If you see West Vancouver's Micayla Gatto around town, congratulate her on winning gold in women's downhill racing at the Mountain Bike Canadian Championships held last Sunday in Panorama, B.C.

But please -- no bear hugs.

The 21-year-old Gatto claimed her second national title -- her first came in 2007 -- by scorching the dry, dusty mountain trail in a time of 3 minutes 55.13 seconds, topping the second-place rider by more than eight seconds.

"It was nice to put the (champion's) jersey on again," Gatto told the North Shore News, adding that the fairly wide-open track was much different from the twisty, technical trails she usually does well on. "I'm definitely better with the steeper, more technical kind of muddy tracks, so that also made me kind of nervous going into the race. . . . The pedaling definitely was the most challenging part for me but I stuck all my lines and it was actually a really good run. I was really happy with it."

Now about those hugs. Gatto isn't shy -- she's just a little tender from a previous crash . . . in February. Welcome to downhill mountain biking.

The biggest wreck of her downhill career came earlier this year during training for the Cerro Abajo Urban Downhill, a race that winds through the streets of Valparaiso, Chile. Gatto was gearing up for a 20-foot step-down drop when her chain skipped and she came up short, smashing into the landing ramp below.

"I kind of just fell off the edge and smashed my face and my sternum onto my bike and fell eight feet backward onto my back, concussed myself, got stitches in my leg and coughed up blood for a week and felt like I was hit by a bus. It was pretty bad," she said. "My sternum, the bone is bruised and it can take up to six months to heal. I still have to watch it when people hug me and stuff, it still really hurts."

The crash is on YouTube (search the website for Micayla Gatto VCA). "It's pretty gnarly," said Gatto.

Adding to the pain was the fact that her smashed-up bike was stolen that night. "It was a really nice day," she said dryly.

But a week later she was back on a bike doing some light riding and by the time nationals rolled around last weekend she had already raced two more World Cup downhills as well as a local B.C. event that she won.

Though she has experienced massive wrecks like her crash in Chile, Gatto said there is nothing quite like zooming down a tricky course on a bike.

"A lot of people think it's scary but you can't think of that when you're riding," she said. "You just have to concentrate on where you want to go, not what could happen. It is quite a dangerous sport but if you do it right and if you are calculated in your actions -- I don't know, it's just the most amazing feeling in the world going that fast through the woods and off jumps and things."

The sport involves a fine balance between being in control and letting go.

"(I am) pushing myself enough so that I'm on the edge but not to the point where I feel out of control," said Gatto. "It's a really fine line and it kind of comes with practice and experience. When you crash enough times you kind of learn what your limit is and slowly push that to go faster every time you ride -- but just not to be stupid about it."

Gatto, a Rockridge secondary grad, followed her brother Trever into the sport when she was 16.

"He kind of quit once I started beating him," Gatto said with a laugh.

In Trever's defence, his sister was beating a lot of people. She attended her first world championships in 2005 and has since collected two world junior championship bronze medals, including at last year's race where she also finished seventh overall in the elite women's category.

She leaves Monday for World Cup races in Switzerland and Italy and is gearing up for this year's world championships scheduled for early September in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que.

It's a life that Gatto loves but it's also one that is hard to sustain. Downhill racing is one of the only cycling events that is not an Olympic sport. Not only does that prevent her from going for Olympic gold, it also means that national funding is not available.

Her travel costs are paid for in a variety of ways: "Out of my own pocket, my mom, odd jobs," she said. "Because it's not an Olympic sport Canada doesn't fund downhill at all. We even have to buy our own Canadian national team jerseys to go to the world championships."

Gatto recently graduated as a graphic design illustrator from Capilano University but her freelance work in that field isn't really paying the bills either.

"Art and bikes -- not exactly the two most lucrative things you could choose," she said, adding that she does have some generous sponsors who supply her with gear and she is always on the lookout for more support.

It may seem strange that Gatto puts up with a sport that eats up her and her family's money, doesn't offer her an Olympic route and puts her in danger of crippling crashes, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

"I love what I do," she said.

To find out more about Gatto's art and racing visit www.micaylagatto.com or canadiandhgirls.wordpress.com.