As the Australian track cycling team makes its way to London to prepare and compete at next month's UCI Track World Championships, Annette Edmondson counts her lucky stars at being on the same plane as her teammates.
Only five days ago, the 24 year-old gold medal hope collided with a car during a morning training ride near her home in the Adelaide Hills.
"I'm very lucky." Edmondson says.
"I'm lucky that I'm so fit at the moment. I think my body's able to handle this a lot better than it could have."
Photos reveal the side of the car in question will need attention at the panel beaters, while Edmondson's bike finished with broken forks and was written-off.
Rushed to hospital for immediate tests, the worst was feared.
The damage to the car. Source: AAP
"I was going at 50km/h, and I hit that car pretty much at a standstill," she said.
"I didn't get any road-rash because I went straight into the car and dropped on the floor so all that impact was taken by my body."
Witnesses say Edmondson was "blessed by an angel" for having escaped serious injury.
Despite receiving light bruising to her right knee, no bones were broken.
In hospital. Source: SBS
As the reigning world champion in her pet events - the omnium and team pursuit, this week her focus is defending her world titles.
"My greatest strength is my determination," she said.
"Once I have a goal in mind, and that's really what I want to achieve, I won't stop working on it."
Apart from racing hard, Edmondson is a popular figure with Australia's sports media.
Influenced by Anna Meares for several years, Edmondson is seen as Australia's next 'queen of the track' after the reigning 'monarch' announced her retirement.
"If I want to have a career in the media from my cycling, I feel Anna has been a great influence," she said.
There was a time when cycling became a drag and walking away from the sport became a serious consideration.
Her advice to budding female cyclists is to enjoy every day on the bike.
"In 2010, I wasn't really enjoying my bike and ended up having a break. I wasn't getting anywhere, going slower and slower," she said.
"I didn't want to get out of bed each morning to train.
"I had four months off, didn't plan on coming back but once I didn't I found out what I needed to do to enjoy the bike again.
"I've never made so many improvements after coming back from that break."
While racing bikes consumes her life, Edmondson has many interests away from her career and sport.
She is fluent in Indonesian, having learned the language at school and she has visited the country on several occasions.
"My school offered two languages so I chose Indonesian because it's our closest neighbour, and I thought further down the track there could be opportunities with trade," she said.
"I'm aiming for two golds."
"It was also quite a simple language and I though I could go further at the end of school, as opposed to Japanese which has five alphabets."
A passion for world and cultural affairs is also high on the agenda, as is working on the issues of poverty among sections of Australia's Indigenous communities.
"Even through school I did some volunteering with Reconciliation South Australia," she said.
"In Year 9, I was the South Australia ambassador for making Indigenous poverty history... Unfortunately, I'm not able to do as much at the moment because of my sporting commitments."
A possible career in medicine after cycling is a possibility, having deferred her university degree for the time being.
After securing the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, standing on the top podium in Rio is the driving force that keeps this cycling champion going.
"I'm aiming for two golds," she said.
"It sounds a little greedy but that's what we're after at this program and everything is going well at this time."
