News

Forget the Olympics: the Commonwealth Games are where it’s at (or for this year at least). Kicking off in October in Delhi, India, one of those representing New Zealand is Otago’s own Alison Shanks. A budding ball sports star by trade, Shanks made the switch to cycling a few years ago and hasn’t looked back.


Before getting into cycling you represented Otago in both Netball and Basketball. What inspired the change?
Basically, I played for the Rebels for about five years. I spent a lot of the time sitting on the bench and got sick of it really. I guess I had done a bit of cycling and cross training to keep fit over the summer in the off season and I found I was quite good at it. 
 
Was it an easy transition to make?
There were definitely a lot of new things to learn. Cycling is quite a technical sport; there are a lot of unwritten rules or etiquette that go with cycling. But in terms of physical capabilities, I was relatively fit and the training was just so new and exciting, I really just got right into it. 
 
On the velodrome, I understand that there are no brakes on the bikes, has this made for some interesting crashes in your career?
No, not really. In terms of being on a velodrome it actually makes it a lot safer because all the movements are quite smooth. No one can stop really suddenly in front of you. There haven't been too many [crashes]. 
 
Last year you won the individual pursuit at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Poland, what are your goals from here?
The big goal is the Commonwealth Games coming up, in October. It will be in Delhi, India and so I will be racing the individual pursuit there and I also hope to race the road time trial. It is around 30 kilometres so it is quite a different event, but there is quite a lot of crossover there. 
 
Are you worried about the security concerns in Delhi at all?
I guess there is a little bit of worry in the back of my mind, but it is the kind of thing that as an individual athlete you don't actually have any control over. You have to put it in the hands of the support personnel that are looking after the New Zealand team. I guess have faith in them that they wouldn't send us there if it wasn't safe. 
 
Do you think with the recent successes of yourself, Sarah Ulmer, and others that cycling as a competitive sport is beginning to become more widely recognised in New Zealand?
Definitely. I think not only as a highly competitive sport, but also as a recreational sport. The beauty of cycling is that not only can Olympic and World riders compete, as a weekend warrior and a general athlete you can be doing exactly what those elite athletes are doing. At times, even ride with them in bunches. That is the beauty of the bike; it actually brings all abilities into one place like no other sport really can. 
 
What are you plans for the rest of 2010?
I absolutely love being home in Dunedin for a few weeks. I head to America and escape the worst of the New Zealand winter. So we head over there for about two and a half months before we meet up with the Commonwealth squad in Bordeaux, France for all of September before going into the Commonwealth Games. 
 
Will that involve training camps in both the USA and France?
The USA will involve a lot more racing as well and actually, road racing. We do a lot of the cross training in the American summer and will include time trials and road tours. We can ride five to six days of 100k's each day so it’s a very different phase of training. Bordeaux will definitely be in training camps and on the velodrome for shorter, high intensity work.