club history:

"Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat; and away she goes, the picture of untrammeled womanhood." -- Susan B. Anthony

2003 - the beginning

In 2003 longtime mountain bike racer, Jilayne Lovejoy, noticed a distinct lack of women at the local road races she was now attending regularly. She also noticed no lack of women out riding road bikes. So why are so few women racing or even trying racing? In the process of trying to answer this question, Jilayne discovered that Title Nine had previously offered women's group rides in 2002. She contacted Title Nine and found out they had no one to lead their rides for 2003.

Jilayne had more to do than simply organize group rides. She wanted to provide a way for women to learn more about the sport, learn the techniques of riding in a group, and encourage women to try a race or two. Title Nine, a company self-professed to be evangelical about women's participation in sports and fitness activities (and eating chocolate), is an athletic clothing company for women. Their commitment to women's athletic is apparent in everything they do; from sponsoring running races to clinics and special events at their retail stores to the pictures of real life athletic women in their catalogs. The Boulder store already had a successful running group, run by Meg Letherby, as well as sponsoring the Title 9K Mother's Day Run. Adding cycling clinics was a logical next step to expand the company's community involvement.

The result of this relationship in 2003 was a series of 4 weekly outdoor clinics lead by Jilayne and other local racing women. They met at the Title Nine store in Boulder, talked about various riding topics, and then set out to practice skills. Much information was exchanged, new riding partners gained, new friends made, and, at the end of it all, eight women who had never raced before tried their first race!

2004 - bigger and better

From the experience gained through the clinics in 2003, it was apparent that the need for a non-intimidating forum to ask questions and learn new skills was indeed there. Going off of feedback from the original clinic attendees, Jilayne and Boulder store manager, Meg Letherby, grew the series into a bigger and better program for 2004 including; an indoor lecture series to cover the more lengthy topics, a longer outdoor skills series including the opportunity to practice skills and race in a closed course format, a club format with a club jersey and other club benefits. Club members set up a Yahoo Group and began networking and setting up club rides. By the end of 2004, the club had 57 members. 2004 was a year of huge growth in many ways.

2005 - the year of the club

In 2005, the club continued to grow while still offering free lectures and skills clinics to the public. Club members took on a bigger role in the club organization. A schedule of target races were chosen for those members interested in racing. Club members participated in the Elephant Rock Ride, the Triple Bypass, and the Buffalo Classic. During the summer, regular club rides met several times per week including climbing rides, endurance rides, and a race-pace ride. By the end of 2005, Title Nine Women's Cycling had grown to 85 members strong!

2006 - more good things to come!