Shannon Huticson - Nevada City California

I would like to think of this site as a cycling heritage site for women pros. My interest in women's cycling didn't start until the late 80's when Longo came into view, but more importantly for me, it was Leontien's win at the 1991 World championships in Stuttgart Germany. She was one of the few women that appeared in news articles here in America. Her appearance in American network coverage of the Olympic Barcelona road race in Spain introduced her to the American public. Since that time, I have followed a number of women in Europe as well as Americans who have come into the limelight.

I remember watching the women in Nevada City climb the short but wicked climbs that have made that course famous. Over the years as a hobby, I have taken numerous home movies and photos of the women's races here in America, but the real action seems to be mostly over in Europe. However here in California, there are a number of excellent events, Redlands and Sea Otter, CVC, Central Valley Classic and Mclane Pacific. Another excellent race was the SFGP, also called the T-Mobile International in San Francisco.

Since that was canceled, the Tour of California has taken its place, but they have failed to add a women's event so far. Today, only Redlands remains as a stage race for women and it's been cut down as well, but an excellent TT was added to CVC, the 2600 foot climb of Tollhouse near Fresno. Nevada City, which is shown in the image above, was once the greatest race in American and nearly the oldest. It not only showcases the best talent in America, but was huge draw for fans.

This was one race that layered fans all the way around the course so thick, that it was often hard to get into any shops, but the stores loved the business that the event drew. Since that time, this race has floundered as well, but it's not been forgotten. Maybe someday we will have the ultimate stage race, a Tour of the Sierras that would include some the great epic climbs of the Sierras, and really put the riders to the test. Since the Women's Challenge was canceled a few years back, there has not been a great epic stage race to take its place, or at least not one to test the climbers. Sierra Nevada would be a great place to showcase the nation's best riders.

While nationwide, Tour De Toona, Tour of the Gila, Mt. Washington, Mt. Evans and other events have tried to test the riders and many are interesting events, nothing has really replaced the Women's Challenge. The Mount Hamilton road race used to be an interesting race starting with the massive climb to Mount Hamilton, it's a one day race, but it would be a nice stage for a stage race.

I would propose a premiere 16 stage race like the Grande Boucle, an equivalent of the Women's Tour De Feminin, including a number of passes like Tioga pass, Sonora Pass, Monitor Pass, Ebbetts pass, and perhaps the massive climb from Three Rivers to Sequoia National Park, or the climb from El Portal to Glacier Point would certainly be a great place to end a stage. While many centuries both single and doubles has developed over the years in the Sierras, a grand stage race would be quite spectacular since Yosemite's beauty has hardly any equal anywhere in the world.

This site will try to present all the women here in the best favorable light. With each rider, I will attempt to highlight their career and race wins down through the years while mentioning the most interesting and favorable facts about each rider's career. While I have good knowledge on some riders and known some of the ladies quite well, others I will attempt to dig for the facts and figures with the years of data I have read and researched down through the years.

I have been attending races and collecting women's cycling videos since the early 90's, and as the total fanatic I was, am, I also subscribed to five different cycling magazines including Cycling Weekly from the UK which often had interesting stories about the British ladies and their exploits. On occasions I have spoke with a fair number of great women about their cycling career and their exploits as well as how the sport has improved for women and where it's headed.

While the hardships of women pros has improved some over the years, still there are plenty of hurdles ahead including better prizes and better pay overall for the women pros. In the past many pros have had to stay at schools bedding down, and while many are provided with meals and lodging, some ride for little pay, or none at all. In Europe, often the races pay very little in actual prizes but it's market value that seems to count. The more high profile races and world cup events riders can race in, the more they can make a name for themselves, which even in the end, if they don't become a great racer, this can open the doors to their dream career.

Also the Olympics is ticket to fame that can open many doors and turn a rider into a legend almost overnight, something that might take years or decades to do racing the circuits of an average season, so the desire to get selected and make the olympics is huge, as it only comes every 4 years. Winning the women's olympic road race, time trial or track events can almost set one up for a successful career overnight and the endorsements and opportunities that follow certainly are worth the effort to make the team. I think it's nearly everyone's dream to win an olympic gold medal, it's very special.

In fact in Europe often being in the Tour De France for men alone can almost set one up for life, opening doors and become a local hero in their little towns or communities. To some extent the same can apply for women if they can race enough and make a name for themselves, so it's not always about winning, but how you play the game, as the famous saying goes. As cycling philosophers say, it's not so much about winning but the participation that counts, the experience.

That's why some women don't do it for fame or the money, but because they love the sport, but along with decades of racing, so comes fame, not so much from winning but from the participation. There are so many riders who haven't won much over the years, but we love them because they love the sport, and love to race. There are so many women who's silent contributions have made the sport better, and to them we pay silent tribute, like the unknown soldier, they are the legions of unknown riders.

I have learned a great deal about the great women pros over the years thanks to many friends here and in Europe. I would hope this database of stories and palmares, stats, etc. would give readers a way to get to know the top women racers in the world from past and present by reading a compilation or a short history of their careers, while browsing photos and career highlights, stats and palmares.

While for the most part all the ones I had intended to showcase are here, in time I will add others, as well as photos from our California NRC events. But it's very time consuming and takes great patience to research the stories, stats, and career highlights of so many women of the last 30 years, so there is still tons to be done. I hope to finish compiling all the data in two years time, by 2009 I hope, so stay tuned. I have literally mountains of data, but it's all fun, and a great adventure!

Final Thoughts:

The ranks of the women have exploded over time. There have been record numbers of women registered to race, and some events have seen more women then men. Case in point, the Snelling event in California set a record for more women then men. The point is the women have come into their own, and if they surpassed the men someday in terms of fans and prize money, it wouldn't bother me a bit. However offering equal prize money has happened in a number of races worldwide today.

In fact I would say more power to them, because they are drug free for the most part, and they really do capture the beautiful side of the sport. While the masses look to Tennis and Ice Skating as the top sports for the beautiful side of women's sports, I believe that in time, women's cycling could surpass Tennis and Ice Skating because they are not only great athletes but there is nothing more beautiful then athletic women climbing in the fantastic colors of their sponsors. It's a natural gift from God, and why not take full advantage.

Of course it doesn't seem realistic right now and women's cycling seems a bit more gutsy with less finesse then Ice Skating, but just look at the 2006 World Road Championships for a clue. It was considered one of the most exciting races ever, and while it's totally different then Ice Skating or Tennis, it is obvious that the fans really enjoyed that race. It's partly a lack of exposure as well on TV nationally and Internationally, although I know women's races in Europe has again had a resurgence with TV coverage in many places like Belgium, Italy and certainly France with their famous Grande Boucle.

Now compared to the men's races, the fact that men are more faster then women as the single most important factor that separates the two camps to me personally is totally irrelevant. When you subtract speed out of the equation, you are still left with a breathtaking sport, which the women shine like the stars above. However, it's quite admirable and remarkable that some of the top pro women can equal even cat-1 and 2 riders on occasions, so the concept of speed is not even remotely important to me, but what counts is the participation and how they play the game, with honor, dignity and respect for the sport and their fellow riders.

This site is dedicated as a tribute to all the great pro women of cycling, but especially to Nicole Reinhart who will always be an inspiration and triump of the human spirit.

Quoting Nicole:

"You have to work hard for a long time without results. And you'll feel like you're putting yourself into a hole, but you just have to stay focused. You have to have faith that if you're doing the work now, you'll get there sometime."

Also I would like to pay special tribute memorials to our Top Professional heroes worldwide who are no longer with us; Beryl Burton, Mary Jane Reoch, Michela Fanini, Nicole Reinhart, Pascal Ranucci, Magali Pasche, Amy Gillette, Liane Bahler and Zita Urbonaite. Also hats off to the brillant return and winning performances of Alex Rhodes.