Kathy Schachel

Filed under Hall Of Fame on July 18, 2015 | Comment(s)

In a time when the girls were still called Powder Puffs, “Fluffy” Kathy Schachel set the standard for the future of the Pro Womens class. Under the guidance of her New Jersey mentor – the late, great, Hall of Famer, Charlie Litsky, she became part of the Shimano factory team and went on to tally up an impressive 55 career wins. Among those victories came three NBL National No.1 titles, two World Championships and even a European Championship title. She lead the formation of the world’s first Womens Pro class, in 1985, then proceeded to earn the NBL No.1 Woman Pro title in its first two years. The fact that Kathy was rad enough to roost all over the cover of the November 1979 issue of BMX Plus! stands alone – as she set the tone for future generations of girl racers, showing them that girls can not only jump and get rad like the boys, but sometimes … you can even beat ‘em! (Editor’s note: As we prep this story, we’re listening to “Flirtin With Disaster” by Molly Hatchet–one of Kathy’s mottos back in the early 80s).