\u201cMy run into Paris was super challenging,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
In March 2022, Shields\u2019 health began a downwards trajectory after contracting a Covid-like virus that left her fatigued and sick for two seasons. \u201cThere were days when I couldn\u2019t get off the couch, let alone train. It was horrific,\u201d she told LockerRoom in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole build-up to Paris was a lot and I ummed and ahhed about taking a year off. But I knew I needed this time, otherwise there\u2019s no way I\u2019d make it to LA.\u201d The US city is hosting the 2028 Olympic Games.<\/p>\n
Granted a sabbatical year, something she acknowledges as a privilege, Shields knew the bike-packing adventure was what her creative, adventurous soul needed.<\/p>\n
Nicole Shields and Hamish Legarth shared a goal to donate 100 bikes to rural East African communities. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
After putting the word out for a riding buddy, Olympic teammate and sprint kayaker Hamish Legarth signed up.<\/p>\n
Before Africa, Legarth hadn\u2019t done much cycling and although they weren\u2019t travelling fast, there were some long, punishing days on rough terrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cHumans are made to adapt. He had a sore arse but he was pretty good\u2026 he walked up a lot of hills,\u201d laughs Shields. Filtering 10 litres of water each day was Legarth\u2019s job.<\/p>\n
As part of the journey, the pair partnered with World Bicycle Relief, raising nearly $35,000 \u2013 enough to pay for more than 100 bicycles in the countries they travelled through.<\/p>\n
Along the way, Shields stopped in two communities in each of six nations (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to meet people whose lives had been transformed by the charity\u2019s work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe visited a school in Tanzania and there were so many beautiful kids showing us how much they value education and how the bikes are helping them get there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo hear from these incredible people how getting a bike has changed their life, and their life trajectory, was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Accustomed to riding an aerodynamic 6.7kg, carbon-fibre pursuit bike, Shields was instead chugging along on a 40kg aluminium bike-packing beast with no suspension.<\/p>\n
Nicole Shields had to contend with illness, monotonous uphill climbs and poor sleep during her journey. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The trip began in Kampala, Uganda, and while a few people questioned their decision to start there, it was eye-opening from the first day \u2013 navigating through slums with massive piles of rubbish and flooded streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was immediately a shock, coming straight from New Zealand,\u201d Shields says.<\/p>\n
Deep into the journey, there were days when Shields admits she questioned her life choices \u2013 the monotonous grind mixed with basic accommodation and less-than-ideal training food. But she says they saw the real Africa not the tourist highlight reel.<\/p>\n
On one particularly challenging day in Iten, Kenya (the high-altitude mecca for distance runners in the Great Rift Valley), they were feeling the toll of hard days and poor sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d just descended this huge escarpment, dropping 2000m in two hours,\u201d she says. \u201cWe stayed in the valley that night and the next day had to go straight back up the other side. It was just demoralising.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a humbling way, Shields found beauty and recovery in the mission.<\/p>\n
What they didn\u2019t recover from quickly, though, was what they initially thought was malaria, after testing positive on a RATS test.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember waking up feeling a bit off. Fifty kilometres into an 80km day, we pulled over at a petrol station and I went downhill rapidly,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
A Tanzanian girl helps Nicole Shields with her bike. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
After a visit to a tropical medicine clinic in Nairobi, they discovered the tests were counterfeit. They didn\u2019t have malaria \u2013 they had worms, stomach flu and the blastocystis parasite.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to eat street food \u2013 it was that or nothing,\u201d Shields says. \u201cYou can\u2019t control what water they\u2019re washing food in. But wow, we were both really sick and lost valuable time because we had to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite lost time and illness, Shields says the experience was humbling. \u201cWe were exposed to kind people who were just trying to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
As she returns to the Cycling NZ high-performance environment, Shields says she\u2019s reconciled the privilege of getting to use a bike in the pursuit of excellence rather than the pursuit of basic needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe use bikes in such a niche, sterile environment. Seeing how one can completely change someone\u2019s life is something I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a fresh perspective and a big training block of a different kind behind her, Shields is energised to bring more creativity to her training and her life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels great to be in a place where I can carry on to LA, in a way that I want to and that I\u2019m excited to get stuck into.\u201d<\/p>\n