The part of a national title pursuit Rebecca Henderson cannot fathom

"That part I cannot fathom," the three-time Olympian joked on social media, "is how I got old so quickly. I spent so many years pre juniors just wanting to move up to under 19s."

Now Henderson is chasing more gold at the AusCycling mountain bike national championships in Thredbo, having claimed the elite cross country short course title in perfect alpine conditions before her tilt at the main cross country event.

The world No. 4 eased her way to victory in the short course competition on day two of the championships, setting the pace alongside Katherine Hosking and Zoe Cuthbert before breaking away with the latter at the midway point of the race.

Henderson fired late to win by more than 30 seconds, with a cautious opening paying off in the end. The Canberran finished with a time of 21:47.10, clear of Cuthbert's 22:20.99.

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Launceston's Sam Fox claimed the men's elite cross country short course title.

"That was really tough. I was happy sitting in the wheels early in the race. It's such a hard course and I just wanted to be a little bit conservative, I was also kind of hoping there that the girls would blow themselves up," Henderson told AusCycling.

The three-time Olympian now turns her attention to the main cross country event on Sunday on a course she believes suits her racing style.

The 31-year-old feels fit but perhaps not quite cross country-conditioned. Yet with an old school course and huge climb, she hopes her age, experience and the motivation to win another national crown will play in her favour.

"The course is so old school and I really like it," Henderson said.

"There's a huge amount of climbing, so I think it suits me well because I'm quite fit but I'm not super conditioned for racing, so there's time to settle into the climbing, and I think that should suit me well."

The national championships are taking place in Thredbo until February 18 with 10 days of racing taking place across various disciplines.

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