IF THERE'S one thing opponents of dual world champion bike rider Caroline Buchanan have had to learn the hard way, it's that she's a fighter who never gives up. But what many don't know is that it's a steely focus forged by fire, not just years of hard work and training.
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As the 22-year-old spent a rare Saturday at home with parents Laurie and Gail Buchanan reflecting on one of the biggest weeks of her cycling career, she remembered the day when her family was confronted with the option to give up or fight on.
It was almost 11 years ago when skinny young Caroline found herself carrying two bikes on her shoulder as she fled the Buchanan home at Duffy that was about to be engulfed by a firestorm.
''The adrenalin took over and it was the start of me realising the strength you can have when you need it,'' she said.
The family members did not know it at the time, but they would need to rebuild their lives. ''Every day we had a list of everything we needed to buy and the first day it was toothbrushes,'' she said.
''It moulded who we are.''
The challenges would keep coming.
Brother Sam broke his neck and it was a predictably difficult recovery but the family used sport to find their way back to a stable life where both children became high-level BMX competitors.
The Buchanans now live in Kambah, Caroline's home for about three months of the year and a place she expects to visit more in the coming years because of her competition schedule.
''It will be good to have her home a bit more,'' Mrs Buchanan said.
The woman who won a BMX world championship in New Zealand in July and a UCI Four Cross (mountain biking) world title 56 days later has been travelling solo around the world since her late teenage years. She has even found time to find a boyfriend, US BMX rider Barry Nobles, who she has known for four years, and she has also managed to maintain a network of friends.
''Because I travel so much it's hard to have normal relationships,'' she said.
''I have lost a few relationships in Canberra.''
Caroline flies out again this week but will be happy to be back for several weeks this Christmas.
''If I had to work a 9am to 5pm job in the public service I'd freak out,'' she said.
Her goals include an Olympic Games gold medal, more world championships and maybe, sometime later, a crack at track racing. But amid the havoc and dirt, she will never forget the year she was knocked down in 2003 and how she came back a decade later in 2013.
In the words of Mrs Buchanan: ''The journey has been a whirlwind but this year it's been a hurricane.''
