Mother of local cycling

We talk a lot about the father of local cycling, the late Peter Teeuwen. It’s time to talk about the mother of local cycling, Pam Zimmerman. She started road bike racing in the 1970’s—long before Greg Lemond even introduced USA to the idea of competing on bikes. She has been on the podium in Nationals, mentored juniors and taken them to nationals, served as a USCF official for years and promoted dozens of local road races. Pam comes from the old guard of national champs Charlotte and Camilla, and she has raced against probably every woman in Virginia since that time.

She and Blaine took over the enormous Grand Slam of Cycling (4 days of professional racing with a $2.4 million local estimated economic impact) in 1993. She continued for the next decade promoting dozens of races through Tidewater Bicycle Association and through her current team, James River Velo Sports. My favorites were the Charles City RR, Pipsico State RR, and of course the Surry two-man time trials.

I have never told Pam how much influence she has had on me. I am a safe rider in training rides and in races, largely because I rode with Pam the first few years I raced. She showed me many times that no risk is worth compromising safety for, though I can’t resist riding at night despite her avoidance of night rides! She taught me how to hold a line and to not be afraid to speak up when someone else can’t hold a line. I have been lost in Williamsburg with her. Pam continues to teach me that racing consistently and having fun, year-end and year-out, are more important than putting it all on the line for one season and burning out. I am not going to say “Thanks Mom” or any nonsense like that, but I am grateful for her influence.

(Above photos by Love2ride and Bob Samuel. Below, yeah, Pam did all that AND worked a full time job.)