Jersey Girls On Wheels
Published By:
New Jersey Monthly
Date
July 2012
Excerpt:
The cold can bite. The rain can pierce. And the wind can chafe your face. None of that bothers Gloria Tramontin Struck, a biker babe – yes, you can call her that – who at age 87 is still riding her 2004 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softtail Classic.
For 66 years, the plainspoken grandmother has been a member of the Motor Maids, the oldest continuously operating all-women motorcycling organization in North America. It was a revolutionary idea when founders Linda Dugeau and Dot Robinson started the group in 1940. Today, there are nearly 1,200 members nationwide, including 17 in New Jersey.
The group stages rides and the occasional charity event. On a recent Sunday, Struck and 13 other Jersey girls motored to Country Griddle in Flemington for their monthly meeting. The women in the group are variously mothers, single, married, divorced; artists, caterers, teachers, homemakers and writers, says Raritan Township fire chief Risa Hynes. Riding means different things to different members: adventure, freedom, power. But there’s one common denominator: “We all like to ride,” says Hynes, a member for eight years.