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Scholarships For Women

Anne Marie McSweeney

Anne Marie McSweeney loved cycling and loved sharing her experiences with others. Anne Marie laughed a lot at cycling camps and on cycling tours. But now her laugh is gone— she died when her car collided with an RV in Klamath Falls, OR on June 24, 2006. She was only 45 years old. After a long career at Microsoft she had moved to Bend, OR where she was active as a community volunteer.

In honor of Anne Marie and her enthusiasm for cycling and in conjunction with the UMCA's purpose to promote long-distance cycling, a scholarship fund has been set up in her name. The Anne Marie McSweeney scholarship fund will provide scholarships to women cyclists to attend the PAC Tour women's camp. The scholarship fund is administered by the UMCA and contributions to fund are tax-deductible. The deadline for applications is December 1, 2012.

McSweeney Scholarship Fund

A committee of UMCA women chaired by Nancy Guth will review scholarship applications, based on the selection criteria below. The committee may award full or partial scholarships, at their discretion. Candidates will be chosen based on their interest to gain mentally, physically and emotionally from the educational experience of a PAC Tour Training Camp, which encourages responsible and enjoyable adult behavior on a bicycle at all times. We hope that the chosen cyclists will come away from the camp with a joy for life, a generosity of spirit and a respect for the skills, techniques, mechanics and dynamics of being a cyclist. That's what we believe Anne Marie would want.

	Susan Notorangelo & Anne Marie McSweeney	McSweeney 2007 winners: Susan Notorangelo, Shanna Matheson, Lynn Anne Vesper & Lon Haldeman	McSweeney 2008 winner Joanne Rude	McSweeney 2009 winner Susan Peluso

Selection Criteria

Preference will be given to:

1. First-time PAC Tour Camp attendees. The applicant should state her reasons for attending the camp as well as her experience with PAC Tour Camps or other cycling camps.
2. Women with 1-3 years of cycling experience who will use the instruction in nutrition, technique and training to become better cyclists. The applicant should briefly describe her cycling history and the types of riding she enjoys.
3. Applicants who have already demonstrated an interest in sharing the joy of cycling with other women by work they have done — in their local club or at a community, state or national level. The applicant should also state how she plans to use the camp experience to nurture women's cycling in the future.
4. Applicants who plan to use the PAC Tour camp experience to achieve a specific goal, and that goal should be stated in their application essay. Whether it is to complete her first century, join a women's cycling team or compete in a long distance event like RAAM, the loftiness of the goal need not be important, but the applicant should use the camp experience to raise her game a notch.

The scholarship covers the PAC Tour camp fee, which includes registration, one PAC Tour souvenir item, daily rides, all seminars, housing (based on double occupancy), breakfast and lunch. The scholarship does not include travel or meal expenses. The women will be assigned a roommate at camp and are responsible to bring (or ship) their bikes to and from camp. No rental bikes will be provided. The women must wear a helmet at all times while riding the bike. The women will be expected to attend all pre-ride and post-ride meetings and functions. UMCA Directors and Officers, selection committee members and their immediate families are ineligible for this scholarship.

Scholarship recipients will also receive a one-year membership in the UMCA.

Application

application (pdf) must be submitted by December 1, 2012 to the address on the bottom of the form.

Questions? Contact the UMCA director executivedirector @ ultracycling.com

More information about PAC Tour at www.pactour.com