Masziyaton Md Radzi's white jersey disappeared into the Lembah Kiara Recreational Park, a 4km mountain bike trail with specially designed obstacles and natural hazards which a recent thunderstorm has left ghastly and muddy.

Masziyaton wasn't afraid of getting dirty. At the cue of the photographer, she pedalled furiously and charged towards a steep slope, stopping just a metre shy of a six-foot drop.

It's the thrill of the descent that hooks me more than anything else, and the fact that it's a bit different," says the 20-year-old of downhill racing, the roughest style of mountain biking you can find.

In the list of cool sports, "downhilling" ranks pretty high and is no pedal in the park. It is a crowd pleaser, too, because of the quick action and mid-air manoeuvres involved.

"Yes, it's dangerous, but if it wasn't, it wouldn't be as much fun," Masziyaton adds spiritedly.

Perhaps she was born to race. Masziyaton won the first downhill race she competed in at The KL Mountain Bike Carnival in 2006. The gutsy lass from Baling, Kedah went on to compete in Sukma 2008, where she clinched first place in the 1.5km downhill discipline.

"I stayed off my brakes and rode down the rocks into the finishing stretch where I pedalled my hardest. My friends, supporters and family were all there rooting for me. I took those cheers with me all the way through," she remembers.

This rising star started pedalling professionally last year, and is a national rider for cross country and road bikes. She attributes her love of bicyles to her father.

My dad bought me my first bike, a silver BMX, she recalls. "It wasn't long before the training wheels came off. On my 14th birthday, my dad gave me my second ride: a mountain bike. I have never stopped cycling since,"says the eldest of three siblings.

Her 16-year-old brother and 15-year-old sister are catching up and beginning to show an interest in cycling too, but they are more drawn towards cross country and road bikes.

The prize purse for downhill contests is not enough for Masziyaton to make a decent living out of but says she can pick up a cool few thousand ringgit on each win.

"Constant training and touring makes it difficult for me to hold down a full-time job, but thankfully, the Kedah Sports Council has offered me an administrative post with flexi-hours. I work from noon to 3pm and train before and after work, six times a week with a day off. The training includes spending hours on a road bike to build fitness," she says.

The uneven skin tone she gets from playing in the sun too long doesn't bother her at all.

"I?m still learning to fine-tune my jumps and to balance on the bike. It's a good thing; downhilling is one of the few sports where athletes can improve with age. Women peak at about 35 in this discipline, so I've got plenty of time ahead of me," she says.