WOMEN’S FREEDOM RIDE 2019
By: Sandie Schlett, Assistant State Captain of Patriot Guard Riders Mississippi Gulf Coast
The Women’s Freedom Ride is a group formed by Karen Collins (Mama Bear). The purpose of
the group is to promote fellowship and show support of women riders while honoring & raising
money for veterans.
Myself, Sandie Schlett, riding
in a record breaking ride.
were booked, so we connected and shared a room. She was from Kansas and
I met & sat with many Kansas women at the banquet that night. There was
an auction for a piece of art that brought $650, and the half and half raised
$1500. All proceeds, from this, and everything the whole weekend going to
the Spartan Alliance. My favorite guest speaker was Gloria Struck! If you are
familiar with women in motorcycle history, I’m sure you’ve heard of her. She is
93 years old and has been riding motorcycles for over 75 years and has ridden
an estimated 750,000 miles! She has ridden all over the world and is such an
icon. You would never know by seeing and talking to her that she was 93! She
has recently written a book, which of course I purchased and she signed. I have
a cherished photo I had taken with her. What an honor!
Me & Ms. Gloria Struck!
I
was blessed to meet a group of these women riders in 2018 when they
came thru Biloxi Mississippi. They were riding thru 23 states in 18 days
raising money for veterans! They inspired me to join them as that is two
of my favorite things, riding my motorcycle and honoring veterans! I started
following their Facebook page and saw that they were preparing to have their
first “rally” in June 2019. It was going to be centrally located in the US. They
chose Topeka Kansas. There were organized rides to the rally from various
points across the country. There was a small fee to join and ride with a group.
The purpose of the ride and event was to raise money for a charity for veterans,
came out on the highway in front of us that day, and the worst part of the
entire trip was rush hour in St Louis in the pouring rain! We made it safely, but
that was stressful!
That night we went to St Charles Harley Davidson where they treated us along
with many other riders (more than 50) with food provided by the ladies of
Harley, the local HOG group and the dealership. They gave us goodies and fed
us. What a warm welcome!
T
and secondary goal was to see if we could break the world record for the most
women on a motorcycle ride! The chosen charity this year was the Spartan
Alliance. I am very familiar with this charity, as I have attended their event in
Biloxi for the last 3 years (with the Patriot Guard Riders) where they host 50
wounded veterans and their caregivers, and treat them to a special weekend
where they can meet others and form bonds and support. The last night of
this special weekend is a gala with a special speaker, dinner, music, and they
give away mobility chairs to some very deserving veterans. It’s a very moving
experience to be a part of.
I made arrangements, booked hotels, and rode from the Mississippi Gulf Coast
north and met up with the group from Hammond Louisiana. We stayed the
first night south of Memphis. I didn’t know anyone, but the three women I met
and rode with were awesome! One was from Mississippi, one from Florida, and
one from Tennessee.
Day 2 we rode from Memphis to St Charles Missouri. We had two deer that
motorcycle ridden by Gloria Strucks daughter, and Gloria was in the sidecar!
It took much longer than anticipated to get all the bikes on to the track. The
truck kept having to move up to give bikes in back room to get on the track.
Eventually the bikes covered the entire 2-1/2 mile track 2-3 rows wide! The
official ride began and we did 2 laps. By that time it was really heating up
and most riders went to the after party at the Historic Harley dealership. There
was food, CMA blessing bikes, a live band playing. Gloria Struck arrived and
was signing books. Everyone who registered got a ticket to the Evel Knievel
Museum, which was attached to the Harley dealership. Both places were really
awesome! What a weekend! It flew by so quickly! The southern riders were all
going different directions on Sunday, so I did my own ride coming home. I
stopped in Missouri and saw relatives and spent the night, then Monday rode
thru Tennessee stopping at Dyersburg digging around for some family history.
That was a really enjoyable little town with friendly people! I spent the night
in Memphis with friends. Tuesday morning was 402 miles dodging rain to get
back to the coast. This was quite an adventure that I’m so glad I was able to do,
but 2,139 miles later, it was nice to get back home!
Oh...we didn’t set the world record, but we DID break the US record for the
most women on a motorcycle ride. 762 women riding bikes! It hasn’t been
announced yet, but I have a sneaky feeling there will be another adventure in
2020! Stay tuned!
Day 3 was beautiful weather for our ride from St Louis to Topeka. We gained
more riders in St Louis, so we had 12 of us riding together that day.
We arrived at the host hotel in Topeka where there was lots of activity. There
were many vendors set up inside and outside and the bikes.. oh so many
bikes... and women! I was in the minority as I was wearing a helmet. There
are no helmets required in Kansas and most of the ladies just had a scarf or
bandana. Not this girl. I value my brains!
So I got my packet & bag of goodies and signed up for the record breaking ride
for Saturday. Others signed up for group rides on Friday, but since I had been
riding for 3 days, I opted to do my own thing Friday. I went back to my hotel
which was a few miles away since the host hotel was booked up. Friday I rode
around town and saw a few sights. Went thru the arts district and saw murals
painted on buildings & the capital building. I went back to the host hotel and
looked at vendors. I met up with my room mate, who I had met online. Rooms
22 Thunder Roads® Magazine LA/MS Gulf Coast | July 2019 | www.thunderroadslams.com
he banquet went on pretty late and we had a special ride the next
morning. We were meeting back at the host hotel at 6am Saturday
morning to ride to the track to attempt to break the world record. My
roommate and I woke to thunder and rain about 4am! We were not expecting
that! By the time we had to leave, the roads were wet, but the rain had passed
thru. We rode with a large group from the host hotel at 6am to Heartland
Motorsports track. We watched for hours as more and more bikes rolled in.
By 9:30 am it was a sea of bikes! We had a briefing and then mounted our
bikes. As we entered in to the track, each rider stopped and a number was
placed on their left arm. It was recorded and videotaped for it to be official.
Since I arrived early with the Kansas group, I was bike #42 that entered the
track. There was a lead truck, followed by two Topeka motorcycle cops, then a
Rina, my roommate and who I rode side by
side on this record Freedom Ride!
www.thunderroadslams.com | July 2019 | Thunder Roads® Magazine LA/MS Gulf Coast
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