Favorite Female Cyclists #1 - Alison Dunlap

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We're finished! #1 in my Favorite Female Cyclists series is Alison Dunlap, from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Go figure, right? But check it out: Alison Dunlap raced both mountain and road bikes (she raced both in the Olympics,) but made her name mostly as a professional cross country (XC) mountain biker in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Dunlap was the 2001 UCI World XC Champion, and the 2002 UCI Tissot World Cup XC Champ. She won the Gold Medal in Cross Country at the 1999 Pan American Games. Closer to home, Dunlap was a three time NORBA (America) National XC Champion, three time United States Short Track XC Champ, six time US National Cyclocross Champion, and was the 1991 US National Road and Omnium Collegiate Champ. She is in the United States Bicycling, Colorado Sports, Colorado Springs Sports, and Colorado College Athletic Halls of Fame. Favorite Alison Dunlap moment? The 2001 World Championships were held in Vail, Colorado, right after the World Trade Center attack. As she crossed the finish line in first place, Dunlap grabbed an American Flag away from a spectator, wrapped herself in it, fell off her bike, and laid there on the ground, crying underneath the flag. That, and one morning in Downtown Colorado Springs, I saw her across the street at a Starbucks, getting ready for a group training ride. That was so cool! (Info verified by Wikipedia)