She still has the competitive drive - come this weekend's rounds of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Bathurst Buchanan will be pushing for a spot in the final - but now she has new life perspective.

It is perspective she has gained following an off-road accident on New Year's Eve 2017.

As she recovered from puncturing her heart wall lining and lungs plus a broken sternum, the Canberra-born Buchanan reassessed her approaching to racing.

"Everything from just being back on two wheels and overcoming the injuries I had, everything's a bonus from here. It's sort of flipped how I used to be when racing when podiums were everything," the 29-year-old said.

"Just to get my body healthy again, just to be out on the track with a smile is what it's all about.

"I think you've got to have a balance with everything and I think now I've got more of a healthy relationship with sport and life than I used to.

"Sometimes it takes a massive setback or adversity to teach you these lessons but I think I'm in a good place to be in coming into another Olympic Games. The last few I think pressure ate me up and got the best of me, so to come in on the total opposite angle to that is refreshing."

If Buchanan is to earn a spot on the Australian Cycling Team for Tokyo, it will mean good results in the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup.

The first two rounds were held in Shepparton last weekend and Buchanan - who is on the comeback trail after more than two years away from the sport - was pleased with her efforts.

She reached the quarter-finals in round one and the semi-finals the following day. It was the first time she had made a World Cup semi-final in four years.

"Straight in the deep end, felt a lot of nerves being out two and a half year from the WorldTour," Buchanan said.

"The level of the sport has progressed so far, from the quarter-finals onwards it feels like a final. Being in the mix of the racing felt different, but I took a lot of wins from Saturday's racing and I wanted to make it into the semi-finals for Sunday which I did," she said.

"I had a big smile on my face when the camera came across me in that semi-final, it has been a hell of a journey to get back here."

Making her comeback on home soil as Australia hosts World Cup rounds for the first time in a decade is something that the eight-time world champion is relishing. The Shepparton and Bathurst rounds are followed by events at Manchester, Papendal (The Netherlands) and Rock Hill (USA).

"I think what better way to come back than on home soil," she said.

"Obviously I'd love to qualify for my third Olympic Games, the process is really that I've got to make finals, I've got get a top five for the AOC, our Olympic committee, so yeah it's really about getting myself in that final, being in the mix.

"You've got to make it to the dance floor to dance, so I've got to make it to that final first and go from there."

The women's racing starts at 11.35am on Saturday.