DFEG@PopularMechanics _ May 2019 63“Cycling just happened to fa ll into my lap,” he says. “The velodrome
had a free program, and I became hooked.” After a career of road rac-
ing across the world, he wanted to complete his dream of ma king the
Olympics, and he figured his best chance of doing that was where he
started, on the velodrome. The facility 20 minutes from the wood-
shop is Kline’s next stepping stone to the 2020 Olympic track-cycling
team. A good performance in today’s race means points toward qual-
ifying for the World Cup and other major races. From there he’ll have
to fight for a rank high enough to make the Olympic team.
Shane starts warming up, getting a light sweat under his jersey in
preparation for the first of four races. The event, called the omnium,
consists of four races scored individually, then tallied for an overall
winner. For an endurance rider like Kline, the omnium is his stron-
gest event. He rolls onto the track for the first race. The pack of cyclists
moves together, sprinting past one another, tucking in behind a racer
to reduce drag, r unning up the banked wall to slow down. The morn-
ing session is grueling, the second race following shortly after the
first. At the break, Shane is in a disappointing ninth place. “It was
one of those mornings. I had no legs at all. I just wasn’t there,” he says.
The evening session is different. He hammers the third race,
wins the fourth, and finishes in third place overall. He’s another step
closer. He drives home and falls asleep in bed beneath a giant wall
vent, in the room that used to be the shop’s spray room.
He is exhausted the next day. And yet he finds time to work with
wood. Or maybe it’s that he makes time. “It’s soothing,” he says. “You
know what to do.” There are failures, as on the track, and they are
as permanent as a bad race time, a statistic that can’t change: “You
can’t regrow wood.” Lately Kline has been turning live-edge slabs
into furniture. Sometimes the wood pushes back, like the road does,
and Shane just works harder at it, and smarter.
There is the wood, and there is the bike, and both challenge
Shane Kline.A / Warming
up and staying
loose throughout
a day with four
races is crucial to
performing well
in the omnium.
When the track
is busy, Kline uses
a set of rollers
to get his legs
moving.
B / The shop gives
Kline an opportu-
nity to spend time
with his father,
Ray. “My dad and
I have a great
relationship, so
hanging out with
him in the shop
has just always
been fun,” he says.
C / “I’ve raced in
nearly every state
and nine different
countries and
I’ll tell you what:
The riding in east-
ern Pennsylvania
is some of the
best you can find,”
Kline says.
D / Kline credits a
lot of his patience
in cycling, both in
racing and recover-
ing from injuries,
to his work with
wood.
E / Since velodrome
bikes don’t have
brakes, riders
can’t quickly slow
down. Instead they
ride up the banked
walls to slowdown.
Because of this,
early in their
careers all riderslearn not to over-
lap tires with
the rider in front
of them—except
when they’re
passing, of course.
F / Even during
grueling training
seasons, Kline
wakes up to see
his wife, Taylor
Wasson, off
to work.
G / Kline likes
the challenge
of live-edge
wood, trying
to change as
little as possible
about each slab.
He focuses on
adding functional
items, like legs,
that flowfrom
the wood.