FELLOWS, Calif. -- Jimmy Watkins knows a thing or two about a double shift.

A county firefighter from the Fellows substation by day, he's emerging as a prominent cyclist.

Watkins only took up track cycling three years ago as a way to stay fit when he was a seasonal firefighter with Kern County Fire.

"It's basically like a second job," Watkins says. "It started out as a hobby, something I got into to stay in shape, but I now train 6 days a week."

Last month, Watkins put his second job to the test, competing at the Pan-American Track Cycling Championships in Mexico City. He took gold in the kilometer time trial, setting a regional record in the process. He also claimed silver in the keirin event, which is a two-kilometer race featuring six to nine racers in each heat.

He also set a national record in the qualifying rounds of the match sprint event before finishing fifth.

"You're trying to make the other guy make a mistake," Watkins said. "You try to catch him going too slow at some part of the track or not paying attention, and then you get a jump on him."

Balancing firefighting with cycling is a considerable challenge. The nearest velodrome is in Los Angeles, so he brings the next best thing to the fire station for his downtime.

"Most of my training days when I'm in town are spent on the [Kern River] bike path," Watkins says. "When I'm here at work, I have rollers I can train on or an ergo, which has got wind and magnetic resistance so that I can get really high load efforts without practically having to ride the bike."

Watkins hopes to take part in a few World Cup events to train for the World Championships next March in Copenhagen, Denmark. He's also got an eye on the London Olympics in 2012.

"I think it's definitely a reasonable goal, with the way my training's been going and performances," Watkins says. "It's 3 years away, so I'll keeep training and see what happens."