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Queenie of Our Hearts
Ardys Kellerman - a rider to be celebrated
By Voni Glaves #13337
(November Owners News) |
November 2, 2006
Page 1 of 3 123 |
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A very happy Ardys after being named an honorary citizen of Hyder, Alaska. (enlarge image)
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“Queenie” as she is known to the Gutter Gang at Lone Star BMW could easily be overlooked by someone who doesn't recognize an unpolished legend. A quick look in her eyes leaves you wondering what this great-grandmother's secret is. She is something.
Ardys Kellerman didn't start out to be a superhero. She was Mom to four kids. She had to work hard to support them on her own. Thirty-five years ago, she started off with a little Yamaha that came with a camper she purchased. That got her going and so she got a motorcycle license and learned on her own. When her van blew up she picked up a CB360 Honda to get to work and back. When she decided she could use a larger bike, her search took her to a Honda dealer. An 18-year-old customer was more interesting to the salesman than this young Mom, so Ardys decided to go elsewhere. After listening to another salesman tell a young couple about the Shadow she'd researched, he turned to her, assuming she was with them. He listened to her and then suggested she might actually like a BMW R80RT better. She admitted to him that it looked too big and she was afraid she might drop it. He dismissed her concerns with ease and suggested she come back with her riding gear when it wasn't raining. BMW's are all she's had ever since. Her last few bikes have all been Oilhead RT’s.
Long distance ladies: Karol Patzer, Ardys Kellerman and Voni Glaves take a moment after their “Go the Distance” seminar at the AMA Women & Motorcycling Conference in Athens, Georgia in July. These women have a combined mileage total of more than 1.8 million miles. (enlarge image)
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Is she really a superhero, you might wonder. Here are a few facts that Ardys is too modest to bring up. She was a licensed airplane pilot. She bred and showed dogs and horses before motorcycling became so important to her. She retired as an electronics technician at age 70. This great-grandmother of seven has completed four Iron Butt Rallies – the stamina trials billed as 11 thousand miles in 11 days. She started but didn’t finish one more. She has done innumerable Saddlesores (1,000 miles in 24 hours), and once, four in a row. That's a thousand miles a day for four days – in a row! This year she's done three more - in three different states. When she wasn't selected for the 2003 Iron Butt Rally, she did a little 49 state ride - in eight days - and was named an honorary citizen of the tiny town of Hyder, Alaska by the locals when they learned of her feat. She's ridden Coast to Coast in less than 50 hours. This year, at age 74, she is well on her way to setting a new record for women riders in the BMW MOA Mileage Contest of 75,000 miles. She is close to 700,000 lifetime BMW miles.
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BMW MOA
P.O. Box 3982
Ballwin, MO 63022
509A Old State Rd
Ellisville, MO 63021
ph:(636)394-7277
fx:(636)391-1811
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