Lynch saw the Olympics as a perfect time to retire from the serious competitions. She did not go to the 1996 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Cairns, Australia, but competed in the Southern Traverse Adventure Race instead. One event that she could not miss, though, was the Wellington mountain bike race that was part of the UCI World Cup in April 1997; it was the first UCI mountain bike World Cup race that had come to New Zealand. Her dominance early in the season waned, though, and she was beaten into second place at both the Coast to Coast (won by Andrea Murray) and the first race of the national series. At the Karapoti Classic, she only just fended off Jill Westenra. For the UCI World Cup race, Lynch was in top form and came sixth, well within her aim of a top 10 finish, and just days away from her 40th birthday. After that, she won the remaining rounds of the national championship races in which she started. In 1998, Lynch came second to Susy Pryde in the first three races of the national series, and then pulled out of the competition. When she was crowned Nelson Sportsperson of the Year in 1997, she had difficulty appreciating the accolade: