Kathryn Bertine

Inducted Class of 2025

Kathryn Bertine is an author, sports activist, professional cyclist, triathlete and many other things.
In 2003 she was the UA’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Alumna of the year. In 2015 she was the Arizona Cyclist of the Year.
As a youngster in New York, she was such a talented ice skater that she appeared in the Ice Capades. At Colgate University, she was a varsity rower.
Her resume reads: “Petitioned the Tour de France to add a women’s race — and was successful.’’
The professional cyclist recently made a documentary about gender equity in the sport of cycling. She earned an MFA in creative writing from the UA in 2000 and has written and published three books. She also wrote a column for ESPN from 2006-08 called “So You Wanna Be An Olympian?’’ and was a senior editor for ESPNw.
Bertine has said she identifies most as an athlete, writer an activist, but she’s also the first to admit she wears many hats in life.
She says her favorite place to be on her bicycle is Mount Lemmon. She was Bicycling Magazine’s September 2016 cover story.
She said she came to Tucson for grad school. “I thought, ‘OK, I’ll be here for two years and then move onward.’ But I got into triathlon and then cycling and what ended up happening was I really fell in love with Tucson. Here I am riding my bike, trying to be a professional athlete, and other people out there were riding their bikes, doing their sport — and they happened to be lawyers, mechanics, dentists.
“I love that about Tucson. Tucson is home and if the city wants me to stick around then I’m more than happy to oblige.’’
She earned her Masters of Fine Arts at the UA and at the same time became a triathlete. She has raced globally, won many championships and recently wrote and produced a documentary called “Half the Road,’’ about the limitations for female athletes in cycling. That documentary helped to create more opportunities for female cyclists.
“The Road Less Taken: Lessons from a Life Spent in Cycling,’’ which became a must-read in the cycling community.
Somehow, she found the time to be a three-time Caribbean cycling champion and a six-time national cycling champion in St. Kitts, as a dual citizen of the USA and St. Kitts.