February 21, 2004 – The first Women's Cycling Conference in BC hosted by Cycling BC was held on February 7, 2004 in Vancouver. The conference Chairperson, Pamela Egger, who is also Masters National Road and Time Trial Champion, Cycling BC Director, and a corporate finance lawyer, is pleased to confirm the Conference was very well attended and accomplished its objectives. Those objectives were to identify women's cycling issues at both the grassroots and elite level and develop prioritized action items to solve those issues. In addition, the conference participants elected three individuals as representatives for women on each of Cycling BC's High Performance, Junior, and Road, Track & Cyclocross Committees.

The three elected representatives and their contact information are:

High Performance Committee Women's Representative: Judy Latoski – jalatoski@telus.net

Road Track and Cyclocross Committee Women's Representative: Barb Zimich – bzimich@shaw.ca

Junior Committee Women's Representative: Katie Hobor – hersheyis@hotmail.com

The women's cycling issues that were identified and the action items suggested will be summarized in a written report that will be available to the public. Cycling BC and the above elected women's representatives will use the report to guide them to key areas to focus on in order to stimulate participation and development in the sport of women's cycling in BC.

The successful completion of the key action items suggested by the participants will require the personal contribution of those individuals who wish to make a positive change for women in the sport of cycling. Therefore, in the next couple of months, look for an announcement of the Women's Cycling Conference follow up meeting so you can attend to assist with flushing out the action items in more detail and determining responsibility for the implementation of the key items.

In addition, Cycling BC sends a large thank you to the key speakers at the conference, Alison Sydor who is an Olympic medalist and National Team Member, Leslie Tomlinson who is a former Olympian and National Team Member, and current CCA board member, and Heather Johnston, founder of Northwest Women's Cycling in Washington state. Heather helped create a vision of women's cycling at the grassroots level that we could strive to attain in BC. Leslie and Alison's experiences about becoming and being a professional female cyclist were a source of motivation and inspiration for all the conference participants.

We hope to see you at the BC Women's Cycling Conference follow up meeting. Stay tuned to the Cycling BC website for the date, time, and place to be announced within the next couple of months.