Mountain biking can be a solitary sport, hours spent in the saddle, with just the twisting trails for company.
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Canberra Olympian Rebecca Henderson knows this better than most.
She's been on the world circuit since 2012, representing Australia at World Cups, World Championships, Commonwealth Games and is about to head off to her fourth Olympic Games - as the only member of the Australian mountain biking team.
But she's got a secret weapon to help beat the loneliness - could her little dachshund Lenny be the inspiration for Olympic success?
"I brought Lenny over to Europe last year and it was great to have him on tour with me," she says.
"My coaching team thought it was a great idea, he travels with me to all the races and it's nice to come home after training and having him waiting for me. He's great company."
Henderson is currently training in Spain, based in the Sierra Nevada range at altitude. She'll soon head to Paris, or more specifically to Elancourt Hill, to the west just outside Versailles, for her event on July 28.
Mountain biking was first introduced to the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta. Henderson made her debut in London in 2012 and also competed in Rio and Tokyo, finishing in the top 30 in each of those events.
![Is Rebecca Henderson's dog Lenny the secret to her success? Pictures supplied Is Rebecca Henderson's dog Lenny the secret to her success? Pictures supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/MUwv8t3Wj4u7LSUBpSbqhh/d41cbe87-3f40-435e-b4dd-a2bec3bd5571.png/r0_0_1200_675_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
She's hoping to better that result in Paris, coming off a third-place finish at the recent UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup event in Les Gets in the French Alps.
"The Olympics can be that race where there's a surprise winner, it's that kind of event, so who knows," she says.
"This season has been so far from what I would have liked [she broke her ankle in March], even though the Olympics has been in the plan for 18 months now, I'm not at my best.
"But knowing it's likely going to be my last Olympics who knows what might happen."
Henderson began mountain biking as a teenager. She was a talented hockey player and a runner, and would head out to the many mountain biking trails around Canberra with her father and brother for a bit of fun.
"We'd just go and ride out in Majura, or Stromlo before it all burned down, or down in Tuggeranong in the forests where the trails weren't really trails, it was just good fun," she says.
![Canberra-based mountain biker Rebecca Henderson is headed to her fourth Olympics. Picture supplied Canberra-based mountain biker Rebecca Henderson is headed to her fourth Olympics. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/MUwv8t3Wj4u7LSUBpSbqhh/b7d1b71a-32a2-4a81-9932-11bdff0eaae3.jpg/r0_0_1555_874_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I just enjoyed it, I never had a dream that I'd become an Olympian in anything. I just started racing in some club races and it went from there, I think I was about 16 when I went to my first World Championships."
She's just been named in the Australian team for the UCI World Championships in Pal Arinsal, Andorra from August 28 to September 1, alongside Zoe Cuthbert and Sam Fox.
Nineteen-year-old Victorian Jack Ward will race in the under-23 category for the first time after finishing second among the elites in XCO at the 2024 GWM Mountain Bike National Championships.
She says it's a tough living for Australian mountain bikers. Most of the elite competitions are held in Europe and there isn't a lot of sponsorship money, or funding.
"I just do it because I love it. At 32, I'm just grateful I can, and grateful for each and every person in my life who's helped me get to this point," she said.
And that includes Lenny.