She's dubbed it 'Caro's Carnival Ride' and Olympic Games medal hope Caroline Buchanan says she can already feel the butterflies in her stomach as she prepares for an eight-month, world-wide journey to Rio.
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Buchanan is back in Canberra for a two week stop and will host a come-and-try event on Friday during her last stint at home before she chases Olympic redemption and her gold-medal dream.
The 25-year-old revealed her desire to go and become a triple Olympian by competing in Rio, with a long-term ambition to still be at the peak of her powers for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
Australian BMX queen Buchanan has her sights firmly set on her Olympic gold medal mission and will base herself overseas for the rest of this year.
"I know for the next eight months I'm not going to have any family time so I'm trying to make the most of it now," Buchanan said.
"From here all of the focus goes into racing, qualifying and the Rio journey. The butterflies are definitely building, the build up has gone so fast.
"These next eight months will go so quickly. I know that when I pack my bags this time, and as I tick off each process, that the next time I'm home will be when we leave Rio on the chartered flight."
Buchanan has spent the past week at a BMX Australia training camp in Brisbane as she fine-tunes her technique for the biggest year of her career.
The multiple world champion will work at the AIS over the coming days before packing her bags and setting off on a journey that will take her to the national championships, World Cup test events in Rio and Oceania titles.
She is aiming to complete at least seven major events before she narrows her focus to the Olympics.
It will take her away from her home track at Melba, where she spent the majority of her build-up to the London Olympics, and before she goes she wants to help inspire new BMX stars.
"I've been training at the track with friends for so long, I've got so many memories there," Buchanan said.
"I just want kids to have a chance to go and try an Olympic sport. Every kid has a bike - that's how I started and one kid coming along and giving it a go could make that journey to the Olympics.
"The female that won the Beijing Olympics was 31 years old ... for me, I want to go on and do Tokyo because I'll be 29. The biggest thing about going to Rio is I feel so much more relaxed now."
* Buchanan will host a 'Come and Try' BMX session at the Canberra BMX Club in Melba on Friday from 4pm to 6pm. All riders need long-sleeve tops, long pants, enclosed shoes, gloves and a full face helmet. For more information email canberrabmxclub@gmail.com.
