Woman Still Burning Rubber On Her Motorcycle At 93 Years Old
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Gloria Tramontin Struck, 93, is a longtime motorcycle rider who is showing no signs of slowing down.
“I'll be 94 in July, still riding,” she told WGHP.
Struck first learned how to ride a motorcycle back in 1941 after some persuading from her brother. From there, she would develop her own love of riding.
During the early years, being a woman riding a motorcycle did come with some backlash. Struck says that she was even refused a place to stay at times, but that didn’t stop her.
“Their opinion didn't bother me,” she said.
Struck developed lasting friendships with women who also enjoy riding through the women’s motorcycle group – Motor Maids, Inc. Struck has been a Motor Maids, Inc. member for 73 years.
Now in her 90s, she’s also an author.
She talks about her adventures on the road and even her life outside of riding in her new book, “Gloria – A Lifetime Motorcyclist: 75 Years on Two Wheels and Still Riding.”
“I never realized the life I led until I sat down to write about it, and I thought ‘Oh, my goodness, quite a life,’ so I'm very happy I did it,” she said.
Struck’s advice to people is to live their dream.
“I'm still trying to live mine, you know. There's no such thing as having age stopping you from doing things. You want to do something and you're able to, do it,” she said.
Struck is from New Jersey, but recently visited the Triad to speak to women motorcyclists in the Piedmont.
Struck was inducted into the Sturgis Hall of Fame in 2011 and into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2016.
Her next goal is to ride cross country on two wheels, not three she says, when she turns 100.