Name: Shannon Malseed
Date of Birth – 27th December 1994
Nationality – Australian
2020 Team – Team TIBCO-SVB
Former Teams – Holden Women’s Racing
Career Achievements –
1st Stage Joe Martin Stage Race (2019), National Championships Road Race (2018), Oceania Championships (2016)
2nd GC & Stage Joe Martin Stage Race (2019), GC & Stage Tour of Chongming Island (2018), Oceania Championships (2017)
4th National Championships Road Race (2017)
5th WhiteSpot/Delta Road Race (2016)
Who taught you to ride and bike & how old were you?
My Mum and Dad taught me how to ride a bike, I was probably about 6yo. I had training wheels to start off with to help me balance and I remember the day I took them off I didn’t know how to steer.
I confidently started riding and then quickly realised what I had gotten myself into! I was stuck going in a straight line and the only way to stop was to crash into my neighbour’s fence
What was your first proper road bike & what colour was it?
My first road bike was a hand-me-down Giant from my older brother. It was a bright yellow Giant. I loved that bike.
What’s the most important piece of kit/advice that has helped boost your performance?
The most important “kit advice” I have ever received was – you don’t wear undies underneath your bib shorts! Once I found that one out, my performance skyrocketed!
Other great life-changing advice was from Miranda Griffiths in 2013. She ordered me to wear longer socks, and taught me about the intricate process of number pinning for aerodynamics.
What’s your favourite routes/places to ride?
There’s no place like home… there are wayyyy better places to ride bikes. I’m lucky to have a job that takes me all over the world.
The most beautiful place I’ve been riding would be anywhere where the mountains meet the water. Among these are Lake Como in Italy; Lake Annecy in France; Lake Tahoe in California; Half Moon Bay in California; and many more!!
What tips do you have to keep the love of cycling going amidst all the training?
Keeping the love of cycling is a roller coaster. You experience incredible highs in this sport; they are unfortunately contrasted directly by devastating lows.
As we speak I’m sitting here on the couch with a broken scapula, “bedside” while the rest of the peloton races my favourite races of the year in my home country – Australia. I have a choice of how to look at this ‘sh*tuation’.
I can sit here and mull over all the bad things about my injury, the setback, the time off, the opportunities missed, the time it takes to get back. And trust me – I have had days of the mulling…
Or I can take it ‘day by day’ like my coach Ben Day would say, and use each day as an opportunity to show up for me in the best way possible.
To keep the love, I think back to why I started cycling, how it brought me fulfilment and joy in the beginning, and I bring that to my training every day. I try to keep the fun and enjoyment in each day.
It’s a balancing act. I think everyone has to stop and take a breath; to recalibrate and find balance at times all throughout any kind of career/life. It’s the same for cycling.
What experiences are still to do on your cycling ‘bucket list’?
Still yet to be ticked off on the to-do list for me are to represent Australia in the World Championships and the Olympics.
Thanks for reading about Shannon Malseed – more Women’s Cycling Profiles can be found here
