The final day, which started with “kickstands up” at 6:30 a.m., included some of the toughest traveling. The complete ride ran to nearly 5,000 miles. But in Marion, Iowa, the mayor issued a proclamation and invited everyone to an ice cream social. No one got arrested for wearing pants, Sarah Van Buren said. Clickenger said only two of her original 68 riders had dropped out - a woman who had fallen and broken her wrist midway through the ride, and another who fell prey to dehydration in Utah. Setting out from Brooklyn, the riders’ T-shirts, the ride’s promotional material and the sides of the support vehicles were all emblazoned with the Van Buren sisters’ 1916 motto: “Woman can if she will.” It was a remarkably mixed group, varying greatly in size, shape, age, ethnicity and orientation, but united in a love of riding and a palpable sisterhood. “The first idea of this tour was to take a small group of women across the United States who thought they could never do anything like that.” “I absolutely believe in the empowering magic of two wheels,” she said. Some took instruction and got motorcycle permits specifically to take the centennial ride - including Ruderman and his son and Sarah Van Buren.Ĭlickenger, stopping for the night in Page, Ariz., midway through the tour, said by telephone that riding was the whole point. Riders who wanted to tag along and arrange their own meals, lodging and entertainment could pay as little as $795 for the whole journey, and considerably less if they wanted to join for just a day.īut they all had to be able to ride. Van Buren, who turned 70 the day the ride ended, was on an Indian, accompanied by his 35-year-old daughter Sarah on a Kawasaki.Ĭlickenger’s all-expenses-paid package, she said, cost $5,725. Ruderman, 57, left Brooklyn riding a BMW, with his 18-year-old daughter Sofie on the back, and accompanied by his 30-year-old son Skyler, who was riding a BMW, with his fiancee seated behind him. Two charities were chosen to benefit, Ruderman said: one to raise money to train women as motorcycle instructors and one to provide benefits to homeless women military veterans. Allstate Insurance and Avon Tyres signed on, as did a host of motorcycle-related companies that deal in parts, accessories and services. Indian, Suzuki and Kawasaki offered to help. Soon BMW Motorrad had agreed to sponsor their ride, lending two SUVs and several bikes. The groups pooled their resources and the experienced tour organizer Clickenger took the lead. “When Alisa said she wanted to take 10 women, I said, ‘No! You have to think big!’” “I had the idea that 5,500 women should ride, because that’s how many miles it was,” he said. Van Buren had done the ride with his wife for the 90th anniversary, and was planning something small. The Van Buren and Ruderman cousins had never even met. None of the three groups knew the others were planning similar rides. Another was being set up by Bob Van Buren, whose great-grandfather was the Van Burens’ brother. One was organized by Dan Ruderman, Adeline Van Buren’s grandson. Then, while scouting locations along the Van Buren route, Clickenger said, “I kept hearing from people, ‘I already talked to someone from your group.’ But my group was only me.”Ĭlickenger was rubbing up against two other rides that were being planned simultaneously. A talk with photographer Christina Shook, who would go on to document the coast-to-coast ride, encouraged her to imagine 100 women, one each for the 100 years since the historic ride. Clickenger, 50, thought the tour should include about 10 riders.Ī meeting with Indian Motorcycle executive Robert Pandya - who said his company could help support the ride - convinced her that it might be bigger. The Sisters Ride was born several years back, Clickenger said, when her idea of leading a group of women across America coincided with the Van Burens’ upcoming 100th anniversary.
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