STURGIS, S.D. — Two women who helped break some of the biggest barriers in motorcycle history are being honored at this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Legendary racer Mary McGee and pioneering motorcyclist Bessie Stringfield are being inducted posthumously into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame as members of the 2026 class. Both women are receiving the museum’s “Kickstands Down” Award, which recognizes individuals being inducted after their deaths. (Cycle News)
The two women will officially be honored during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Hall of Fame Breakfast on Wednesday, August 12, in Deadwood, South Dakota. (Cycle News)
And while their stories are separated by decades, both women helped change what was considered possible for women on motorcycles.
Mary McGee: Racer, Pioneer and Barrier Breaker
Mary McGee wasn’t interested in being a passenger.
She became the first American woman to earn an FIM racing license and went on to compete in both motorcycle and off-road racing. In 1975, she made history by becoming the first woman to solo-finish the grueling Baja 500.
Her accomplishments came at a time when women were still fighting for recognition in motorcycle racing.
McGee simply went racing.
Her determination helped establish her as one of the most important female pioneers in American motorcycle competition.
Bessie Stringfield: The Motorcycle Queen of Miami
Long before women riding across the country became commonplace, Bessie Stringfield was doing it alone.
Known as the “Motorcycle Queen of Miami,” Stringfield became the first African-American woman to ride solo across the United States, completing multiple cross-country journeys during the 1930s and 1940s.
She also served as a civilian motorcycle courier for the U.S. Army during World War II.
Her journeys weren’t simply long-distance adventures. As a Black woman traveling alone through segregated America, Stringfield faced obstacles that most riders today can barely imagine.
She kept riding anyway.
A Hall of Fame Honor That Matters
McGee and Stringfield are joining a Sturgis Hall of Fame that now includes nearly 280 notable figures from the motorcycle world. (Cycle News)
And their induction is about more than two names being added to a wall.
It’s about recognizing women who were riding, racing and traveling long before the motorcycle industry fully embraced them.
Mary McGee showed women could compete at the highest levels of motorcycle racing.
Bessie Stringfield showed that a Black woman could climb onto a motorcycle and cross an entire country on her own terms.
Neither waited for the motorcycle world to make room for them.
They made their own road.
And generations of women riders have been traveling it ever since.
and Bessie Stringfield to Be Inducted Into Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame
STURGIS, S.D. — Two women who helped break some of the biggest barriers in motorcycle history are being honored at this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Legendary racer Mary McGee and pioneering motorcyclist Bessie Stringfield are being inducted posthumously into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame as members of the 2026 class. Both women are receiving the museum’s “Kickstands Down” Award, which recognizes individuals being inducted after their deaths. (Cycle News)
The two women will officially be honored during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Hall of Fame Breakfast on Wednesday, August 12, in Deadwood, South Dakota. (Cycle News)
And while their stories are separated by decades, both women helped change what was considered possible for women on motorcycles.
Mary McGee: Racer, Pioneer and Barrier Breaker
Mary McGee wasn’t interested in being a passenger.
She became the first American woman to earn an FIM racing license and went on to compete in both motorcycle and off-road racing. In 1975, she made history by becoming the first woman to solo-finish the grueling Baja 500.
Her accomplishments came at a time when women were still fighting for recognition in motorcycle racing.
McGee simply went racing.
Her determination helped establish her as one of the most important female pioneers in American motorcycle competition.
Bessie Stringfield: The Motorcycle Queen of Miami
Long before women riding across the country became commonplace, Bessie Stringfield was doing it alone.
Known as the “Motorcycle Queen of Miami,” Stringfield became the first African-American woman to ride solo across the United States, completing multiple cross-country journeys during the 1930s and 1940s.
She also served as a civilian motorcycle courier for the U.S. Army during World War II.
Her journeys weren’t simply long-distance adventures. As a Black woman traveling alone through segregated America, Stringfield faced obstacles that most riders today can barely imagine.
She kept riding anyway.
A Hall of Fame Honor That Matters
McGee and Stringfield are joining a Sturgis Hall of Fame that now includes nearly 280 notable figures from the motorcycle world. (Cycle News)
And their induction is about more than two names being added to a wall.
It’s about recognizing women who were riding, racing and traveling long before the motorcycle industry fully embraced them.
Mary McGee showed women could compete at the highest levels of motorcycle racing.
Bessie Stringfield showed that a Black woman could climb onto a motorcycle and cross an entire country on her own terms.
Neither waited for the motorcycle world to make room for them.
They made their own road.
And generations of women riders have been traveling it ever since.