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International Women's Day is a great opportunity to look back at the incredible work of women cyclists over the years. In the 1930s there were more than a few record breaking women who were household names, sadly in later decades their achievements have been largely forgotten, and women's cycling as a whole often struggles to get proper recognition and respect. Below are just some of the amazing women road record riders Australia has seen.  The tiny 45kg Billie Samuels, who set the first Melbourne-Sydney women's record in 1934, and just a few months later broke the Sydney-Melbourne record too. Her rides inspired a generation of women cyclists.  Valda Unthank's extraordinary 1938 Adelaide-Melbourne ride not only broke the women's record by a mind-boggling 37 hours 56 minutes, she also broke the men's record by over 13 hours!  Joyce Barry was famous across the country for her record rides. On her 1938 Brisbane-Rockhampton ride she broke the existing men's record by 23 hours!  In the 1960s Margaret Mclachlan was refused a racing licence by the NSW cycling union, so turned her hand to record rides in protest. Her Sydney-Newcastle time of 6hr14m30s, set in 1968, still stands as the record to this day.
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