Professional cyclist Kathryn Bertine loves a long ride — and an endurance challenge.
“For any athlete who falls in love with any sport there's something about a sport that connects with who we are and what we do and for me cycling really spoke to me from the endurance perspective,” Bertine said. “I love spending time out there on the bike and hours of practice with something that appealed to me and something about being outside and having that freedom to explore and be one with nature out on the roads, that's what really drew me into cycling.”
But, in the world of professional cycling she says, things are not equal. According to Bertine, men are guaranteed a base salary of $40,000 a year by the Pro Cycling Federation, while women are guaranteed nothing. It’s just one of a long list of inequities in the sport that got under her skin.
Bertine decided to do something about it. She founded the Homestretch Foundation in Tucson, where there’s already a thriving community of cyclists and has managed to nudge the pro-cycling world forward when it comes to gender equity in the sport.
Kathryn Bertine spoke more about it with KJZZ's The Show.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Kathryn Bertine's last name.
