The reality of Central Otago’s winter temperatures prompted her to head to Invercargill for four weeks’ training, where she enjoyed the "slightly warmer"
outdoor temperatures and indoor training at Invercargill’s velodrome.
Shields (17), who has just returned to her home in Clyde, is part of an 11-strong New Zealand team competing in the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Italy in August.
The team leaves New Zealand in two weeks’ time and will compete in the international track series in Melbourne for a week, then return to New Zealand for a week’s training in Cambridge, before leaving for Italy on August 13.
Shields is aiming for gold, having won silver in the team pursuit at the junior world championships in Switzerland last year.
In her individual pursuit at the event she came fifth. She is aiming for a podium finish in her individual event this year.
The success comes on top of multiple other New Zealand and Australian titles Shields has won since she started cycling competitively at the age of
13.
They include national individual titles in various New Zealand events from 2014-17, and being part of the team that won the under-17 girls’ team category of the junior tour of Canberra in 2015.
She was also named Central Otago Junior Sportswoman of the Year in 2014.
The competition doesn’t come cheap. Shields has to find $11,500 for the Italian trip. She has raised $8000 so far from personal fundraising, an after-school job and grants.
She trains six days a week, sometimes in the gym or on a stationary bike, at other times out on the road cycling up to 110km around Central Otago in just over three hours.
She said she was "definitely getting there" in terms of her preparation for Italy, after "a long build-up".
"The next couple of weeks are going to go pretty fast. But it’s all coming together at the moment."
