Warm winds and a few raindrops this week teased Janice Allestad and Misty Sturre. One sensation was missing — the hum of their road bikes beneath them.
"It has to be at least 60 (degrees) before I go out," Allestad said.
Allestad and Sturre are members of Treasure State Lady Riders, one of two Women on Wheels (WOW) chapters in Montana. The second is Big Sky Lady Riders, based in Billings.
"It's no fun riding alone," said Sturre, who lives in Great Falls.
Almost 10 percent of motorcycle owners are women, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council, up 2 percent since 1998. In 2005, motorcycle sales increased for the 13thconsecutive year. However, this is not a young women's phenomenon. Close to 60 percent of female motorcycle operators in the United States are over 40. They ride for fun and recreation, stress release and a sense of freedom.
"Any excuse to go for a ride," said Allestad, 60. "And we found we don't have to look very hard."
She already has 7,650 miles on her 2006 Yamaha V-Star Classic 650.
"We've seen a big increase over the last five years in female riders," said Steve Kaste, owner of Steve's Sports Center in Great Falls. "A lot of them are joining the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and getting their confidence up."
The foundation offers the Basic Rider Course, a 15-hour curriculum for the novice or beginner rider.
Allestad completed the safety course almost three years ago, she said, one of two women to start the class, but the only one to finish. She came into the course without any motorcycle driving experience.
Within a week of graduating, Allestad had her first motorcycle — a 1996 Kawasaki Vulcan 500. It wasn't easy for a small woman like Allestad. In the first two weeks, she dropped it three times. But she persevered. She learned how to handle the 440-pound motorcycle, and she and her husband, Ole, set off on a trip that took them through Plains, Hamilton, Bozeman and back to Great Falls.
Now, she rides a 2006 Yamaha 650cc V-Star, which is even heavier.
"If someone had told me 10 years ago I would be riding I would have said they were out of their minds," Allestad said.
One of her grandkids even calls her "biker granny."
Once she got the bug to ride on her own bike — she had ridden with her husband since 2003 — she decided it was time to get other women involved. She started a campaign that led to her meeting Sturre and the establisment of the Treasure State Lady Riders.
The WOW chapter now has 17 members, including a professor, a nurse, a homemaker and an accountant. Two women from Fort Benton are members, Allestad said, and a woman from Highwood has expressed interest. Most are 45 or older.
With assistance from her husband Butch, Sturre has her Honda 600cc Silverwing scooter all tricked out, including Sirius satellite radio (for the oldies), CB radio and heated hand grips. "It will get up and move. I stay up with the big boys," she said.
Allestad's husband Ole encouraged her to get her own bike when she expressed a desire to move from the back seat to the driver's seat. That same encouragement is why Allestad's personalized license plate reads "TKSHUN."
In addition to the Third Annual Ladies Provinces and States (PAS) rally Allestad and other women in Montana are planning in Great Falls July 13-15, she plans to attend rallies in Wyoming, North Dakota and Saskatchewan.
"I'm meeting just fantastic women," she said.
Spouses are allowed at the PAS in July but it's "chicks only" for the other three rallies.
Allestad's role model is 76-year-old Sally Stanke of Bozeman, who traded her two-wheeled bike for a 2006 Honda Gold Wing Trike after double knee replacement forced her to give up the two-wheeled bike. Stanke sometimes rides alone, too, Allestad said.
Sturre and her husband didn't start riding together until about 1990 or 1991, she said.
"It's so bad you have to start with this so late in life," she said.
What draws women to motorcycling? Apart from the feeling of freedom and exhilaration, it's the delight in riding with other women. Allestad calls it "instant friendship" when female riders meet.
Marissa Hackett, a twentysomething salesperson at Steve's Sports Center, understands women's interest in motorcycling.
"They don't like sitting on the back of a motorcycle," Hackett said. "Once you've sat in the driver's seat, you don't want to go back again."
At the first meeting last August to gauge interest in a WOW chapter, 20 women showed up. By October, they had enough members — 10 women and three support members — to apply to become a WOW chapter. Now, the chapter membership numbers 17, including four "support" members — husbands, children, sons.
Women in the chapter can ride any kind of motorcycle or scooter. Or ride navigator. Or just dream of riding some day. Chapter members' ages range from early 20s to 60-plus.
"I was surprised how many of us old ladies still ride," Allestad said.
"We don't care what you ride," Allestad said. "You don't even have to ride. You might have dreams that someday you'll ride."
Originally published January 26, 2007
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