the happiness

of pursuit
How did Alison Shanks transform herself
from a netball nobody to world champion
cyclist in less than four years?
How did she learn to push through the pain
barrier ... and keep pushing, even when her legs
and lungs were begging her to stop?
How did she get so fast so quick?
And how much faster can she go?
by ROBERT TIGHE
photography photosport

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“I think I was born to do a sport like this, where it is a

constant test. I think I’ve always had that determination to
push the limits, to find out what my body is capable of.
“When I played netball, I used to love fitness testing days
where we did the beep test. The other girls were like, ‘Ali you’re
just weird’.”
The other girls didn’t know that Ali, the fitness freak, was a
future world champion; that the “weirdo” warming the bench
for the Otago Rebels was destined for greatness; that their
teammate, Alison Shanks was the heir to Sarah Ulmer’s
throne as the golden girl of New Zealand cycling.
Speaking to her just days after her gold
medal ride in the 3000m individual pursuit
at the world track cycling championships in
Poland, Shanks was still struggling to come to
terms with her newfound status as champion
of the world.
“It’s all been a bit of a blur really. I went
back to the track the next morning for
the team pursuit and it was a bit strange
riding around, thinking ‘I won the world
championship here last night.’
“I am looking forward to getting home to
Dunedin and showing off the rainbow jersey
to family and friends. I think that is when it
will really start to sink in.”
In the cycling world, winning a rainbow
jersey comes a close second behind an
Olympic medal in terms of prestige and
if Shanks ever had any regrets about her
decision to walk away from netball in 2005
she certainly has none now.
Is there any chance she could be lured
back to the court?
“I’d have to say no,” she says with a laugh.
“You can’t win a rainbow jersey playing
netball. To be a world champion is huge and
it is something that can be never taken
off you.”

Shanks’ journey to the pot of gold at the

end of the rainbow began with the ignominy
of being dropped to the Otago B team in
2005. The promising goal attack had played
for New Zealand A and New Zealand U21s
and after five years with the Rebels in the
national provincial championship, the last

thing she expected was to be demoted. In hindsight, it was distance running (1500m and 800m) in the summer of
the best thing that could have happened to her. 2005-06 to see if she was fast enough to switch her sporting
“It was the shove I needed,” says Shanks. “I wasn’t getting focus to athletics.

“I wasn’t getting any significant game

any significant game time with the Rebels. I was doing all the
training and sitting on the bench and I was getting sick of it.”
But a text from Palmer changed both their lives.
“He asked me where I saw myself in three years time,
“Cycling was a better choice for me.
time with the Rebels. I was doing
To vent her frustration and to get rid of some of her pent
up energy Shanks bought a bike and took to the road after
running or cycling. To compete internationally in running you
need some great genes and you need to stay injury-free.
I had the desire to win and to get
all the training and sitting on the netball games. It was the first time she had been on a bike
since her school days and it felt good. She entered a few
“Cycling was a better choice for me. I had the desire to win
and to get to the top and I knew cycling had a better chance
to the top and I knew cycling had a
bench and I was getting sick of it.” local races and started to feel even better on the bike. of taking me there.” better chance of taking me there.”
photosport (netball)

Around the same time she started running in a squad In October 2005, after less than three months of cycling
coached by Craig Palmer, a sports scientist who became her specific training, Shanks rocked up to the national road
coach and then her partner. Having made the decision to cycling championships and finished third in the time trial
walk away from netball Shanks planned to focus on middle behind Sarah Ulmer and Melissa Holt.

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 a l i s on s han k s a l i s on s han k s

“I feel it in my quads and in my

breathing. I often get really blurry
vision and I try to focus on that The advances in technology go some way to explaining
black line to get me home.” why Shanks can make the switch from netball to the track
or Rebecca Romero, the Olympic gold medallist, can make
the transition from Olympic rower to Olympic cyclist or Wendy
Houvenhagel, the Olympic silver medallist can go from being
a full time dentist to the Olympic podium in the space of a
Strong. Rhythm. Black line. couple of years.
“I always look to get a strong start out of the gate, push “The good thing about the individual pursuit is that if you
it through the first bend, wind it up, then sit down and get are physically talented enough, within a couple of years you
through the next bend and find my rhythm. It is all about can pick up the skills to ride it,” explains Carswell.
finding a smooth rhythm for that first half of the race. “So the people who have the physiology, if they have the
“For me the black line is the key to bring me back to the time and inclination required to become a track rider they can
race. The black line is the shortest route around the track. make the jump quite quickly. There are not too many sports
There are sponge pads right around the edge of the track and like that but we are fortunate that we have got someone like
then the black line. If you don’t stay on the black line you are Ali who has been able to make that switch from a different
riding further than 3km. When the pain starts the black line sport and has taken to the event so well.”
helps redirect my focus to the racing line
and away from the pain.”
Shanks makes her sport sound like a
simple case of mind over matter. Before
her win at the world championships, she
was asked to describe what she did and
her answer was: “I pedal as fast as I can
around the track. It’s pretty straightforward.”
Is it really that straightforward?
“In a really blunt way, yes it is. The more
you ride the more efficient your stroke
becomes and you can go faster for the
same effort. That is what I’ve developed
over the last three years, that improved
pedaling efficiency.
The national selectors knew a natural when they saw one “I had that raw mentality that you get out there and push “My continual time gains are down to
and selected her for the Oceania championships in early the pedals until it hurts. I wish I could have those days back.” the amount of training I’ve done and also
2006. Shanks was picked for the time trial on the road Three years on Alison Shanks, the rookie has become improving some technical aspects such as
and the 3000m individual pursuit on the track but Alison Shanks, the world No 1. She is the star of her own the weight of the bike and aerodynamics
the only problem was she had never ridden the TV advertisement for Mizone where she tells couch potatoes but I leave all that to my coach. I just
boards before. across New Zealand, “Unless you are really hurting and pedal.”
Two days before the Oceania event, the national track coach feeling that burn through your legs you are not pushing the Not surprisingly, Tim Carswell, the
took her to the Wanganui Velodrome and showed her the pedals hard enough”. That pain, that burn is one of the things national track coach, suggests Shanks is
basics. Two days later the raw rookie finished second in the that Shanks enjoys about her sport. underselling the sport somewhat.
Oceania championships and Alison Shanks had found what “It is a pretty pure event really. You are on a fixed wheel, “It sounds like a simple event – go as
she was looking for. with no gear changes and no brakes. Once you are on the fast as you can over 3000m but there is a
“I was so naïve. I look back at the photos and I look like track the only way you can go faster is by spinning the wheels little bit more to it than that. There are two
a complete novice. You don’t really know what to expect so faster and the strongest person will win on the day.” reasons Alison has done so well. One she
you are not waiting at the start line knowing that it is going to Shanks doesn’t have to wait for her coach to give her is a very gifted athlete and two her partner,
hurt. You just go and do it. the nod to get off the bench. She doesn’t have to sit in the Craig Palmer, has jumped into the sports
dressing room before a game hoping that a bib will be tossed science side of cycling in a huge way and
her way. It is all down to her. 3000m. Twelve laps of the track. having someone as good as he is beside
Three and half minutes or so of pain. Ali has been invaluable.”
“The pursuit is all about pace judgement. Your legs can feel Palmer and Shanks do most of their
“For me the black line is the key to great in the first two or three laps but if you put a little too
much into those early laps it can come back to haunt you at
training away from the track, putting
in endless hours on the road and ERG
bring me back to the race. The black the finish. With six laps to go you really start to feel it. With (stationary bike) to fuel the engine that drives her around Shanks pedalled her way to first national pursuit title
four laps to go, you can feel the burn but you just have to the velodrome. in February 2008 in a personal best time of 3:36.4. She
line is the shortest route around the keep pushing on. “It is only really in the final stages before a major finished seventh in the world championships last year and
associated press (race), photosport (wave)

track. When the pain starts the black “I feel it in my quads and in my breathing. I often get
really blurry vision and I try to focus on that black line to get
championship that we do a lot of work on the track,”
says Carswell.
just missed out on a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics
where she finished fourth in 3:32.4.

line helps redirect my focus to the me home.”

Strong. Rhythm. Black line. Just a few of the key words or
“There are technical elements to the pursuit but nowadays
we have so much technology available you can measure
She was “gutted” to miss out on a medal in Beijing but
encouraged by the fact that she had improved her personal

racing line and away from the pain.” affirmations that Shanks uses to keep her focused before
every race. She reads those words the night before the race,
how much power the rider is putting it out and where they
are putting it out and that means you can really refine their
best by four seconds. Shanks went back to Beijing in January
for a World Cup meet with two goals.
the morning of the race and she reads those words again just technique quickly and easily and that way you can get really The first was to earn enough points to qualify for the world
before she puts her bike in the starting gate. good gains.” championships and the second was to post a fast time.

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Shanks not only achieved both of her goals, winning her first for the women’s individual
World Cup race and posting a personal best of 3:30.685, pursuit and serving notice
she also sent a message to her rivals. It was the perfect that she will be a real
preparation for the world championships in Poland at the end contender for a gold medal
of February. at the London Olympics
The pursuit is a wonderfully simple event. It is you against in 2012.
the clock. To qualify for the final in Poland, Shanks had to The world championships
record one of the two fastest times in qualifying. marked the end of the track
She was ranked eighth going into the world championships cycling season and a well
but her low ranking was down to the fact she had raced in earned break for Shanks.
just one of the four World Cup meets last season. That was a When she gets back on
deliberate decision to save all her energy and focus for the the bike this month the
world championships and Shanks went to Poland in the best plan is to head to the US
possible shape. to do some road racing in
“I knew I was in good form and I knew if I could go under preparation for the start of
3:30 then winning the world title was a real possibility,” the new track season at the
she says. end of the year.
In the morning qualifying, Shanks’ time of 3:31.063 was The goal for next season
outside her personal best but good enough to earn her a is to defend her world
place in the final later the same day against Olympic silver title in Denmark and after
medallist, Houvenhagel. that she will start thinking
The Briton was the clear favourite with a time of 3:29.491 about the Olympics in
in qualifying and a 3:28 in a World Cup meet earlier in the 2012. Emulating Ulmer’s
season. Still, Shanks wasn’t fazed. gold medal from Athens is
“I knew I hadn’t nailed the morning ride at all and I tend the target and her world
to go faster in my second ride of the day and a lot of cyclists record of 3:24.537 is also
don’t so I was confident going into the ride that I could in her sights. In 2004, when
win. I was conscious of not going out too hard so that I had Ulmer stunned the world of
something left to race her. cycling to win the Olympics
“I didn’t know where I was in relation to her for the first half in a time that blitzed her old
of the race but with three laps to go I came around the final mark by six seconds, Shanks
bend and in the closing laps of a race my coach will stand was still a netballer.
above or below the finish line depending on whether I am up “I remember getting up in
or down on the other rider. Craig was standing above the line the middle of the night to
and I was thinking ‘are you sure you are standing in the right watch her ride. It is a pretty
place? Am I really up on her?’ It wasn’t until I had crossed high benchmark but 3:24 is the magic number and you have
the finish line and looked up at the scoreboard that I knew.” to have those goals to aim for.”
It all became a little more real standing on the podium On her website Shanks talks about doing a time of 3:24 as
singing the national anthem. And it really hit home when she part of the team pursuit in the World Cup meet in Beijing. She
was presented with the white jersey with the rainbow rings, notes “it is a bit hard to comprehend doing 3:24 on my own”.
a jersey that Shanks will be entitled to wear whenever she But the win in Poland has given her a new confidence.
competes on the track over the coming year. “Sarah had 10 years of World Cups and world
Almost as satisfying was the time, a personal best of championships and Olympics before she set that time and
3:29.807, joining an elite group who have gone under 3:30 nothing can substitute for those years and years of training.
If I hit the right form and get the right track conditions then I
think it is attainable.”
Shanks is just 26 and still a relative novice in the sport but
Carswell shares her confidence.
“One of the interesting things about Ali “When Sarah did that time a lot of people thought it would
be a long time before anyone else would beat it. It was a
is that every competition she has gone pretty mind-boggling achievement. The track in Athens was
running pretty quick but Sarah’s time was exceptional.
to over the last couple of years she has “For anyone to beat it they are going to need a very fast
track on a really hot day and a rider in extremely good form. It
gone faster and faster. We were joking would be a big achievement to beat that time or even to get

with her that we just need to race her near it but Ali is definitely capable of doing it,” says Carswell.
“One of the interesting things about Ali is that every

more often because she goes a couple competition she has gone to over the last couple of years she
has gone faster and faster. We were joking with her that we

of seconds faster every time she races.” just need to race her more often because she goes a couple
of seconds faster every time she races.”
For the netballer who wasted too many years sitting on the
bench, more racing probably sounds like her idea of heaven.

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