GAP may mean blue jeans for some people. But for a high school chum Holly Williams and myself, GAP is the Great Allegany Passage, a five-day bike tour of western Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Rails to Trails Conservancy.

Along with 300 other friendly folks on mountain and hybrid bikes, we traveled 150 miles on a crushed gravel trail once belonging to the Western Maryland Railroad, from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Maryland.

I started riding in 1995, and at the time there weren't many women pursuing such a tough sport. Sure, there were pioneers like Missy Giove, Juliana Furtado, and Jacquie Phelan of Wombats, leading the charge. But, it just seemed that there weren’t many women like me—out of shape, and new to the sport -- but not giving up. It was a man's world, baby.

You can find Cycle California! Magazine at 825 locations in Northern California and Northern Nevada.
Click on the "Get the mag" link above to find out where.
Or, click on the image of the magazine cover above to read this month's issue!