Spinning Class

Paula Tesoriero on the track.

Career not Cycling. Through her 20s, that was Paula Tesoriero's focus. As a young lawyer (she graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in 2000) her goals were at work.

Sure, she has ridden a bike since she was a kid on the Kapiti coast. From her teens, she dabbled in the odd duathlon and triathlon, as a team cyclist. And then, about five years ago, she got into spinning (stationary cycling classes) several times a week.

But really, cycling was all in fun. "I wasn't in the headspace to take it seriously as a competitive amputee cyclist at that stage," says the 32-year-old. Then her team began doing well in the triathlons.

"People started to say that if I could beat all these [able bodied] people, I should see how far I could take it against other amputee cyclists - though clearly it meant taking cycling to a whole new level. About two and a half years ago I decided to set some goals," she says.

As an amputee cyclist, Tesoriero rides in the LC3 category: she has a prosthesis on her lower left leg and her lower right leg has no ankle motion. In that class, she won a silver medal in the 3000m individual pursuit at the 2006 world championships in Switzerland. At last year's world championships in France, she won silvers in both pursuit and the 500m time trial. She also won New Zealand titles in both events in 2007 and 2008.

She backed all that in February's Australian Track championships with a world record of 44.2 sec in the event she likes most, the 500m.

So now for the next goal. At Beijing, Tesoriero will ride the 500m and 3000m, as well as the road time trial. "I would like to think I will medal on the track," she says. "Whether I will get gold in the 500m as world record holder, who knows?"

She points out that two different categories of disabled athletes compete together, with medals awarded according to a formula based on past world championships, "which creates less certainty".

But when it comes to her own performance, things are pretty clear, with her times steadily coming down. In the six months to February 2008, Tesoriero shaved five seconds from her pursuit best (riding 4min 23sec) and well over a second in the 500m.

"That doesn't sound like much, but it's a lot in such a short event," she says.

Aiming to hone things further, in late June Tesoriero began three-months' leave from work (she is now employed by the Ministry of Justice). "I wanted to get totally focused on cycling for the Games," she says.

In July, she went to Perth, to train with Darryl Benson from the Western Australian Institute of Sport (New Zealand's four other 2008 Paralympian cyclists also headed to Perth). In early August, Tesoriero was joined by her coach Simon Crumpton.

After China? That's yet to be confirmed. "I intend to race [at the Games] as if I will never race again. I want to give Beijing one hundred percent and not think there is a second chance. I don't want to have any regrets," she says. "Realistically I could well want to go to London but I'm not thinking about that. I'll assess everything after Beijing, think about where I want to go next".

Cycling is, after all, a big commitment. For the last couple of years, Tesoriero has been training 15-20 hours a week, book-ending her working day with 5am and 6pm sessions. There's also been plenty of gym work and many hours building endurance and strength on the capital's roads: round the bays, up the Hutt Valley, and over the city's many unrelenting hills. Her hometown velodrome is at Haitaitai – a 30 year-old bumpy concrete track. Times there might be slow, "but it's got to make you stronger!"

Once a month since about mid-2007, she's headed south to Invercargill's fast new velodrome. The speed of the indoor wooden boards gives a better indication of progress and provides valuable experience at riding a banked track – albeit into the chill of a Southern winter. She's also been to the University of Canterbury to test her setup and position for power and aerodynamics.

Accurate bike fit is demanding enough for any cyclist – there are few bikers who don't toy with position – but that's increased exponentially for one with an artificial limb. Brian Gilbert, who has been involved in Paralympic cycling for a number of years, and her husband Chris have provided plenty of help here.

"Brian understands bodies that are not your typical bodies. There are a million theories about cycling. But Brian and Chris have applied the theories with specific knowledge about disability," she says.

She's also worked with Geoff Goddard from the New Zealand Artificial Limb Board. "There's been a lot of hard work. He's spent hundreds of hours trying to perfect my cycling leg," she says.

The result? It's light and strong. Beyond that, we'll all have to wait until she lines up at the Games.

Paula Tesoriero was Cycling New Zealand's Cyclist with a Disability of the Year (2006 and 2007). She is Wellington Athlete with a Disability of the year 2008.

Updated | 31 Oct 2008.

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