Early life

Shaw was born on The Wirral in the North West England. She attended the University of Essex gaining a degree in physics. She then took a master's degree.^[1]

Outside cycling

Shaw works as a research scientist specialising in fibre optics.

She now lives in Hampshire.

Taking up cycling

Shaw says that she did no kind of sport until her twenties, and it was ten years after that before she got seriously into cycling.

I didn't do any sport outside school, and I certainly didn't do any at university. Eventually though, I got into triathlon when I started work, because a guy I worked with did them and he seemed to be having a lot of fun. The triathletes I met were such nice people I just sort of got hooked.^[2]

International honours

In 2008, she won the World Masters Championship Time Trial Championship (Women age 40-44) at St. Johann in Tirol.

British Cycling did not consider Shaw for selection to the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In 2010, she won a Silver medal in the British National Time Trial Championships behind Emma Pooley, meeting the standard laid down by BC for selection. She was added to the team and won a Bronze medal in the Women's road time trial event, 10 seconds behind Gold medallist Tara Whitten of Canada and 5 seconds behind Silver medallist Linda Villumsen of New Zealand.

Domestic competition

Shaw has won the British Best All-Rounder competition four times between 2006 and 2010. Only Beryl Burton, who won it 25 times in a row, has won it more often. Her winning average speed of 27.451 mph in 2009 was the record until 2016.

She won the Women's British National Time Trial Championships in 2005 and has finished on the podium seven times.

As of 2015 she has won 27 Cycling Time Trials national championships at standard distance.

She is the former British 'competition record' holder for 10 miles with her 2012 time of 19:47.

She broke the competition record for 25 miles with her 2011 time of 50:01.

She has twice broken the competition record for 50 miles, her best being the 2010 time of 1:46:46.

She has twice broken the competition record for 100 miles, currently holding it with her 2010 time of 3:45:22.

She has won the Beryl Burton Trophy, awarded to the CTT's woman Champion of Champions, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016.

Coaching

Shaw has worked with coach Auriel Forrester and now works with the exercise physiologist Dr Jamie Pringle.^[3] Pringle worked for the English Institute of Sport, a grant funded organisation governed by UK Sport. The English Institute of Sport provides science and medicine support to a wide variety of National Governing Bodies of British Olympic sports.^[4]