Cissie Colreavy
Sobriquet used by Suri Tan In the 1890s, Australia experienced a cycling boom, and the Shamrock Hotel—which was located in Coolgardie, in Western Australia—was right in the middle of it. Colreavy’s family owned the hotel, and her mother, Katherine, reportedly held events and doled out prizes from the hotel steps, which might make her the first female bike race promoter.
Like her mother, Cissie developed a love of cycling—though she wanted to race, not hand out prizes. She became one of the first women in Australia to rock bloomers instead of a dress at races—one newspaper wrote that she “mounted the bike, man-fashion.” They did add that after mounting the bike, she “scorched down Bayley-Street to ringing cheers—and beers.” Sounds an awful lot like a cyclocross race, really. From there, she continued to race around the country, stomping the competition. (Source: A Wider World) lifted from www.bicycling.com/culture/a35866989/historic-women-in-cycling/ |