've got the base of like skillset to come over and, you know, lead this charge. It was COVID at the time. And like, I knew that I'd have to fly over and. Um, and I'm like, Oh my gosh, just don't get injured, but it was really that like legacy piece.

And it was this, I guess it was this like magnetic pool that I'm like, I really don't, I really don't want to wind back up the risk again, but how could I not lean into this opportunity and say. Um, you know, you're a part of that first wave of free ride mountain biking and slope style women. And as soon as Crankworx and FNB were like, Hey, now in, in Crankworx, I'm like, all right.

And I was like, had that little taste and was like, okay, I'm in, all right, I'm in again, twist my arm. Spoken like any true action sports athletes, opportunities there. Dangle the carrot and the adrenaline's like, all right, we're good. YOLO. We're in. Um, maybe so you mentioned that you obviously transitioning to, to mountain biking, but you had a huge background in BMX, um, and what, so where did it all start first of all?

Because I mean, I think becoming a professional mountain biker or BMX racer or nevermind slope style athlete is not your normal day job. Um, and especially for, for women, um, which is changing, um, and yeah, how did, how did that all, where did that come from? Well, I was five years old, like drove past the local BMX track with my brother.

And, um, in Canberra, Australia, where I grew up, there was two different tracks. So yeah, literally just started BMX racing and I was a little tomboy. So anything my brother wanted to do, I'm like, Oh, you're climbing a tree. I want to climb a tree. Um, and yeah, he got into racing and I think. At the time, like I wasn't necessarily like a team sport athlete and I loved BMX and I'm like, this is scary.

It's adrenaline successes on you, failures on you. I learned to crash. Like it was just really such a great family sport for all of us. And we started at national, like, so we were basically at state national world. And I went to the first world championships. I was nine in Paris. So I guess the trajectory was like really fast from five starting to nine at world championships.

To 15 is when I started mountain biking. And I guess I was very experienced. Like I had all these events around the world, but I never actually won that first world title until four cross, which was in Australia in, um, 2013. So yeah, like my. The trajectory was quick, but it took me a long time to really learn how to win.

And then once I discovered that recipe within myself, um, I've been able to navigate and sort of stay in that upper bracket in sport, but BMX was, yeah, like, I'm so glad people say BMX mountain bike, like that's the hardest decision to make, they both have such different stories in my life. BMX, getting to an Olympic level and racing like high performance sport and being part of like a greater team, like team Australia, going to the Olympics, such a surreal experience.

Um, mountain biking was always like that reset for me. It was like, okay, I'll do an Olympic cycle. And then it was like refresh mountain biking. It was that fun. It was that like a little bit of an escape to me. It was, uh, yeah, that balance that really kept me performing in, in BMX. Um, And when I like decided to fully give that up and not do both and taking on all these crazy challenges, then I just found like so much more of an edge in mountain biking.

Um, but it was that base. Like, I think if I'd never done BMX, I would have never had those base skills that have now translated into winning queen of Crankworx titles. And being that all round kind of athlete, you're able just to pull from like a greater, um, Yeah, you're able to pull from this greater bag of tools.

It's, it's, I mean, BMX is gnarly, I think, uh, it on TV, it looks, it looks relatively chilled, you know, um, because it's all smooth and obviously mountain biking is rough and you've got trees and rocks and stuff, but, uh, I mean, I did a bit of BMX before I started downhill. And, um, I remember actually, I went to the world champs, um, in the age categories in, um, Peter Maritzburg, uh, 2010.

And, um, I remember standing at the, at the top of the, there were, there's always two start ramps and then you've got the pro start ramp and the other one, and I remember standing at the top and I was just like, holy, like, this isn't so hectic, you know, like with eight guys on 20 inch wheels with bikes that weigh nothing and you.

All sending it down to the first double is, um, yeah, I, I, I'm much happier doing my own thing on a mountain bike. Yeah. Oh, it definitely teaches you to commit. It's like you're either out in front and out of trouble or you're in the pack, probably getting caught up. So yeah, it definitely, I think that was one of the biggest things that BMX taught me was like to back yourself and process and like.

I wanted to train so hard so that I wasn't in the pack. I'm like train hard, race easy, just get out in front, get out of trouble. Um, and that really inspired me to like, yeah, end up having one of the best gate starts in the world and sort of change those weaknesses into strength. So I'd go into an event and.

I would just like channel my nerves and all of my tools were not around like revving up and performance. It was around, okay, like I know how to win. I've got the formula. Um, I just need to actually control this, like in a sort of mongrel and breathe and have more like chi energy and. Yeah. Once I just learned to like tame that back and control it, then I just started executing like 32 World Cup wins, went into eight or five world championships.

Like, yeah, all these like boxes just started ticking. Um, but it was like, I had to go the extreme of like. Um, training at this level and then winding it back, like train on your A game, race on your C game. I feel like the, the definitely the BMX would have helped massively going into mountain biking because pretty much all, I mean, if you look at like Aaron Gwin and, and, you know, all these top racers.

Most of them have a background in, in some form of BMX or at least riding a lot of pump track and stuff like that, because, you know, not having suspension, um, I, I felt that like moving over to mountain bikes from a, from a BMX, uh, was, it felt like, oh, now this is easier, you know, cause you've got help, um, but that, and just like the flow pumping and obviously the training aspect, having that explosive power, um, which I feel like.

Yeah. A lot of, a lot of kids maybe miss, um, if they, if they haven't had that BMX background. Yeah, it definitely teaches like pedaling technique and the whole pumping side. So translating over to like building speed and I think definitely when you talk about like slalom and pump track and these disciplines, it was a huge benefit, but it's actually been like a blessing and a curse.

I still, to this day, like I was at threadball on the weekend. I'm still picking apart my cornering. Cause I am that typical BMX like I come into turns and I'm like, bam, drop my outside foot down or not. So I've always been great at like putting pressure through my feet at, you know, manually and jumping and like momentum.

Um, but never being good at putting pressure through my feet and learning how to like, hit my pedals level and like press through turns. Cause I'm a BMXer, come in, drop the outside foot pedal out. Um, so there's still just like little ingrained patterns, um, that, and I'm, I never actually learned even like braking properly.

Cause I was on BMX, you know. One back break. I never learned the basis of like, do some skids, what breaking, like, how do you set up a turn? So I'm now only just really picking apart, like so much of the fundamental skills of mountain biking and tapping into this next level of like, all right, like I can actually find time on the trail and I can, um, so yeah, it's cool to be like my age now in the career and just going, Oh, I'm still challenged by the sport and I can still pick apart, um, technique and find more.

It's the one unique thing about mountain biking. It's, it's no matter how long you do it, you always have new experiences. Um, because you can always ride a new trail, always different weather, different conditions. You know, different bikes, which I think is pretty unique because a lot of sports, when you, when you stop competing, you know, if you're a football player or something, I think it'd be quite hard and people stop because I mean, you're not going to go and play a casual game of footy with your friends on the weekend, you know, after you've been a pro player, but as a mountain biker, you can still ride for your whole life and, and always have new challenges and new experiences, which I think is.

Yeah, I'm, I'm glad I found it. I'm probably exactly like you, you're like, you're never going to lose that love for it. Like you can always ride casually if you want it, if you wanted to dive back into competition tomorrow, you're still cool. It's like, yeah, you're always going to be enticed. Um, I mean, and so obviously you've, you've had this journey now into, you know, uh, BMX and moving into mountain biking.

And I think people see. They see you on the podium, they see you winning, you know, they see the sort of, um, perfect world, uh, as, as people do on social media. Um, but I'm sure that, you know, I know myself that there's a lot of challenges that come along the way. Um, you know, and in that process, was there a time where it was really, or a moment where you thought like, Hmm, I don't know, you know, like a really tough time where you thought maybe you don't want to, you don't want to do it as a career.

Yeah, definitely. I think mountain biking in particular has like come a long way. I was only talking about this with like Shana Hearn and different mountain bikers the other day. Mountain biking is funny. And like, I've come from the other side of this trajectory with. BMX and then into four cross. And I never felt like a true mountain biker.

So it was like, despite like one world title, the next world title, um, whether I'd like win Sea Otter slaloms or go to Crankworx and, and win slalom and win pump track, like I never felt like I was truly respected as this bike. And it wasn't until I think the crank queen of crank works and diving into a little bit more of like downhill and being diverse and speed and style and like learning freestyle element that.

I truly within myself was like, okay, now, now I'm a mountain biker. So I think looking back to those struggles when I was like 14, yeah, I definitely almost quit the sport. Like in BMX, it was so hard to get sponsorship, like my biggest sponsor at the time going to the first Olympic games. I was a world champion and my bike, my bike sponsor was 7, 000.

Like mom and dad would still help me out with money. Um, I remember just being like, what's happening? Like, I know Jared Graves won the world's, he won four cross and I won four cross. The paychecks were different and I knew his Yeti salary at the time. And, you know, mom and dad are still chipping in to help me out.

And I, I just was like, at what point is this going to like actually feel like a legitimate career? And, um, yeah, so I think on the identity side, definitely. I was like, what, what is my place in the industry? How am I going to make a career out of it? Um, and I think it's just so fortunate now that. All the platforms have opened and I'd swear, I love, like, I love that now, like, especially the women, they can come up in the sport.

And if they want to do slopestyle, there's a trajectory all the way to crankworks. They want to do free ride. There's that trajectory all the way now to rampage. Um, there's all these like options. So I never wanted to be like, just was always this like saying to me, and I'm like pretty ADHD. So I was like, I don't want to just be downhill.

I don't want to just be BMX or. Like I loved being this all round athlete, but there wasn't a career path for that. And like, how did I go and tell Trek, Hey, like you need to sponsor this all round athlete, but you know, the real pinnacle of the sport was always downhill. And I think for me personally, like, I feel like the industry has really shifted that to make it in mountain biking, you used to have to be a downhiller.

Whereas now to make it mountain biking, you can be a top freeride athlete. You can be a top slopestyle athlete. You can be a king or queen of Crankworx. Like there's those options and it's really like respected. And, um, I think there's definitely like a bit of a stigma around that. And I was only sort of talking to Shana her and the other day, and she's like, she's just taken a step back from downhill racing.

And she's like, at like that elite, you know, world cup level. She's like, it's really hard to step away from to even, you know, go into the U S. Um, You know, the big money series and downhill or to go into crankworks. She's like, yeah, there's definitely been this, like, I don't know if it's Australia, but there's definitely been this undercurrent of like, if you want to make it in your career, like you've got to get to downhill world cup level.

Um, and I think now it's like, you don't have to, and the industry is actually looking for, for other athletes and there's opportunities and there's. Um, space for everyone to make money and to, to call yourself a professional mountain biker. So, yeah, I think going back to those struggles, I'm now so proud just to go, Oh, wow, you now have options girls.

Like you don't have to be like, Oh, should I quit? Like, what is, who am I like, how do I navigate this, this world of biking? And, and I mean, What was the, what drove you through that time? Cause I mean, I can imagine, you know, you 15 and, and you kind of weighing up the pros and cons and whether you want to dedicate your life to this.

And what, what was your main motivation to, you know, to push through that and ultimately, you know, make it to the top. Ooh, main motivation. I think I just love the sport. So I've always loved competing. I'm naturally like a competitor at heart. So put me on a gate, put me in between white lines, like I'm going to race.

And I think that's always been, yeah, ingrained in my nature. And I think what also drove me to, and it's become now like a bit of a blessing and a curse is. Because it was such a struggle and I had some really great mentors. I think earlier I had to see it as this like hustle and I had to see it as such a business growth opportunity that I had this mentor and he'd be like, you know, add 500 people on LinkedIn is how you're going to write an email.

Um, you know, when the bike industry wasn't sponsoring me and I was winning world titles in four cross. He's like, put your own website on your bike. Like, you know, it was, I guess it was just driven by this constant hustle of like self promotion and trying to level up the sport and trying to focus on mainstream opportunities and.

You know, be on the face of serial companies, be on the face of major telco companies. I think it was just this like unrelenting thing that was then ingrained from such a young level to be like, hustle, grind, like everything you're doing is going to pay off. You don't know the ceiling. You don't really know the direction cause no one's done it.

So I think that's where I say like it's a blessing and a curse that that was a blessing to get me to where I'm at now and to have so much support and longevity and. everything and have some like incredible sponsors. Um, but it's also a curse now because yeah, that unrelenting just doesn't turn off now.

I'm like, okay, what's next? A broadcast of media. And yeah, Crankworx I can, can compete and then I can do media at the same time. And yep, Red Bull Hardline. I'll be down there. I bet Crankworx next week, natural selection next the weekend after got it 17 days straight working. All right. Let's throw in a brand campaign there as well.

And. What else are we doing manager like, so that unrelenting side is now like, yeah, it gets a bit wound on. I think, uh, I think it's, it's, uh, I mean, typical traits of, of good athletes, just that you kind of always wanting more and, and feeling like you can do more and, uh, which is a good thing, I guess. I mean, that's why you've gotten to where you have, but at the same time, yeah, it's, it's tough to, to, to have that off switch.

I mean, I found that myself, just like. Um, and, uh, you know, just being able to stop thinking about, you know, what's the next goal. And, and saying no is quite tough sometimes. Yeah. Saying no. And then just like finding peace and like winding it back and resting and recovery. Like you'd know with health things, sometimes they're the biggest forced injuries that you're like, all right, I've got to slow down.

I've got to stop. Yeah, you tend to rewrite the script a little bit, uh, and you were, you were mentioning that, you know, with the opportunities now for, for women and stuff and, um, and, and in general athletes, um, one of the big things is obviously social media, um, and that is, it's crazy how it's allowed so many people now to make a living from the sport, um, without necessarily having to be.

At the pinnacle of downhill racing or BMX racing, you know, just being able to provide value to brands and obviously entertain people and, and, and things like that. Um, what's, what's your feelings on, on social media and is that something that, you know, obviously you, you've done quite a lot, uh, do you enjoy that side of it?

Um, cause I feel like for me, it's, it's kind of like a blessing and a curse because it's, it's, um. It can be enjoyable, but it can also bring a lot of pressure that you need to deliver and you need to get a certain amount of use and provide that value, you know? Yeah. I think on the pressure front, definitely like you feel it.

I'm at a point in my career now that I've found balance and Aligned with brands and partners and manage those performance deliverables on and off bike. Work with a great manager and have like tools and systems to be like, all right, how am I going to deliver this over a space of the season? And you just.

Like anything you look at the big picture and you're able to break it down, work backwards. But it is, it's, it is quite a big pressure. I think when I was growing up, like we didn't have social media. Um, it wasn't Facebook. There wasn't all these opportunities to promote and endorse yourself and call yourself an athlete and inspire and be inspired.

I think that's like what this whole social media network is. It's we all love riding bikes and. As professional athletes, we get put in this amazing hot seat to go, Hey, Oakley, like Caroline, we want to work with you for 16 years, we sell product and you promote, but ultimately, like you have fun doing it, you inspire just through what you're doing and your actions.

Here's the tools and here's, you know, finance and here's the best eyewear in the world. Like go and do what you do. I think it's just such like a unique thing that you call yourself a job. And if you can manage to like, get all of these contracts and all of these sponsors, um, yeah, you can make a career just through social media and telling your story.

And I think I always say like, now that I'm mentoring these girls through Ignite scholarships. I say, if you can be like consistent, unique and authentic, that's like the biggest three pillars that's going to shine through, um, in all of your career. And I think with all the partners I've always worked with, it's been that authenticity.

It's had that little unique angle, that little unique style or doing things a bit different. Um, and then just being consistent. And that's like growth. I think that's authenticity. Like it's just everything. I mean, you're, you're building your own brand essentially. I mean, it's sort of like your own, your own business.

You are the business, you know, and especially as if you don't have, I mean, obviously in the racing side, there's the teams and that's a big side, a big part of it, and a lot of people on teams, but essentially that's like being employed. Um, but if you don't go that route and you, you do. What you've done or like myself being having our own sponsors and, and, um, doing your own thing, obviously it's, it's a lot more work, but it's also pretty rewarding because you can do what you want.

You don't have a boss. Essentially. You can plan your own schedule. There's way less pressure, um, only the pressure you put on yourself. Um, but at the same time, I feel like it's with the social media stuff and how many opportunities it provides. I mean, if you look at people like Fabio Wibmer, for example, you know, Being able to be absolutely massive and arguably the highest paid mountain bike in the world, um, with what he's doing and not racing, um, which is amazing.

Um, but now I feel like that. If you're a racer, you don't really have a choice. You have to do the social media as well, um, because mostly that's in your contracts. And now instead of having the split between like, okay, I'm going to be a race. So I'm going to be a social media, um, focused rider. As a racer.

Now you kind of have to focus on that, which I think is really tough. Um, because I think, I think like before, I don't know when, when. Instagram really became a thing, maybe 2012, 2013 started to come up. But before then it was like, if you were a racer, you, you had your race season and was focused on training and, and obviously try to get into magazines and stuff, but when it was off season, it was off, you know, and, and now, and now it doesn't really ever switch.

Off season is an admin season to be like, Oh, we're out. I finished like being the professional athlete and on the Crankworx world tour and competing and then. Yeah, you dive into off season and then it's the body, it's the mind, it's the planning. Um, yeah, it is increasing and it is challenging. Um, I think stepping into the beginning of this.

In my last 2024 year, I had 14 contracts. By the end of 2024, I had 17 contracts going into 2025, I had 20 contracts. So I was like, just talking to my manager the other day and we're like, all right, we need to be so organized to go, all my flights for the next season are already booked in. All my race schedule, like content creators around the world already lined up for social media posts.

We've managed to like break down all those contracts into like a simple notes. Like just. I guess now it's like with the stresses and like things of the world, it's like, how can you on your phone really dumb everything down so that that output is like achievable. And for me, I've just gone back to the basics of like notes.

You can now collab notes. Every month I've got those like brand deliverables who I'm working with around the world for like posts. Um, yeah, you just like break it down and tick it off. And, um, there's just like simple tools, which I'm finding like is a bit easier than having complicated systems, but I, yeah, I do enjoy it.

And it's crazy that the industry now you, you can have all these opportunities. It's, it's, yeah, it's interesting when people ask you, you know, what do you do? When you're not racing, you know, like, what do you do at home? Just you guys just chill, ride your bike, go to the gym. Like, and it's so hard to, I don't know, people just think that athletes just like, I don't know, they live this perfect life and they just chill and I don't know, play video games and, and then do a race every now and again.

And it's, it's kind of like, okay, no, you're a, you. You're doing everything. You're like a Jack, Jack of all trades trying to manage, manage your business, essentially train, compete, be in the perfect shape. Uh, like I literally on this topic, I literally screenshotted my day yesterday. So if we, if we look at like the day in the life of an off season athlete, it was everything from like.

Draining my ice bath and cleaning it, sorting out the prize money from the admin on the weekend that I raced posting on auction, cause I'm auctioning off my trek bike, my scholarship, um, put 5, 000 into shares. Woo. I mean, my, um, then yeah. Planning for Maydena, obviously had training that I'm figuring out my next fist signature gloves.

So I was doing all of that for like next year's, um, fist hand wear gloves. Figuring out, um, an, an airbag and different campaign shoots because, uh, Nobby, one of the underwear partners that I sponsored by, we've got a brand campaign in March dropping, and then start gluing and prep for hardline study notes.

So that was basically 32 athletes of like hardline made. Last night I'm like finishing Christmas cards. Prepping all of that. And you know, that's two months away. So yeah, day in the life of an off season athlete is very rogue and interesting and sporadic of like CEO finance things for next year, forward planning campaigns, but then still like sleeping, eating, work on nutrition.

Like, yeah, everything. Yeah. And I can imagine that every day, I mean, I know for me, it's like every day is packed like that. And then. Every day it's just as packed, you know, there might be different tasks, but it's like, what's cool is most days are not the same, which keeps it fresh. Yes. I think it was a mountain biker too.

They've actually done more studies on like mountain biking and how many tabs you have tab open and how many. Uh, decision making and how many choices that you have to do. It's there's so much sensory input. So I think naturally as mountain bikers, you have the ability to keep all these tabs open and make all these like risk analysis choices and speed and judgment and everything that, yeah, when you dive into a career or you dive into other options in life, it's like you have that skillset to go, all right, like I've, I know how to do this from like mountain biking.

You just. Tap into it from a career perspective. Is that like w what, I mean, obviously there's so many challenges that go into being an athlete, but what for you would you say is the most difficult thing about being a pro athlete? Because I think from the outside, you know, as you said, it's, it, It looks to everyone like it's this perfect life, but you know, there's no such thing as a perfect job.

Ooh, I'm so interesting to know your take on this as well. So maybe after you'll have to tell me your story, cause they've all got a different story, right? Like, I think initially it's like a pyramid. I think the initial challenge is like. Learning the base of like any skill. So it's just the fundamental grind of the technique that I was that go into, I guess for me, like it was BMX and it was mountain biking and.

You know, you've got to obviously be really good on a bike before you're ever going to win races before you're ever going to be in that opportunity to be sponsored, make a career out of it. So I think the base and foundation is like a huge task. Um, and then it goes right up to, you know, pinnacle pointy end.

So yeah, I'm cute. Let me know, let me know what you're thinking. Uh, I mean, I think for me. I mean, obviously you, you need to be good on a bike and you need to put in the work over the years. And that, I mean, that takes a long time to get to that point, but I think from a, a life perspective, um, what I find challenging is obviously.

A lot of, you know, a lot of your contracts and stuff are based around there a year or two years or, um, you know, if you're fortunate three years, but it's always, you know, contract based and it's very much revolving around, you know, you've got to be delivering whether that's doing well at races or, or having things go well on social media or no matter what it is, it's just, I find like that is a lot of, When it's just you, it's fine, but like now next year, I'm, I'm getting married and then, you know, you know, like in the few years, like kids will come along and so I feel like having that, um, pressure on you where you don't have a guarantee.

Um, you know, after a year or two, um, is, is quite hard. I, I find it quite difficult to deal with. Um, and again, when it was just me, you kind of don't think about it. It's like, yeah, not a big deal, you know, cause it doesn't affect anyone else, but when it starts coming down to other people, um, and maybe that's kind of why I've wanted to do something different and, and partly why I wanted to start the podcast and have a sort of something more stable that I can control.

Um, so I'm not relying solely on, you know, a contract base, um, to, to have an income because I think, yeah, at least for me, that that's been quite difficult. Yeah, no, I definitely, I hear you on that one. It's the constantly being out of pivot and shift and like. Re identify and recreate yourself and the industry changes and sidestep or opportunities change or racing formats change or teams change.

Like you've just constantly got to be able to adapt and evolve and pivot. Um, and I think that's for me more of, I guess, the constant challenge. Um, but it's such a good skillset because I think what it's taught from like having a professional career in mountain biking and BMX and so fortunate for me that I can say.

It's been my entire career. So since I started racing, luckily, mom and dad helped chipped in, in those early days of, you know, getting to my first Olympic games and still having that bit of financial support from them. So I'd say like, yeah, the first like five years of my professional career, it was like work experience.

I was still getting supported by them. Like couldn't, I didn't even know how I could be like, Oh yeah, I'm a professional athlete. Like mom and dad still help me out. Around the world, but I come home and stay at theirs. Like, you know, so I think, yeah, maybe just that constantly hustling, constantly being on constantly re.

Um, yeah, that's probably the biggest thing that I find is like a challenge as an athlete and you've just got to be open to it and be like, I don't know what the future brings, um, you know, you can't get injured, there can't be all these, these different things that happen, but if you have moldable and you're able to go.

All right. Like, cool. Slopestyle is opened. All right. BMX is closed now. I'm mountain biking queen of crankworx. Like you just take those opportunities as they come and, and say yes. And that's what I'm finding now with broadcasts. Like it was absolutely terrifying and exciting that first call up for nitro world games.

Then. They're like, you're in a, yeah, you'll be fine. And then I step off and they're like, cool. First interview, Travis Pastrana. And I'm like, no pressure. You'll be fine. You're like pivot adapt. You got this. It's like same, like pep talk from like racing comes in. I feel, I feel like that's where racing kind of helps because, you know, there's not many things in the world where you're in a, you know, you're in a start gate or a start Hudson at that moment when you're about to, whether it's in a BMX race, downhill, whatever, there's not much else that matters.

It's like, that is it. And you, even though you might be. You know, nervous about something or whatever. It's like, you've got to put that aside and just get the job done, you know? Yes, it is. It's, I love it. I think we're all so fortunate that we get to do mountain biking and we get to experience that feeling of, you know, really backing yourself and really taking ownership of, of your life.

And I think challenging yourself to like the nth degree and facing that flight flight, learning how to control it, facing injuries and adversities like. Riding on the edge and, and finding that, like, what is the capability that you've got with inside you? Like, it's cool to be like, that's my max. Achieve that.

Or, you know, you were a race over 15 you decided to go into a world first front flip mid COVID when you have to quarantine in another country. Like. Oh, yeah. Did you achieve that? It's pretty cool. Um, I, um, and you mentioned with the pivoting there, and I think sometimes, you know, have you need almost something big to happen to, to make you have this change.

You know, I feel like sometimes athletes can kind of get stuck, um, in like one way of life and it's hard to, you know, especially. If an athlete's been racing for or competing, no matter what sport it is for, for 10 years, 20 years. And then suddenly it's like they have to stop and they haven't made that adjustment before.

I think it's really tough for people, um, to, you know, to make that change. And I think a lot of athletes have issues then, you know, mental issues afterwards. Like who am I now without the sports? And I think. Like for me being having the injuries that I did, um, as tough as it was at the time, I'm actually looking back now, really grateful that it happened because it taught me so much about myself and.

What really matters in life and, and that racing as fun as it is, you know, racing is just racing and there's way more things in life that are much more important, family, friends, you know, your, your health suddenly when you, you know, it's funny when people. The first thing I asked you is like, Oh, when are you going to get back on the bike?

And you're like, okay, well, my first step is I just want to have a shower unassisted. That would be nice. You know? Um, and I, I know, I mean, on that side, I know, was it 2017 that you had like a really bad accident? Uh, yes, New Year's Eve, 2017, and then pretty much 18, 19 was two years of. Uh, multiple surgeries and coming back and then it was basically, yeah, 2020, uh, missed Olympic selection, dove straight into full time mountain biking.

And it's only really been from sort of 2021 now to 2024 that I've just invested that time into, to mountain biking and that's equated to world first front flips, to two Queen of Crankworx titles. Um. Um, and then now with like slope style and be a part of SMB and landing all these now super woman seat, grab Indian airs and claiming some new tricks, renaming them.

Um, I mean, what, so you, so that was like three years of pretty much being sidelined or. Yeah. Yeah. Cause there was so many complications with it. So I had an off road vehicle accident, um, New Year's Eve, a friend was driving and Rolled it down a fire road, I ended up going under it, caught the roll cage, and as the vehicle flipped over me, so it was like a can am, um, as it rolled over me, fortunately it went back onto four wheels, but if it had stayed on its roof, like, it would have pinched me and I'd be dead.

So there's a lot of factors that I'm super grateful that I'm still here and alive. Um, the fact that I grabbed the roll cage, everything went slow mo, like I've had so many crashes in my career that I pulled my head back and the lights broke my nose on the way through. And I like grabbed the roll cage and I benched it as hard as it could.

And I just like, I remember that feeling of like, yeah, heard my sternum crack, felt the pressure. I was winded, never regained like a breath. So I was like, okay, that's probably lungs. I kind of knew instantly. I was like, Oh, this is not good. Like, um, yeah. So it was like 45 minutes away from a rural hospital, which couldn't do lung drains and things like that.

So. It was 45 minutes to a rural hospital, which my friend did like a guided meditation the entire way and like focused on my breathing. Luckily that kept me from going into cardiac arrest. It kept me alive. Um, so as my, Double pneumothorax. So punctured and collapsed lungs were bleeding out. My heart wall was also punctured and that was bleeding out in my lungs.

My sternum was broken. My nose was broken. Um, I was in this really like hectic state of controlly breathing, control everything. Otherwise, like you're going to go into cardiac arrest and probably not be here today. So. Yeah, focus on my breathing, got to that hospital, then had to wait until the ambulance came to get me to the city hospital of Canberra, um, finally went into all their surgeries and then, yeah, I remember like not really being very conscious for like four or five days in ICU.

And then that two year block of recovery consisted in like having a sternum surgery that was like, at first we, they were like, Oh, maybe it'll heal. It was like this. They're like, maybe. And then four months later, they're like, Oh, there's still like a centimeter gap. Maybe it's not going to heal. So. Um, Australia is a little bit more of a conservative country and I've kind of learned, like, you have to be your own doctor, um, and you really have to manage, like, if you've got an injury, get second, third opinions, ask questions and really be on top of like it all and do your research.

Um, that was one thing I didn't do. I was like, just. Listen to the first surgeon. And when they're like, Oh, don't get surgery. I was like, okay. And then like, you're like in a game of chess waiting. And then you, like, you lose time and you lose recovery. So I always tell everyone now, like when they go through injuries.

Get every scan possible, get second, third opinions, do your research, look into all the areas and like, understand, don't just like, listen to that first little bit of information. Um, cause that definitely set me back a lot. And then, um, it's a unique injury cause, uh, it's mainly only like open heart surgeries that they would cut your sternum this way and then they wire it.

So when you, yeah, when you break your. Chest this way it, um, there's no real system to like, fix it. So it was a bit of a trial, like Australia wouldn't do it. Um, when I had to fly to California and I got surgeons over there to, to fix the surgery, it was like 50 percent chance of mortality rate. If you know, your sternum bone gets infected during this surgery, because.

Your lungs and your heart and all your organs, they lay on your sternum. So, um, Yeah, that's risk. And I think I remember going back to that time. I'm like, I want to be back on the bike again. I want to be alive. Like I want to, there's so much more I want to live and achieve and like that legacy and give back and inspire.

And I think it just takes you to this like bigger part of what is life and what is like purpose and, um, yes, I managed to survive three sternum surgeries and the first plate broke the second one, the bolts back down. And the third time. Um, two cardiothoracic surgeons were like, all right, we're going to plate it.

We're going to cable it and we're going to like bolt it. So we're going to like three way brace it. And they're like third and final time. And yeah, luckily, like it was that, um, third and final surgery, it all healed and recovered. And then from there, it was a solid, I would say nine months recovery from that surgery.

Um, but yeah, it was. It's virtually two years of my life, just like questioning identity and like struggling with, um, yeah, all of the waves of depression and anxiety and like, you know, surviving and you're like, how do you, how do you even get through this? But it taught me, yeah, it taught me some of my greatest life lessons and it acted as Like I'm not feeling like vulnerable and you had to work through all these layers of like fear and trauma to get back to the bike, to get back into that start line and yeah.

Like I think it was one of my greatest journeys. And also I think if anyone said what's your biggest career highlight, I would say. Working back from that and getting back on the bike and putting myself back on that start line and just having like no excuses to what should have been a career ending injury became one of the biggest platform and launching pads into such a diverse career now that if I didn't go through that.

I wouldn't, I don't think I wouldn't have the success or the mindset that I have now. I think, yeah, it's an incredible journey and it, as, as different as your injuries were to mine, um, it was a similar timeframe, like a couple of years. And I don't know how you feel about the sport now, but, um. You know, you, as you said, you, you learned so much about yourself and as you do in that time and questioning everything.

And I also struggled a lot with, um, anxiety, panic attacks, like, and, you know, kind of questioning who are you, you know, like, uh, without the sport. Um, but I feel like for me, at least I actually enjoy the sport way more now than I did before, um, which is. Um, yeah, it's weird looking back, like as, as hard as it was, I don't know if I would change it because I would be worried that I wouldn't be who I am.

Um, I don't know how, how it has been for you, but it sounds like that you're in a, in a good place now. Yeah, definitely. Um, yeah, I think, well, success is funny. You just, you. You're trying to find that recipe that works for you and how you operate to win. And I think going through like a big injury like that, growing up, you're more, you know, the blinkers are on.

And I would say you're so hard on yourself and your biggest own critic and. Um, you're much more in that like mindset of like win or like win at all costs. Um, I wouldn't, sometimes it's not healthy. Like, I think a lot of athletes growing up, you're actually not in a really healthy mindset. You are your biggest, worst critic.

You are mentally bashing yourself after events. You're like, you know, you're going to the debrief and. You're not actually like super stable and super happy. And like, I dunno, like it's a pretty common trend with a lot of athletes. And then. Finally, when you learn that you can have such mental stability and such great health and be so happy and all rounded, um, and that you can win from that mindset, you can like have that switch.

Yeah. I think it, it takes many years as a professional athlete to be able to learn that, like, what is that switch and how do you turn it on and how do you have that balance and not just be this like hectic driven robot. I mean, like it takes a lot of the pressure off at least for me, it did as well, you know, because before that it was.

As you said, when it all costs, you know, and, and that's your whole life surround is just surrounded by the sport. And that's all that. All that mattered, um, at least for me, you know, and which was definitely not healthy. And I think a lot of athletes are in that position and it takes something big to happen sometimes.

And unfortunately it can be a painful process. Um, but yeah, it sometimes takes something massive to happen to really shift your perception. And yeah, I don't know. I just feel it's funny now because I see Even at the races when, you know, this year being at the races and seeing some guys before the start and stuff, and everyone is so serious and so focused, which they need to be, you know, you see them at the bottom and if things don't go their way, they look like someone's died.

You know, they're, they're so it's like the whole world has ended. And yeah, I don't know. I think for me, it just gave me that perspective when it's like, okay, well, you know. Obviously you're disappointed. You want to win. You want to do your best. But at the same time, it's like, look what, look where you are, like, look what you get to do.

Um, and look how amazing this is. Amazing people. You get, you're riding your bike, you know, all over the world. And I think like having that perspective, yeah, makes it so much more fun when you do win. Um, or when you don't, you know, it sort of makes it easier either way. Yeah, it takes a long time to be able to get to that place.

I think what you're saying, like, yeah, it's like someone's died. That is a really. Easier place to perform from, I believe is like being a professional athlete. When you're obsessed, when nothing else matters, when you eat, breathe, sleep, that result, when all your self worth is on. That title when nothing else matters, like no distractions, absolute, like toxic mongrel, like you'll self critic, you'll bash yourself mentally, like, you know, but it's like, bam, you can go out and you can be unstoppable and you can win, win, win one world title, two world title, eight world titles.

When's it ever going to be enough? Like, um, I think I was definitely like, I lived and breathed that. And when the injury happened, like you said, I think what it did is it challenged identity as a whole. And it challenged, like, how do you lead from the bench? And it challenged, like, what is like that role of being an influencer?

What is that role of. The talents you've been given, what's your role on this planet? Like it just opened up the whole thing to like being human. And then I think it became a little bit harder to then compete because you're in this place of going like, okay, like I want to have signature kids bikes. I want to start mentoring programs.

I want to dive into broadcasts. Like, you know, I want this, like, I want to be a better friend, you know, better daughter, I want to be more present to my. My niece that I missed five of her birthdays. And, you know, you just want to be more present as a whole, um, and be a little bit like less selfish because athletes are definitely the selfish creatures.

Um, it then becomes more challenging to be structured and to. Still win. Like that was a real shift to be like, how do you win from a kind mindset? How do you, how do you give yourself commission to have rest days? How do you give yourself commission? Like it's, um, it's this whole new way of thinking. So yeah, it's a challenge for most athletes, but it's such a rewarding one.

I think, you know, The happiness factor is also a big question mark as well, because I think we, yeah, most athletes when they start, if you want to be like yourself, you, you multi time world champion, you know, and I'm sure when you were a little girl growing up, you know, that was your dream to be world champion.

Um, and I feel like you'll be able to speak to this, but you think that when you win that title, then I'm going to be happy. And I don't, I mean, maybe it is the case you are happy for sure that you've got there, but then it's like, okay, now I want to win another one, you know, and where does that stop? Yep. I agree.

It's like, I'm happy, but did I feel that win? Like, absolutely not. Yeah. I think I look back and I'm like, did I actually feel any of those world titles or was I just like, yeah, back to the drawing board, celebrate big world cup after party, whatever it is. And then like you're back into training. It's just like, so yeah.

Yeah, definitely. I feel a lot more now with, yeah, wins and, and losses and everything. I definitely feel that that's, that's a trend, like as, as athletes get a little bit later in their career and they have that maturity, um, because yeah, it's in the beginning, it's like, you know, even I think back and I mean, I didn't win a world champs, but.

Um, my, my best season was 2017 and I finished at a top 20 or 21st at a world cup. And for me, that was like a huge result for me and, and something I'd been working towards for so long, but I look back and I was like, I really didn't enjoy that year. Like, even though I had good results and I won events in Europe and stuff and yeah, it was kind of like I was performing well, but it was, I felt like a robot, you know?

Um, and it was just like, okay. Next, okay, train, recover, move on to next event. And, and I think that's kind of sad, like that. Yeah. You kind of missing the, what it's all about, you know, but as you said, it's really tough to, to actually find that place where you enjoying it and taking everything in. But then still being able to actually perform and, and win.

Yeah. And I think definitely it just requires doing the work, like for anyone listening to the podcast, you don't need a career ending injury. You don't need this crazy health condition. Like you've gone through to be able to like, stop, slow down, reassess, do. That self help work, understand your body and mind and everything more.

Like there's so many tools with podcasts and things that you can sign up to. I went to like a seven day meditation retreat, um, in America after one of my injuries. And, you know, I think just deep diving a little bit more of the spiritual world, deep diving, like so many audio books, um, understanding, like, I guess, why you are how you are and how you think and your emotions and your upbringing and your family and life.

All of that work, it then becomes the biggest tools and the biggest assets to have a longevity in your career. Um, and to be able to continue to pivot and turn. Um, I really felt that at the Olympic games this year in Paris was seeing just to be able to like stand there and like hold space for all of these athletes and be able to resonate with them, whether they win, lose, think of the greater picture, know the emotions they're going through.

Know how to talk about the story, the analytics. Like I was really proud to stand there and hold that space for all these athletes from a broadcast perspective. Cause I was like, wow, like what a long way I've come from that. Like just such self critical robot, like driven, selfish, like BMX racing athlete that like nothing else in the world mattered.

So all these years later, being able to like send a broadcast and a message home from all these action sport athletes in Paris and tell their stories truly is like such a cool feeling. So finally, like I'd gone from never being proud of being an Olympian to like getting home from Paris and being like, being Olympian's a cool thing.

I'm like, I'm getting a tattoo. And like, that's cool. I got my first little tattoo and I'm like, why did it take me 12 years to. Get the rings, but I'm glad I did. She's yeah. It's I mean, it's crazy that, I mean, when you hear that from someone like yourself and it's like, you weren't proud to be an Olympian, it's like for an average person, it's like, what, like, yeah, I guess we're just, so is.

system is so set up for like success. And if you don't, if you don't win a medal, like you've failed. And that was really what I felt from two Olympic cycles. Like, yeah, I'd been the world champion every year coming in and had set fastest lap times and I'd. I had won time trials and I'd won the semifinals and I just hadn't delivered in that final moment.

And yeah, I stepped away like hating Olympics, hating the experience, felt like the biggest failure. And, um, I think I use so much of that, uh, energy to then fuel future goals and future events. Um, but yeah, I think there's so much to be proud of just to be able to call yourself an Olympian, to be able to represent your country, like win, lose, or draw there's.

Yeah, such an inspiration of it, but it's this line of being in that mindset is very hard to then be like, I'm dedicated. I'm like, you know, it's, you can see it like such a divide. And, uh, yeah, I mean, just going back to the, the, the physical side, obviously after the injuries and stuff and bringing yourself out of that, that hole, I mean, obviously big focus of the podcast is also the, the, the health side as well.

Um, how's your, you know, how's your training? Um, and how does that changed over the years, you know, before and after the injuries? Has there been any changes there? And then also, you know, what things did you do health wise, you know, also diet wise to kind of, was there anything that you did to help that process, um, you know, to, to get back to where you are now?

Wow. Um, health training. How's it changed to be here now? Well, you can start, you can start with the training side and we can, oh, like, that's a massive question. , I think a lot of self work and a lot of, like, all those podcasts and mm-hmm . All of them, like, under reading those books, like The Power of Now and mm-hmm

Just everything, every little bit of becomes like a huge tool. I think mentally and physically, that's a huge tool. Um, my day to day now is obviously like, I really focus on, I would say I'm majority like a plant based athlete. I do eat meat, limit a lot of like my dairy intake, a lot of, yeah, just. Um, I found that really limited my inflammation because I've got so many, a lot of past injuries and broken.

So many things in my body. I really feel, um, a lot of inflammation. So, um, I definitely limit inflammation in my body. Uh, I bought my family as like a, thank you, like an infrared sauna for like supporting my career early. So I use infrared saunas. Um, every week I have my own ice bath in my own, in my garage.

So I use that from a physical and mental perspective, which I've found is a huge asset. Um, I have actually increased like my. Aerobic capacity. Cause I've always been a sprinter. Um, and then even with slope style this year, like as a freeride slope athlete, like you're not training like an Olympian and you're not focusing on your endurance capacity at all.

Um, and that actually like is a bit of a detriment to like mental health and physical health and wellbeing. So yeah, increased more of like with running and with just diverse training. Um, I guess increasing that capacity to be able to do like. Big festival events doing downhill, the all mountains of pump tracks, asylums, that everything.

Um, so then when you actually go to a crankworks and you've got to like wind it back down, you have that capacity to be able to think, do sponsor stuff, do all your filming, race, have time with fans. Like you have that capacity to like wind it down and then deliver. Um, so I think from the training and health side.

Training at this like higher capacity, um, and having a big engine and more of a fuel tank is definitely helping me deliver, um, on the bike and then recover and travel. And yeah, I think at 34 now, like I'm definitely one of the oldest girls in crankworx and I'm getting on the start gate with 18 year olds and this body's been through a lot.

So I've got to definitely double down on, um, the recovery side. Um, I think definitely like initially growing up, I didn't have as much of a recovery focus or, or a health focus. It was 2012. I needed to drop eight kilos before an Olympic games and I just went like gluten free, dairy free. I had to increase my power output.

So. Yeah, that changed there and realizing like how much better my body, so not carrying as much weight and everything. I was like, all right, I'm just gonna like keep this a part of like my staple, um, life from then on. Yeah, I think it's, um. It's hard to, to, to make those adjustments. You mentioned the, the, um, infrared saunas, um, and things like that.

And I feel my, you know, when I mentioned to people, I also do cold showers and things and, uh, infrared saunas and meditation and people think, look at you like, you're like, you're a weirdo, you know, doing things like what, like, why would you have a cold shower? Um, uh, have you ever, ever done anything like, um, Um, fasted training or intermittent fasting, anything like that.

Um, and sort of played around with diet and stuff or, or not ready. I guess I've gone full extremes and like, I have been vegan for two years and, um, played around with it and just figured out like, what is the best for me and how do I obviously feel recovery and feel performance and feel good within my body.

Like from a physical perspective and from a performance perspective. Um, yeah, it's all like such an individual approach. Uh, but I think like health and I'd say like the whole wellness side, the more that I uncovered and unpacked, like, I think going, as I said, like going on Buddhist meditation retreats and learning, I guess.

Mind and seeing sports psychologists and going and getting finally after all these years of my career, like I always knew like I was a bit different and I always knew like, it was a superpower and a curse, but I'm like, I think different and I'm wide different. And like, finally, I'm going to go, you know, see a psychologist and actually, you know, get tested and get studied.

And, um, I wish that I did that earlier because I would have been out of work within. My superpower skill set of like having ADHD. And I think that's such a benefit as an athlete, like. So I think when we strip it all back, like for anyone listening, health, mindfulness, like mindfulness, wellbeing, everything, it's all about you and it's about your journey and your, your approach and like what works best, but you've got to do the work.

And like, I, it's just this big onion that if the more you keep peeling back, um, and the more, you know, really the healthy you are, um, and doing the work as well. Like I had so many concussions. And like, I almost quit two years ago, I like was driving down the road, I was getting vertigo, the lines were converging, I'd have close conversations and like, I would get dizzy if like people stood too close talking to me.

And I'm like, this is not normal. Like, yeah, I've had. 10 plus concussions in my career. And I crashed a lot of backflips at that time. And I was like, I need to go do the work. So yeah, worked with an incredible guy that works with the surfers and car drivers, and he's down in Melbourne. And that was pretty extensive, like three months full neuro brain.

I, a lot of like what tiny Seagrave and other athletes recently been doing. Yeah. I did a three month block of full concussion neuro rehab and. It was intense. It was like 20 minutes in the morning, 20 at lunch, 20 at night, which doesn't sound like a lot, it's less than a gym session, but for your eyes and for your mind and how like different it is, um, yeah, I was gassed.

I was ruined. I was sleeping. I was like mentally like, yeah, really struggled to get through it, but it reset and I was able to like, not have these post concussion issues that I was dealing with for a while. And. Yeah, I think that is all health too, like, yeah, you, you meant too extreme concussion rehab for anyone out there.

Yeah, concussions are hectic, um, and touch wood. I've been fortunate not to have, not to have too many, but it's, um, I mean, you can also get unlucky. I mean, if you, some people only have one. And they can already have, you know, some severe symptoms, you know, so it's, it is just, uh, unfortunate. It's part of the part of it, I guess.

And, and I think like with the health side, I think it's largely over, uh, underrated, um, especially by younger athletes. And, um, I mean, look how things potentially are changing, you know, when you do take your health, you know, seriously and the training and all of that. I mean, look at like yourself, you mentioned you're 34 now and still.

Going strong and, you know, after all that you've been through and athletes like Menar that have, you know, he's just retired now at 42, I mean, or 43 now, it's just like mind boggling and it's kind of, so things are definitely shifting and it's showing that, you know, in the old days you kind of thought, well, early thirties, you were kind of, you were done if you were an action sports athlete, but it seems to be, definitely seems to be changing.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely an active, like choice of going, there's an issue, I need to dive into it. I need to like do the work and fix it. And then, yeah, the body's incredible. The body wants to heal. It doesn't want to be in that disease state. It wants to be at ease. And. Yeah. There's been definitely moments where my body's like, and my mind, like not at ease.

I'm like, I can't need to address this. I need to do that. I should work, but I need to increase, um, my recovery side. And yeah, that's one of the reasons I got an ice bath because after all my chest surgeries and all that trauma and punching and collapsing my lungs, like I actually couldn't have really cold.

Stimulus, like I've got metal in my chest. So that would get cold and it would just like set off a full fight or flight reaction with me. And I got an ice bath cause I was like, I want to unpack controlling my mind and I want to not react to this feeling. Um, so I worked with it and slowly and every day I got like better and I was able to get deeper and I was able to control my mind and control that reaction that my body was having.

And I guess the body keeps score like as much as we want to be. The drivers of the ship, if you've had trauma or you've had injuries, you've gone through something, your body's the one that goes up and pulls the handbrake really hard or what shot is through inflammation or physical weight or whatever it is in your body.

It'll show the signs. So yeah, the ice bath thing, it took me a while. And then now, like I can, I can get in and not have any of those, those past symptoms or, or go back to that time in my life, like.

I've got a, so obviously in Germany, I don't need a, I don't need an ice bath because the water is so cold out the tap. Um, but, uh, when I'm in, I always spend a couple of months in South Africa every year and I've got a freezer there, the top, the top loading freezer, which I fill up with water and that's my makeshift ice bath.

But again, people. I think I'm a bit of a nutter getting in there, but it's, uh, it's amazing. Like the, the feeling you get just the, first of all, the mental control to, to do that. But then you feel, I tell people it feels like a drug when you get out, you, you feel like high, you know, um, and I don't know, maybe it's your body just thankful that you've gotten out of the cold and that you're not going to die of hypothermia.

I don't know. It's kind of like that runner's high, same thing. It's, uh, it's, yeah, it's, it's quite an amazing, uh, amazing feeling for sure. I keep, cause like, as you're talking, there's, I have like questions that I want to ask you, but then you keep mentioning things that I'm like, I need to ask her that, um, I'll come back to it.

Um. I mean, there's a lot of things like, you know, I regret missing those start gates at Olympics and not delivering gold. And, you know, I regret not having those greater tools that's at the time to be able to control my mind and emotions. Um, but then at the time I think regrets a terrible word because maybe at the time I regretted it, But because it acted as a tool and a lesson, and then I doubled down on, as I said, my mindset and I doubled down on my gate starts, I doubled down on all these things that were holding me back.

And then I learned, I was like, all right, like get a really good gym trainer, become one of the strongest in the world, um, work with a biomechanic and person and figure out like, how can you be a better gate starter?

And I think if I hadn't have done that, like I wouldn't, wouldn't have had the success, so not really a regret because there's been a lot of life lessons. Um, I think probably regret a life lessons, maybe just being like super harsh on myself, like growing up. Um, yeah, I'd say it definitely made success easier, but yeah, Um, but it's, yeah, I think it's not healthy long term as an athlete to be such a hard critic on your performance.

Um, just being a little bit more kind to yourself in the process, because it's a long career starting at five, racing world championships at nine, um, being a world champion at 18 years old, and then a queen of crankworx at 33, like that's a massive, massive career to spend and enjoying it.

There's still so much to learn and so many opportunities for the E Bike races and the industry. So yeah, be kind to yourself. It's a long road. And, uh, one of the things I was going to ask you earlier was, was your proudest moment, but you kind of alluded to that, you know, coming back from, from the injury and all that, and now with, you've done BMX, done Four cross, downhill, you've, I know you, you wrote a book as well, as far as I know, you've done the, you've done the commentary stuff, um, slope style, I mean, what's, what's been the, the most challenging thing that you've attempted so far?

Oh,

I think deprogramming the racer in me to learn freestyle. Mm-hmm . Like not taking my hands off the handlebars for like 15 years of my career. I think one hander and then all of a sudden I'm like, how do you do a one hander? How do you do a tuck? My hander? How do you do a bar spin? How do you flip? How do you 360?

How do you flare? Like, um, so I think definitely learning how to deprogram that. And that perfectionist and that like being 100 percent like in control and learning how to like turn that off and, and look at, look at something, which, you know, I'm probably going to crash learning this a few times and I'm okay with crash.

I'm actually, I've actually got to roll into this attempt. And go, it will take me maybe 10 to 15 crashes to learn this flair today. And in my backyard in America, like I had a resi landing and like when I would learn, when I was learning to flare, I was like, I'm going to crash 10 to 15 times today and I'm okay with that.

And like, I didn't see it as a failure. I was like, this is a learning lesson. So I think the hardest time period was where we deprogramming that racer and learning how to be more of a freestyle athlete. It's funny because you, how old were you when you first started, uh, slopestyle or trying to learn tricks?

Well, the slope opportunity only came up in the last two years and actually we only had Six months from when we physically got told about Slopestyle being Crankworx to that very first Rotorua drop in where I got a bronze medal. And that was like, my goal of Slopestyle was like, I want to be in, in that first iconic year with the girls.

Um, I would love to like ice on the cake was like, get a podium. And then I was so content and happy of like, taking a step back and letting. Um, you know, the future of the sport, like I, I knew my ceiling and I knew that I didn't want to have that level of risk forever, but I knew like, this was a time period and like be all in and be safe and, um, just diversify, which is why, like, I learned the superwoman seat grabs and the superseding D's and bar spins and tried to like diversify my skillset from like.

Just doing flips or tucks or, or whatever it was that I was doing for speed and style. I had to diversify for slope. So, um, I can't remember what your question was. Yeah, I, I just thinking it's because, you know, you said it's a couple of years ago now, but that would have been you in your thirties already.

And I think it's kind of counterintuitive to what people would have thought. You know, you'd think like the younger rider would be willing to, you know. Do something like, like slope style and learn tricks and be willing to crash over and over again. Um, but yeah, it's sort of worked the other way around for you.

And actually, interesting enough for myself, I mean, not that I did slope style, but I also did no tricks for my whole life and then had my injuries and came back during COVID and I was like. You know what? I want to learn to backflip it's like, and then, and then I did my first flip to do it, like in, during COVID.

And, and it was weird because I was like, it doesn't really make any sense. I've just had like two serious injuries and now I'm trying to backflip, but I don't know, um, it's, it's weird, uh, how maybe later in your career, you kind of feel like you maybe missed a little bit because you've been so focused on the racing, what I, at least I did.

And I was like, Oh, it would be cool to kind of. Take this off. Um, obviously you just want to challenge of, you just want to challenge yourself and like what you can get out of it. But I think the older you are, the smarter you are at the whole breakdown. Like I did the entire slopestyle world tour of crankworx like this season with zero crashes.

And I crashed a lot in training, but I never crashed in practice. I never crashed in any of my race runs. I never made any mistakes because. I wasn't, I guess it's like the maturity of an athlete. I was like, I'm going to get the right resources. I'm going to get those airbags. I'm going to train at this A game and I'm going to compete at this C game.

And I didn't let the ego get the better of me, even though I'd done front flips. It was like, I'm not going to go and do a front flip again, or I don't need to level up and do a. Yeah, I could, and I probably might've when I was younger, but I think there's so much success in itself of being like getting through an injury and getting through a season injury free and, and, um, Being, setting an objective and like staying within that.

And that was my objective. And like, ultimately you've got to be proud of it, of it yourself. And for me, I was like, hell yeah, I learned some new tricks that I thought were moto and I, I thought were epic. And I love to be like that first girl doing superwomans and supersede indies. And. That was my run. I was stoked of like going into Crankworx and being like, hell yeah, that's my Rotorua, that's my Rotorua run.

And I got on the podium and I'm a part of legacy and a part of history. And I stood there with the first six girls and dropped in and was like, ultimately I'm proud of that for myself. So. So, yeah, that's, that's all you can really do when you're like setting goals and setting those milestones is doing it for yourself and, um, being smart about it and thinking about that longevity as well, um, when you're taking risks, cause yeah, it is, um, it is a part of the sport.

You definitely think about that a little bit more once you've had a few big injuries. Yes. I mean, how, so how much longer do you see yourself, um, competing and, um, What is life look like also for you after racing? Oh, um, well, Jill Kittner was always eight years older than me, eight or nine years older.

She's still throwing down. So I use her as a goal and a motivation to be like, you know what? I reckon if I rocked up at Sea Otter in eight years time, I'd probably still give it a good crack. Um, so I would say, you know, I always want to continue doing what I love for as long as possible. I think it's.

I've been trying to be really conscious of not having that career end, uh, point in my life. Like not being like athlete, lose contracts. What do I do now? Mental breakdown. I've wanted this like sliding scale, which is why I've started with different things at businesses, started obviously the broadcast side, started expanding, like the skill sets, diving into e bike, diving into all these other mountain bike categories and getting on the road bike.

Things with tourism. Like, I think. That's been that part for me to go, I don't know what the future brings fully, but I know that there's so many opportunities there. Are already aligning, um, to continue making a career out of it. Continue having fun, be healthy, inspire, be inspired. Um, so yeah, definitely on my goals is I would love to eventually be part of the broadcast team for a Red Bull rampage.

Um, that is definitely like a three to five year plan. Um, takes a lot of work. Uh, but I think, yeah, I could see myself. So I the finish corral would be, You don't want to ride rampage.

Me neither. Yeah. Love that for them a lot of talk to him about it. Yeah, definitely goals and broadcast, definitely more goals with, um, the 2025 Crankworx season, like more.

So, um, it's been an interesting year, they've pulled speed and style out. So now the whole trick element for me is like, not on my 2025 calendar, it's much more like MTB hard league and the States, uh, Sea Otter, then Crankworx with pump track, slalom and air downhill. And then Australia, we have like a lot of festival events, which is like kind of mini cannonballs.

Um, sorry, mini crank works is it's called cannonball that's like all around athletes. So yeah, that's, that's a few of my short term plans. Um, and I think from the long term plan, like, yeah, love to have kids, love to have family and that in the future as well, and take my ignite scholarships more online and really work at the masterclass side of education and helping.

I think if I looked at my career from like. The perspective and said, like, what is probably the key piece of information that I could like help this next wave of athletes coming through? I think it really is. It's not your team sport athlete. It's not that, um, it's really that individual action sport athlete who's like.

How do I navigate making a career out of this? Do I start a merch company? Do I start YouTube? Do I, do I do this or do I do all of it? And how, and how do I get a six figure contract and how do I end up getting a manager and how do I become the face on a TV commercial or a cereal box? So I, I really see that as like a gap and.

Um, I think when I, I'm not working like in the business of where I'm at right now, and I can work more on it, uh, that's my capacity for the future is going like ignite online education, masterclass, and like handing out that roadmap, um, so that, yeah, people can actually go open it up. All right. This is our email sponsor, right?

This is what, you know, a hundred thousand dollar contract looks like in mountain biking. What are the append, like, what are the breakdowns? What are the deliverables? Um, I think it's a great concept because I think it's, I mean, it's hard in a sport like this. That's, I mean, in some, you know, if you've got to look at football and rugby and all those types of sports, it's, there's like a, there's a.

Specific way that you get to where you want to go and it's sort of pre written for you and And with a sport like well a lot of individual sports, but particularly a sport like mountain biking It's it's so hard like there is no there is no one way and there's so many different avenues You you can do you you first need to decide when people ask you i'm sure they ask you as well um You know, how do you become a pro?

Um, and you know, how do I get sponsored? And, and it's sort of like, well, that's a very, that's a very long question to answer, you know, because yeah, you know, how long is a piece of string? There's so many different ways that you can go about it. And, um, yeah, I think it'll be fantastic to have a place where people can actually.

Figure that out and kind of give them the roadmap. Yeah. So that's, that's, I'd say probably one of the biggest goals for the future is just to lock that in and use my extended relationships and network as well. So it's obviously not just about my journey, but it's about everyone's and all the pieces of.

Brand industry, everyone coming together. Uh, one of the questions that I ask everyone, um, at the end of the podcast, uh, is what does success mean to you? The word success. Ooh, I think success is surprising yourself with your own ability and ultimately being happy and proud. And inspiring and being inspired.

Perfect. Yeah. Caroline, thank you so much. This has been really awesome. It's been really cool to find out more about you and your career and, um, and hopefully I'm sure that, yeah, you will inspire definitely, uh, many up and coming. Mountain bikers that are, or MBMX is that are watching this. So, yeah, thanks.

Uh, thanks so much for coming on. Love it. Thanks so much for having me. If you guys enjoyed this episode, please like, and subscribe. And to see more episodes, click the link right up here. That was iconic.