The Women's Guide to Motorcycling. Lynda Lahman
Iowa, and it was Mike who taught her to ride in 1946. Joining Motor Maids in 1951, she put more than 550,000 miles on her bikes and performed on her club’s drill team while being among the first riders to promote the wearing of helmets and protective clothing. She was voted “America’s Most Popular” and “Typical Girl Rider” for 1958 by the AMA, and she served on the founding board of the AMA Hall of Fame Museum. She was inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2011. Wilson passed away on July 23, 2014, at the age of ninety-eight, an active supporter of all riders—especially women—until her death.
Cletha Walstrom conquered the Abra Malaga mountain pass in Macchu Picchu, Peru, in 2013.
Mary McGee began road-racing motorcycles in 1960 and was the first woman licensed by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). She became the first female to compete in motocross in 1967, and she entered the inaugural Baja 500 in 1969, teamed with a male rider. Their bike failed, but she came back to finish as part of a team in 1973 and solo in 1975. In 2012, at the age of seventy-five, she was still competing in vintage-class motorcycle races.
The International Six Days Trial continued to attract an increasing number of women as it branched out from Britain and began holding competitions in other countries. Notable rider Olga Kevelos, winner of two gold medals—one in 1946 and again in 1953—was offered a sponsorship from the James Motorcycle Company, an honor almost unheard of for a woman in her day. Other manufacturers quickly added their names to her list of supporters as she went on to compete until her retirement from the sport in 1970.
Into the Twenty-First Century
Overall motorcycle ridership declined during the 1950s and ’60s before experiencing a resurgence in the 1970s, when it became part of a growing leisure-time pursuit. Improved machines, the emergence of the Japanese motorcycling industry, the rise of the sport bikes from Italy, and the reliable BMW twins from Germany all contributed to the excitement and popularity of riding. More women were entering the field of motorcycling alongside their male counterparts, although not yet in the numbers seen today.
As the ranks of motorcyclists once again began to swell, new opportunities for competition arose as well. Increasing numbers of riders were soon choosing to go out not only for pleasure trips but also to race, on or off-road, against a group or against the clock, up hills or through obstacles, or in long-distance scavenger hunts called rallies. Each new avenue provided places for women to make their impact.
Motorcycle trials, or observed trials, are nonracing events over obstacle courses. The rider is scored by how many times her feet touch the ground, testing her ability and skill in maneuvering the bike in a challenging environment. A modern pioneer in trials competition, Debbie Evans began riding at age six, growing up surrounded by motorcycles and racing. Winning a third-place trophy in her first trial at age nine, she continued to pursue her passion, earning the respect of male riders with her skills. Sponsorship from Yamaha soon followed, and Evans expanded her repertoire to include performing stunts in exhibitions and shows.
People encouraged her to compete in the Scottish Six Day Trials, despite having never competed in such an event, and she finished a respectable fourth in the 175cc division. Needing to earn a living, she turned to Hollywood and became a highly sought-after stunt rider. After retiring from racing in 1980, she was tempted back to the Women’s World Trials in 1998, at the age of forty, and finished eighth overall. She continued to compete and entered, although did not win, her first road-racing event at Daytona in 2002.
BMW bikes have long been known for reliability and performance. This vintage model is exhibited at the BMW Museum in Munich.
Women’s motocross, combining the trials style of riding over obstacles with racing against other competitors, traces its beginnings to the 1940s, but it really took off in the 1970s as racetracks and arenas were pressured to open their doors, and riders flowed in. The first Powder Puff National Championship, an all-women’s motocross competition, was held in 1974. Quickly renamed the Women’s National Championship, it was televised for the first time by ABC Sports in 1979. Sue Fish was one of the first females to compete not only in the women’s events but also in the Men’s Pro MX, and she soon was winning against her male counterparts. Fish was honored for her achievements at the Legends and Heroes Tour on February 13, 2010, and she is the only woman motocross rider to be inducted into the AMA’s Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Ashley Fiolek earned a full factory sponsorship after becoming the first deaf Women’s Motocross (WMX) National Champion. She went on to win three more national championships before leaving the sport in 2012. Among the women who have followed in the footsteps of Evans, Fish, and Fiolek, Tarah Geiger won the silver medal at the X Games in 2010 and 2011.
Requiring lightning-fast reflexes and a sense of calmness to deal with the lack of traction and any sudden changes in conditions, Leslie Porterfield reached a top speed of 232.522 mph while setting the Guinness World Record for being the fastest woman on a motorcycle. Named the AMA’s Racing Female Rider of the Year in 2008, Porterfield accomplished her feat at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2008 on her 2002 2000cc turbo-charged Suzuki Hayabusa.
A female rider competes in a motocross event in Thailand.
Valerie Thompson is often referred to as “America’s Queen of Speed.” Soon after learning to ride, she recognized her love of going as fast as possible on a motorcycle and began drag racing on a track. Her passion for speed led her to explore her limits at places like the Bonneville Salt Flats and El Mirage, a dry lake bed, where she competes against both men and women. She currently holds seven motorcycle land-speed records with a personal best time of 217.7 mph for the 1-mile distance.
Evolving from the earlier hill-climbing events, in which riders challenged each other to reach the top of a hill, modern-day hill climbing has entrants racing up extremely steep dirt courses, trying to make it not only without falling but also in the fastest time. With races lasting no more than several seconds, riders must use quick reflexes to navigate obstacles. Cathy Templeton is one of the earliest women to break down the gender barriers in the sport of hill climbing, beating forty-five other riders to win in her class in 1995. Contemporary hill climbers include Chelsea Peterson, who won the women’s championship in 2012, and Molly Carbon, who races head-to-head against men on some of the most challenging inclines in the United States.
Traditional racing is also attracting its share of highly competitive and successful women. Elena Myers, only eighteen years old at the time, became the first female to win a professional race at the famous Daytona International Speedway in 2012. Shelina Moreda is the first woman to have raced a motorcycle at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as well as the only woman to race in the AMA Pro Harley class. Her all-female skills course, Girlz MotoCamps, is helping to bring more young women into racing while training them to be all-around better riders.
El Mirage in California’s Mojave Desert.
The Iron Butt Association, an organization dedicated to safe long-distance motorcycling, requires a rider to complete a minimum ride of 1,000 miles in twenty-four hours to gain entry. In addition to specific certified rides, the association, along with other groups, holds competitive rallies that are similar to scavenger hunts. Male and female riders, as well as two-up couples, go head to head against each other. Suzie Mann was the first woman to ride in the eleven-day Iron Butt Rally in 1985, finishing in fifth place, and while a woman has yet to claim first place, Fran Crane finished second in 1987. In 2013, Wendy Crockett placed third, averaging 1,363 miles per day during the rally,