michnus
Bachelor Dog
Long way Round wot? :lol8:
Some remarkable people out there
Bessie Stringfield.
Born in Jamaica in 1911, brought to Boston.
Was orphaned at 5 and raised by an Irish woman
who gave her an Indian scout for her 16th birthday.
She rode cross country by herself 8 times in the 30's and 40's.
"She was 16 when she climbed aboard her first bike, a 1928 Indian Scout.
With no prior knowledge of how to operate the controls, Bessie proved to be a natural.
She insisted that the Man Upstairs gave her the skills.
'My [Irish] mother said if I wanted anything I had to ask Our Lord Jesus Christ, and so I did," she said.
"He taught me and He’s with me at all times, even now.
When I get on the motorcycle I put the Man Upstairs on the front. I’m very happy on two wheels.'
Bessie – BB as she was known among friends – would probably be amused and yet proud of all the attention. Referring to her adventures and her 60-plus years of riding, she once quipped: "I was somethin'! What I did was fun and I loved it."
In the 1930s and 1940s, Bessie took eight long-distance, solo rides across the United States. Speaking to a reporter, she dismissed the notion that "nice girls didn’t go around riding motorcycles in those days." Further, she was apparently fearless at riding through the Deep South when racial prejudice was a tangible threat. Was Bessie consciously championing the rights of women and African-Americans? Bessie would most likely have said she was simply living her life in her own way.
In interviews for Hear Me Roar, Bessie revealed how she drew courage from two things: Her Catholic faith in Jesus Christ, whom she called "The Man Upstairs," and the values she learned from her adoptive mother.
Early on, Bessie had to steel herself against life’s disappointments. Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1911, as a child she was brought to Boston but was orphaned by age 5.
"An Irish lady raised me," she recalled. "I’m not allowed to use her name. She gave me whatever I wanted. When I was in high school I wanted a motorcycle. And even though good girls didn’t ride motorcycles, I got one."
Bessie encountered racial prejudice on the road. One time she was followed by a man in a pickup truck who ran her off the road, knocking her off her bike. She downplayed her courage in coping with such incidents. "I had my ups and downs," she shrugged.
In the 1950s, Bessie bought a house in a Miami, Florida suburb. She became a licensed practical nurse and founded the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club. Disguised as a man, Bessie won a flat track race but was denied the prize money when she took off her helmet. Her other antics – such as riding while standing in the saddle of her Harley – attracted the local press. Reporters called her the "Negro Motorcycle Queen" and later the "Motorcycle Queen of Miami." In the absence of children, Bessie found joy in her pet dogs, some of whom paraded with her on her motorcycle.
Late in life, Bessie suffered from symptoms caused by an enlarged heart. "Years ago the doctor wanted to stop me from riding," she recalled. "I told him if I don’t ride, I won’t live long. And so I never did quit."
Before she died in 1993 at the age of 82, Bessie said, "They tell me my heart is three times the size it’s supposed to be." An apt metaphor for this unconventional woman whose heart and spirited determination have touched so many lives. She was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2002. – Ann Ferrar
https://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=277&lpos=-1640px&letter=S&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0Bessie
Some remarkable people out there
Bessie Stringfield.
Born in Jamaica in 1911, brought to Boston.
Was orphaned at 5 and raised by an Irish woman
who gave her an Indian scout for her 16th birthday.
She rode cross country by herself 8 times in the 30's and 40's.
"She was 16 when she climbed aboard her first bike, a 1928 Indian Scout.
With no prior knowledge of how to operate the controls, Bessie proved to be a natural.
She insisted that the Man Upstairs gave her the skills.
'My [Irish] mother said if I wanted anything I had to ask Our Lord Jesus Christ, and so I did," she said.
"He taught me and He’s with me at all times, even now.
When I get on the motorcycle I put the Man Upstairs on the front. I’m very happy on two wheels.'
Bessie – BB as she was known among friends – would probably be amused and yet proud of all the attention. Referring to her adventures and her 60-plus years of riding, she once quipped: "I was somethin'! What I did was fun and I loved it."
In the 1930s and 1940s, Bessie took eight long-distance, solo rides across the United States. Speaking to a reporter, she dismissed the notion that "nice girls didn’t go around riding motorcycles in those days." Further, she was apparently fearless at riding through the Deep South when racial prejudice was a tangible threat. Was Bessie consciously championing the rights of women and African-Americans? Bessie would most likely have said she was simply living her life in her own way.
In interviews for Hear Me Roar, Bessie revealed how she drew courage from two things: Her Catholic faith in Jesus Christ, whom she called "The Man Upstairs," and the values she learned from her adoptive mother.
Early on, Bessie had to steel herself against life’s disappointments. Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1911, as a child she was brought to Boston but was orphaned by age 5.
"An Irish lady raised me," she recalled. "I’m not allowed to use her name. She gave me whatever I wanted. When I was in high school I wanted a motorcycle. And even though good girls didn’t ride motorcycles, I got one."
Bessie encountered racial prejudice on the road. One time she was followed by a man in a pickup truck who ran her off the road, knocking her off her bike. She downplayed her courage in coping with such incidents. "I had my ups and downs," she shrugged.
In the 1950s, Bessie bought a house in a Miami, Florida suburb. She became a licensed practical nurse and founded the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club. Disguised as a man, Bessie won a flat track race but was denied the prize money when she took off her helmet. Her other antics – such as riding while standing in the saddle of her Harley – attracted the local press. Reporters called her the "Negro Motorcycle Queen" and later the "Motorcycle Queen of Miami." In the absence of children, Bessie found joy in her pet dogs, some of whom paraded with her on her motorcycle.
Late in life, Bessie suffered from symptoms caused by an enlarged heart. "Years ago the doctor wanted to stop me from riding," she recalled. "I told him if I don’t ride, I won’t live long. And so I never did quit."
Before she died in 1993 at the age of 82, Bessie said, "They tell me my heart is three times the size it’s supposed to be." An apt metaphor for this unconventional woman whose heart and spirited determination have touched so many lives. She was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2002. – Ann Ferrar
https://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=277&lpos=-1640px&letter=S&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0Bessie
