Why did Arlene Crawford of Urich start a local chapter of Women on Wheels?
“Because I didn’t have any women to ride with,” she explained, “Men have different priorities when they ride.”
“They don’t stop for ice cream,” Karen Cox said.
“Or antique malls,” said Sherry Spencer.
Arlene, Karen and Sherry are members of the Golden Valley Gals, the west-central chapter of Women on Wheels, which Arlene founded in March of 2007. In the past, they have had more than a dozen members, but now are down to five full members and two support members, and are looking for more.
“The Covid pandemic knocked a lot of people off their bikes,” Karen said.
You can join even if you don’t have a motorcycle. If the weather is not conducive to riding motorcycles, they drive, like they did last weekend to the Cabin Fever rally in Ames, Iowa.
“There were 400 men, women and children there,”Arlene said.
Karen said her longest trip on her bike, a Harley Night Train, was to a rally in Gettysburg, Penn., 3240 miles round trip, where she met Arlene, who drove up in her car. Karen has been west as far as Yellowstone, she said, where she rode in the snow, east to the Outer Banks in the Carolinas and south to Galveston, Texas.
A trip north to Lake George, in upstate New York, was the most challenging, because it poured rain the five days it took her to get there. She made it back in the rain as far as Springfield, Ill., when she called her husband to come and pick up her.
On another stormy trip, she looked in the rear view mirror, saw a funnel cloud and thought, “I’m done.’”
Women on Wheels is a national organization with members in all 50 states, Karen said. The organization has a directory that provides a network of women motorcycle riders throughout the country. Ages in the Golden Valley Gals range from a woman who is in her late ‘80s to a child who rides with her grandmother.
In June, the GV Gals will be heading to Kearney, Mo., home of Jesse James, for the Missouri state Women on Wheels ride-in. The next national ride-in is in Harrison, Ark., in July. Arlene said they will probably go down on the Pig Trail, a curvy route that she hasn’t done before.
“I did do the Dragon, when I was going to South Carolina,” she said, referring to a route in Greenville, North Carolina.
Arlene rides a 1800 white Gold-Wing Honda trike. She started motorcycle riding at the age of 15, she said, and has ridden in 45 of the 50 states. One year she rode north, picking up states on her list, and ended up in Washington state. Then she rode down the coast to San Jose, Cal., for an international motorcycle rally. She was so tired, she “dead-headed” on the way back to Missouri, she said, meaning she rode straight home instead of exploring side routes.
Karen, who lives between Iconium and Lowry City, has been riding all her life, she said. Most of the women riders had a father or brother who introduced them to the sport — Karen said she was so little when she started riding on the back of her father’s Harley, she remembers standing in the garage and looking up at the big bike.
In 2016, she flew to Rome, rented a Harley and went with a group of seven women on a motorcycle trip through Italy. One of the other riders was a woman she met at the Gettysburg rally, she said.
Sherry, who lives in Clinton, is the rookie in the group, she said — her longest trip was 150 miles. She has a relatively small motorcycle, a Yamaha. She used to live in Chicago, which has a short motorcycle season, but had friends who rode on New Year’s Day.
“They believe that what you do at the start of the year, you will continue to do throughout the year,” she explained.
What the Golden Valley Gals believe: “ATG, ATT,” —“All The Gear, All The Time.” That means helmets, boots, long-sleeved shirts and usually long pants. Arlene does her own repair work on her Honda, she said. Her other hobby is crochet.
“It doesn’t matter how old a motorcycle is,” Arlene said. “They run forever.”
The others said they change the oil. What all the members of the Golden Valley Gals do is support each other, Arlene said. In the 17 years the chapter has existed, they have been lucky to get good members, she said.
“We have a ball wherever we go,” Karen said.
“We take our fun with us,” Sherry said.
The Golden Valley Gals meet on the first Wednesday of the month at 4 p.m. at various locations. They go to different places, Arlene said, to meet and eat.
“It’s wherever we feel like going that day,” Karen said.
Like going to state and national rallies, the point is not the destination but the journey.
“Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t,” Karen said of riding to a rally. “Sometimes you just get on your bike and ride around the block in the rain.”
But wherever they go, they stop and taste the ice cream.
The GV Gals stress that they are a motorcycle organization, not a motorcycle club, or gang. They support a charity, usually making a donation to the local Samaritan Center. For details, go to the Golden Valley Gals Facebook or email Arlene, golden valleygals@gmail.com.
And on May 1, keep an eye out for Women on Wheels if you’re on the road— the first Saturday in May is International Female Ride Day.
