Siobhan Dolan is a talented woman with a lovely Gailec Irish name. Having moved from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, her first time riding a bike with training wheels was around age 5, falling off a few times, the emphasis was more on schoolwork in those days. She went on to work in Investment Management in Corporate Communications.
In her late twenties, she felt unhealthy, having poor eating habits and packing on excess weight. She thought for two or three years that riding a bike might be a good way to shed some pounds, so on her thirtieth birthday, she made the decision and said, “I am going to do this!” Siobhan enrolled in a class in L.A. to learn how to ride a bike, and thought she would be joined by a room full of six year old’s. Instead, pleasantly surprised, her class was full of women about her age who were academics, working women mainly, who never got around to learning to ride a bike or ever encouraged to do so. She then went from riding a second hand bicycle around the block, to riding Century events effortlessly and racing at the track. She became one of the founding members of an L.A. racing team known as S.W.A.T. (She Wolf Attack Team), having met other co-founders at bike events all around Los Angeles. Siobhan leads the clubs Thursday night ride, which is geared to intermediate riders to welcome new members into the club. In addition to weekly group rides and bike clinics, the team races on the track, competes in Cyclocross as well as Road, and Unsanctioned local races. Their goal, to inspire “womxn” to ride, race and be a part of the cycling community.
Now age 36, she is soon to be married, having found her true love three years ago at the Velodrome. Their romance grew as they talked between races. Sounds like a cycling storybook fairy tale if ever there was one! So what does Siobhan enjoy most about riding a bike? Her reply, “Just how strong I feel, how unbelievably wonderful it is to feel like I can do anything. If I can suffer a little on a hill, then I can handle a stressful day at work, and I can handle other changes in my life. Every time I get on a bike, every time I get out there, even when I don’t feel like getting out there, even on my worst days, only shows me than I am so much more powerful than I think. There really isn’t anything I can’t do, even saying the words, “I can’t,” is only in my head, not in my body, so I need to believe in that and trust that now.” To balance her cycling activities, Siobhan recently added yoga and swim classes to her exercise regimen. While her weekly cycling distance varies, from weekend warrior rides, to riding to and from work, she currently rides between 100 to 150 miles per week.
There was a time she didn’t know anyone else who rode a bike, so when asked who her mentor was, she responded, “My mentor
was the internet, I really tried to learn everything by looking it up. If I had a question I would ask Google, I didn’t know who to go to. I think that’s what draws me so much to being a mentor and to encouraging new and intermediate riders to come together and create this shared knowledge base for each other, because I felt when I started racing I was by myself, when I went to the Velodrome to learn how to ride a fixed gear bike, I was by myself….
That’s what makes me turn around and give back. I would like to be now, the person that I wish I had, when I first started.” Is there anyone that you can look to now that inspires you? Siobhan replied, “It’s certainly Susie (Lowber), her idea has blossomed into race teams, and a huge community that are still growing and inspiring each other. I really do look up to a lot of women that I follow, the US Race Team, they’re amazing…… we have been very privileged to have a few of them come out to ride or come talk to us.”
Siohban recalls her most memorable biking adventure when a friend invited her to very first Century ride, The Solvang Century, then signing up for the, “Hammerhead.” She recalls a fifteen to twenty mile uphill plus100 miles. Stopping several times along the way up that hill, she said she experienced some real “break down moments,” and thought about calling the SAG wagon,but each time she stopped on that hill, she told herself, I can do this!” Siobhan didn’t call for help, she rode to the finish in tears. Siobhan Dolan has gone on to ride many Century events since then. Here’s to you Siobhan, for all you do to encourage women everywhere who want to be just like you!
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