Jacquie Phelan (born December 10, 1955 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

) is an American road and cyclocross racer, and was the

NORBA Norba, an ancient town of Latium (''Adjectum''), Italy. It is situated 1 mile northwest of the modern town of Norma, on the western edge of the Volscian Mountains or Monti Lepini. The town is perched above a precipitous cliff with a splendid vie ...

champion three consecutive years—1983, 1984, and 1985. Phelan is known through the US

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

community for having developed WOMBATS (Women's Mountain Bike & Tea Society) for women interested more in socializing and enjoying nature. Her nickname of "Alice B. Toeclips" is a homage to Alice B. Toklas. Her bike Otto, was among the first aluminum frames raced, with drop bars off-road, and her creative attire. Phelan is married to

Wilderness Trail Bikes Wilderness Trail Bikes (usually shortened to WTB) is a privately owned company based in Marin County, California, USA. Founded in 1982 as a company that specialized in mountain bike parts, today WTB sources and sells its product worldwide supplyi ...

founder and component inventor

Charlie Cunningham Charlie Cunningham (born August 23, 1948) is a mountain biker from Fairfax, California. Along with frame builder Steve Potts and his helper Mark Slate, Cunningham co-founded Wilderness Trail Bikes (WTB). Cunningham and Potts were forced out ...

, the bicycle frame builder whose aluminum bike, "Otto," Phelan raced unbeaten for six years. This bike was the first modern lightweight mountain bike, and its heat-treated sloping top tube aluminum frame held up for over nine consecutive seasons. The roller cam brakes, two chainrings (44-34), and custom-fabricated eleven-tooth rear cog gave a boost in technical riding. The bike also drew criticism from traditional framebuilders, who believed durable frames had to be made of steel. She is a charter inductee into the

Mountain Bike Hall of Fame The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame (MBHOF) was founded in 1988 to chronicle the history of mountain biking. Formerly located in Crested Butte, Colorado, it relocated to Fairfax, California in 2014 and became part of the Marin Museum of Bicycling. Si ...

in 1988. In 2000, she was inducted into the

United States Bicycling Hall of Fame The United States Bicycling Hall of Fame, located in Davis, California, is a private 501c3 non-profit organization formed to preserve and promote the sport of cycling. The organization was founded in 1986 in Somerville, New Jersey and has inducte ...

. Along with a dozen others, Phelan founded NORBA in 1982, and was a charter member of IMBA. Phelan founded the Women's Mountain Bike & Tea Society (WOMBATS) in 1987 to encourage women's and girls' participation, and in 1984 produced the sport's first off-road skills camps & clinics, known as "Fat Tire Finishing School". Her nickname of "Alice B. Toeclips" is a homage to Alice B. Toklas. Phelan once had the opportunity to ride with Independent Fabrication's racer Amy Crawford, a defining experience for both riders. Phelan was the first US mountain bike racer to race abroad ( Man v. Horse, Wales). In 2004, she placed 8th overall in the Transportugal, a 1300 km offroad adventure race, where she was the only woman. Phelan is still invited to participate in offroad races both stateside and abroad. In summer 2009 she took part in a two-month vodka commercial called the 42 Below ride, a 4,200-mile crossing of the US by road bike. Phelan appears in three documentary films: '' Full Cycle: A World Odyssey'' (1994), ''How to Cook Your Life'' (Doris Doerrie's film about Zen baker Edward Espe Brown, 2007), and Billy Savage's ''Klunkerz''.A Film About Mountain Bikes
2007

References

External links

Her blog

Her new blog about foodProfile on the MTB Hall of FameWOMBAT's Home PagePhotos from the 80s
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mountainbikeroots.com
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bikereader.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelan, Jacquie 1955 births Living people American female cyclists American mountain bikers Racing drivers from San Francisco 21st-century American women