Shelby Reynolds [Monster Media Women’s Team] comes from a competitive cycling past in track and road cycling hitting both the asphalt and pine to take home much needed victories in the sport of cycling. Shelby has a long list of accolades including winning the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix in 2012 and Dana Point Grand Prix in 2014 which are on the USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar. For track Reynolds has won 2^nd place in the Keirin at Elite Nationals at the VELO Sports Center in 2012, and 3^rd place in the Madison in Rock Hill, SC for Elite Nationals in 2013.

The VELO Sports Center wanted to dig deeper into the life of Shelby Reynolds and get into the mind-set of a competitive cyclist and how she goes about her business as an Elite athlete of this sport.

Q & A w/ Shelby Reynolds

Rich Kemp: How did you get into cycling initially?

Shelby Reynolds: I started track, actually I started on road, but started racing track first at about 9-10 years old, and this was about 15 years ago now. My mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, so I did charity rides for MS when I was 9-10 years old, and I started racing on the track when I was 10. I started going to Junior Nationals when I was 11 and that’s what kind of started it, and kept it going since then – but yea I started traveling when I was 16-17 and doing Grand Prix’s and going all over the place for races.

RK: I know you do a lot of road criteriums, what do you enjoy more track or road cycling?

SR: My passion has always been track racing, that’s where I started, that’s where I learned to love bikes. I learned to go fast, and loved to go fast, but right now my focus has just been on road crits (criteriums), because my team, that is their focus. With that we are able to travel everywhere, which is why my focus has transitioned from track to road lately.

RK: What Cycling Team are you currently on right now?

SR: Monster Media Women’s Team.

RK: What are the “cool” perks of being on a Cycling Team (outside of the kit)?

SR: [Laughs] So, the girls on the team are like family to me, they would sacrifice anything to give the team a win. That selflessness from the team is really cool to me. Just to find someone that is willing to put their own race on the line for you to win a race, that’s pretty unique and the team to have that cohesiveness between everyone. We ride Masi bikes which are cool, and we get to travel all around to different cities.

RK: What is the farthest city you have been to for a road crit with Monster Media Women’s Team?

SR: We went to San Francisco last year for the Amgen Tour of California. We did that, which was fun in California. We went to Boise, Idaho – I’ve been to Wisconsin and Tulsa, Oklahoma as well for races.

RK: Does Monster Media pay for your travel?

SR: Yeah, it doesn’t mean that they are team trips, but usually they will help out with expenses.

SR: What keeps you motivated as a cyclist or athlete? Do you have any aspirations to be in the 2016 Olympics, or the next Amgen Tour of California?

SR: [Laughs] This is a hard question for me. My goal a couple years ago was to make the Olympic Team – that was the ultimate goal, or long term goal. It became a struggle between work and school, and doing this bike racing thing. I took the “serious” level down a notch, from trying to be on national team stuff, and traveling as much as I did – going to camps and stuff like that was the focus, just kind of switched. Now I am focusing on road, and hopefully one day being on a road professional team and be able to travel and do crits with an actual pro team, instead of an elite team.

 

RK: Do you have any role models in the cycling community or in the sport in general?

SR: Yeah, my teammates – all of the Monster Media Women, they are my inspiration every day. They will put their selves on the line for me to win a field sprint. Without them [Monster Media Women’s Team] I would not be able to do what I do, they are my inspiration. They put all that hard work out there, and I want to make sure it gets recognized. Also this is cheesy [laughs] but Tela Crane (Crane is training for the Women’s Pursuit Team for the Olympics in 2016) is a big inspiration and role model, she is my roommate and best friend.

SIGN UP NOW, and for future Programming at the VELO! www.stubhubcenter.com/velo/special-programming

 

Follow the VELO on Twitter and Instagram (@ velosportcenter) and like us on Facebook.