Nancy Edmonds Hanson
hansonnanc@gmail.com

Most women ride a motorcycle for the first time perched behind a man. But for many of the members of Women in the Wind, that didn’t last long.
“More and more women are riding,” says Becki Jacobson, president of the local chapter of the international association for women motorcyclists. “They’re realizing that feeling of freedom and independence that comes with it.
“I used to ride on the back of someone’s motorcycle. I wanted more.” She jokes, “I had to share a saddlebag, and I had too much stuff. That did it! So I got my own.”
That was 2006. Now, two Harley-Davidsons and one Victory Vegas later, she steers her own course and loves it. That’s a passion the Dilworth woman shares with the rest of the 20 avid riders who make up the young Red River Valley chapter of the largest association of women motorcyclists in the world. The local contingent is one of 128 chapters across the United States and Canada, as well as Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Nepal, Cyprus and Nicaragua.
The organization was founded by Motorcycle Hall of Fame member Becky Brown in 1979, who placed a small ad in the Toledo, Ohio, newspaper to recruit the first 10 members. Thirty-seven years later, the Red River Valley chapter established the first beachhead in the Upper Midwest; its nearest U.S. neighbors are in Michigan and Wyoming.
Membership is open to all women who own or operate a motorcycle and have a drivers license with a motorcycle endorsement. Both two- and three-wheelers qualify – from Harleys, Indians and Victories to Yamahas, Suzukis and Hondas. “We don’t care what you ride or how many wheels it has,” the president observes. “We have members from 20-something to 70 years old, and from 40 years’ experience on a bike to two weeks. It doesn’t matter. We get together to ride, to encourage each other, and just to have fun.”
Even rain can’t dampen that fellowship. They proved that last Saturday when the weather put a chill on their first annual shotgun ride. The drizzle kept participation down to just 45 riders, half what organizers had hoped. Yet they achieved their goal of raising funds to support six camperships to the Elks’ Camp Grassick, a summer camp near Dawson, North Dakota, for kids and adults with special needs.
“One of our goals is to make people aware that women ride motorcycles, too,” Becki says. “We’re not very visible. People have to look hard sometimes to find us. Like Shannon” – she gestures to fellow member Shannon Thompson, who joined the group a year ago. “She contacted me through our Facebook page. Her husband didn’t want her riding alone, and she was looking for others to ride with.”
Shannon adds, “It’s a different experience from riding with a group of men. A lot of men don’t think women can or should ride motorcycles. Or they worry. I’ve heard more than one woman admit, ‘My husband makes me nervous. He’s always watching me and giving advice, whether I need it or not.’”
Shannon fell in love with riding in 2010. “My husband run bought a bike, and there I was on the back of it. Well, that lasted for about two weeks,” she reports with a laugh. She obtained her motorcycle license that summer; they bought a second bike, and she’s been riding solo ever since. “It’s hard to describe the feeling you get,” she muses. “It’s empowering. It’s relaxing. It’s the spirit of independence. And especially it’s the friends you make.”
The local WITW chapter grew out of some of those friendships. Becki, who’s retired from American Crystal, spent several months three winters ago with her snowbird parents, aunt and uncle in Arizona. She brought her motorcycle along and turned to Facebook for advice on the best routes. From that post came a lasting connection with the Kingman, Arizona, Cactus Cuties. “I rode with them every day I was down there,” she says. “When I had to head home, they asked, ‘Why don’t you start a chapter of your own up there?’ And 20 women later, here we are.”
The women meet once a month at their favorite hangout, the All-Star Bowl and Northsider in Moorhead. In addition to rides and marshaling a bowling team, they’ve carried out a number of fund-raisers for Camp Grassick, their charity of choice. One was the annual swap meet last April. Another: Saturday’s Shotgun Run, which took participants on a 150-mile route around the area. They checked in at 10 stops in Fertile, Perley, Twin Valley, Ulen, Horace, Barnesville and elsewhere in the vicinity, then returned to the Northsider for a silent auction of motorcycle gear and specialties, from a Harley rug to a full-size motorcycle-themed quilt made by a member’s mother and grandmother.
One frustration many of the women share is the motorcycle industry’s neglect of female customers and their needs. “More luggage capacity!” Becki laughs.
Shannon points out another – smaller bikes for shorter riders: “When you’re choosing a motorcycle, it’s critical to be able to touch the ground.”
For some of the women, their passion carries them down endless highways. Last year alone, Becki and her tiny four-legged companion, Miss Stella, covered thousands of miles from South Carolina to Los Angeles. Others enjoy it every bit as much, but rack up more modest mileage close to home: Shannon, the outreach educator with Clay County Solid Waste, confesses, “I pretty much just ride to work.”

For information on the Red River chapter of WITW’s meetings and membership, go to witw-redrivervalleychapter.webs.com or find their page on Facebook.