Anne Marie McSweeney cycling scholarship for women
This scholarship is an amazing opportunity for women that are interested in learning more about cycling and helping other women. This is my long overdue report of my 2011 PAC Tour experience as one of the recipients of the McSweeney scholarship.
In 2009 I transitioned from Ironman to ultra- cycling. The seed had been planted for ultra- cycling in mid-2000 by Danny Chew. I meet Danny on the TOSRV bike tour in Ohio. I was riding by myself, this group from Pittsburgh invited me to ride with them. Quickly, I found out there was something not right about Danny. The guys from Pittsburgh said Danny was harmless. It was a cold, rainy 200 miles so I did not mind listening to Danny rant. At some point Danny asked, “what is your shoe size?” I was a little thrown off by the question but answered him. Bad move. This became the focus of discussion, in a moment of desperation I sold out my sister to get him to stop asking me questions about my feet. I told Danny that my sister wears a size 10 in mens. Danny freaked me out. After that I did not really talk him again until recently. 2009 TOSRV I meet another friend of Danny’s, Eric Overton. On the 2nd day of TOSRV I snapped my derailleur hanger and had to convert my bike into a single speed. I meet Eric on the rolling hills to Columbus. Eric was the first ultra-cyclist that I meet from Ohio. He said that he was feeling fatigued because he had raced Calvin’s Challenge the week before. I had heard about Calvin’s before but never knew anyone who had raced it. Eric talked about how fun it was, then he told me about an upcoming race, the National 24 hour Challenge in Michigan. Eric said that N24C was flat and you only had to do one of each of the three loops to finish the race. Eric’s sales pitch worked. I signed up. I quickly found out that Eric was not truthful about the courses and and it was a lot harder then he said. But it was too late, I had fallen for the bait. I had an amazing time, did not train, got lost on the course, had no idea what I was doing, but took first in my age group, and fell in love with ultra-cycling. I started researching the earlier women of ultra- cycling on the Ultra Marathon Cycling web site. I read about Susan Notorangelo, Seana Hogan, and Muffy Ritz. I read their stories and I was inspired. These women set a high bar for the sport. Seana Hogan’s solo RAAM record still stands a decade and a half latter. When I found out about the McSweeney scholarship and that Susan Notorangelo and her husband Lon ran PAC tour I was more eager to submit my application.
I applied for the McSweeney scholarship 2009, got denied. Last October I got an e-mail from the scholarship chairperson encouraging me to re-apply. I did. I was surprised last December when I got the e-mail congratulating me that I was one of the winners. I was excited about going on PAC tour with two of the leaders in ultra- cycling and getting out of Ohio in February.
I can’t say enough good things about my experience on PAC tour. Lon and Susan are two of the most amazing people. They were willing to share their knowledge about ultra-cycling as long as you asked them questions. Susan was quick to give a brutally honest answer and Lon’s look on his face spoke for itself. I learned a lot about ultra- cylcing on PAC tour. Most people that you meet that have done PAC tour will say that they have made lifelong friendships on these tours. If you are a women that feels that you want to learn more about cycling and you want to help other women you should apply for this scholarship. I learned on PAC tour that Anne Marie McSweeney was a women encouraged other women into cycling and after her tragic death this scholarship was set-up in her honor, and to carry on what she did for women cyclists.
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