Cycling: Shane Kaio is on track and making his mark

Shane Kaio is making his mark in a new sport of track cycling. Photo/George Novak

Setting new physical challenges is something Shane Kaio is always up for.

The Mount Maunganui Body Mechanics personal trainer has a background in sporting success, as a former national basketball rep and highly competitive mountain biker and road cyclist.

But the 49-year-old has surprised himself with his rapid rise in track cycling just four and a half months after taking it up.

"I decided I needed to get to a track so travelled to the Te Awamutu Velodrome several times for racing and training," Kaio said. "I met a very supportive and friendly bunch of riders there and this has contributed greatly to my success. I will never forget one training session where I was riding on the Velodrome at over 70km/h behind a motorbike."

Kaio competed in the 45-54 age group, Masters 2, at the Waikato Bay of Plenty champs two weeks ago and won gold medals in the 500 metre time trial sprint, the 7.5km scratch race and the 12.5km points race, plus a silver in the individual 2km pursuit.

He then won silver in the 7.5km scratch race at the nationals in Invercargill.

"I was rapt with that. It was a very intense race with attacks and two of us managed to get away in the last lap. Sprinting to the finished line he got me by half a bike length, so that was exciting."

Kaio says the biggest challenge on the track after mountain biking has been remembering to pedal.

"It is a fixed gear and you don't have brakes on the bike so you use your legs to slow down. It is like a spin bike and takes a couple of hundred metres to slow down if you are going fast. It can be quite scary especially if you are travelling 30cm behind someone's wheel at 50-60km/h."

Kaio's background in sport science has been of great benefit in his new sport.

"For about 10 years I did work for the Academy of Sport dealing with elite athletes and the concentration on bio-mechanics and physiology has helped me with my training and preparation.

"The big difference between road cycling and track cycling is track is a lot more strength and power, with a lot more gym work and sprint work on the bike, as opposed to endurance rides."