Sheryl MacLeod's comeback was completed when she regained the New Zealand downhill mountain bike title that she last won in 2001.
MacLeod (30), a qualifications assessor for Work and Income in Dunedin, won the gold and pushed former world junior champion Scarlett Hagen (Queenstown) back to third spot in Wellington on Sunday.
MacLeod won in 3min 04.73sec from Harriet Harper, of Blenheim, in 3min 10.04sec and Hagen in 3min 11.43sec in blustery wind conditions.
‘‘It's exciting to have a national title again. It was seven years ago in 2001 when I won the national series,'' MacLeod said. ‘‘I then stopped racing the following year.
‘‘It is a great boost to my season to win the national title. I will have the honour of wearing the national jersey next season.''
MacLeod finished nearly 6sec ahead of Hagen on the seeding run and knew it was her day.
‘‘A top seeding result can put the pressure on but I managed to keep a cool head for my race run,'' MacLeod said.
‘‘The wind gusts were really strong and unpredictable so I kept my wheels on the ground when there were dangerous cross winds and stayed really strong on the bike.''
The strong wind affected the riders on the top one-third of the course.
‘‘I tucked myself into a wee ball to have the least resistance on the windy parts of the course,'' MacLeod said.
‘‘I pedaled hard, focused on my lines, battled the strong wind gusts and played it safe over the jumps when there were dangerous crosswinds.''
She reduced her seeding time by 4sec on the race run. Hagen, who crossed the finish line with a puncture, was third.
MacLeod was one of New Zealand's most promising downhill riders when she broke her elbow at Vermont in 2001.
It meant missing the 2001 world championships in Colorado after being named in the New Zealand team.
MacLeod became disillusioned and gave up the sport six years ago. ‘‘I was not enjoying biking and had lost the desire to race,'' she said.
She had raced five summers back to back in New Zealand and overseas.
‘‘I had been doing a lot of racing and needed a rest from it as I felt like my heart wasn't in it anymore,'' MacLeod said. ‘‘I wanted to try some different sports so I dabbled with surfing, snowboarding, Moto-X and BMX.''
But MacLeod still had the ambition to represent New Zealand at a world championships and saw her chance when the event was allocated to Rotorua. MacLeod finished 16th at the 2006 world championships.
She is targeting the 2009 championships in Canberra. The demands of work will prevent her from competing at this year's championships in Italy.
A torn cartilage to her left knee put MacLeod out of the 2007 national series and she was only able to resume racing this season after an operation last April.
She finished runner-up to Hagen in the South Island series. ‘‘The three-race South Island Cup got me up to speed,'' MacLeod said. ‘‘I then had consistent training time on my bike and felt myself getting faster.''
This included three sessions at Coronet Peak. MacLeod expects a podium finish at the Oceania championships in Nelson next month. She was fourth in the event in Rotorua in 2006.
MacLeod has always been motivated by the fun factor of mountain biking. ‘‘As long as that's there, I will keep racing. I am definitely enjoying it at the moment,'' she said. ‘‘It's a very social sport, and it's good to see so many younger riders getting into mountain biking.''
MacLeod will be travelling overseas in August to race and train at Whistler in British Columbia and compete in the nine-day Crankworx Festival at Whistler.
