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http://www.dailytexanonline.com/media/paper410/news/2003/09/19/Focus/Leader.Of.The.Pack-470539.shtml?norewrite200603210911&sourcedomain=www.dailytexanonline.com
Local motorcyclists revere 71-year-old grandmother
It's not that she's driven her BMW motorcycle through all 48 contiguous United States and Alaska in under 10 days, or even that she has ridden for 1,000 miles a day, three days in a row.
What makes Ardys Kellerman unique is that she usually rides her motorcycle alone.
What makes Kellerman a very special woman is that she is 71 years old and has five great-grandchildren.
She has been riding motorcycles for about 35 years and has owned eight BMWs.
Kellerman just returned from a 13,000-mile, three-month trip around the northeast that she took alone.
"I make better time by myself," Kellerman said.
At least once a week when she is in town, Kellerman meets with a bunch of her friends called the "Gutter Gang" at Lone Star BMW/Triumph, a local motor-cycle shop.
Bob Flegal, a member of the Gutter Gang who has been riding motorcycles since he was 15, has known Kellerman for about eight years.
"The way she rides is just phenomenal. She's our local hero rider," Flegal said. "Everybody bows to Ardys when she comes in here."
Ardys estimated she has driven between 400,000 and 500,000 miles since she started driving BMWs.
"Later in the '70s, I was single with kids, and my van broke down that I was using to go to work with, and the cheapest transportation I could get was a motorcycle," Kellerman said.
She currently owns her seventh and eighth BMW, which she alternates between long journeys. She leaves one motorcycle with her friends at Lone Star and rides the other one until it is in need of repairs. Between trips she picks up the fresh motorcycle.
Kellerman moved to Texas in 1995, after working in Rhode Island as an electronic technician. She retired from her job about a year ago and now has time to ride for months.
On her way back from Maine last month, a bird flew into Kellerman's motorcycle, and the mechanics at Lone Star found it after she dropped her bike off for a post-journey overhaul. The Gutter Gang teased her relentlessly.
Kellerman said it would be difficult for her to quit riding her motorcycle.
"This is one thing nice about being on a bike: You can get out and see things better," she said. "Except little birds."
Kellerman took a group of nine members of the Gutter Gang on a thousand-mile trip to Roswell, N.M., for lunch.
"To take a group that size and ride like that was really stupid," Kellerman said.
Flegal said it wasn't hard to keep up with Kellerman, but it was hard keeping her from getting agitated because they "dawdle[d] too much."
"She pulls up to a gas station and doesn't even get off the bike," Flegal said. "Taking a pee? No way."
Flegal said he asked Kellerman what her secret was to riding such long distances before they left for New Mexico. He said she replied, "I just don't think about it."
"I thought, 'Oh, she's not going to tell me. She blew me off,'" Flegal said. "But I was thinking about preparing for the trip two days later, and I realized she had given me the secret. She just doesn't think about it. It's all attitude."
Once while riding through Montana, Kellerman was pulled over by a state trooper. She said she told him in Texas drivers usually "open up" when they get into "the boonies." He wrote her a ticket, but reduced the speed, saving her $100.
Kellerman has participated in five Iron Butt Rallies, four of which she completed. Motorcyclists competing in the rallies ride for 11 days around the four corners of the nation, collecting bonus points for difficult routes. To finish with a high ranking, riders must collect about 13,000 miles throughout the trip.
"We all think we're all big motorcycle dudes, but Ardys is the one that really goes out and does it," Flegal said.
Although she was not selected in the lottery for a place in the rally this year, Kellerman said she plans on trying again in 2005 when the rally runs again.
"If I'm around, why not?" Kellerman said, laughing with the Gutter Gang.
Her next project is to visit at least 50 national parks within a year, including parks in Alaska, California, Florida and Maine.
Kellerman picked up her fresh motorcycle and is leaving for another trip this week, in which she will visit more national parks.
"I'm going to a dinner in Nashville, and I'm going to meet a friend in Pennsylvania for dinner one night, and then I'm going to Maryland," she said.
Kellerman said she knows someone in every state.
John Marshall, president of the Hill Country BMW Riders Club, has known Kellerman for about five years and said he gets worried about her sometimes while she's away on long trips alone.
"She always comes back," Marshall said.
Robert Krull, owner of Lone Star BMW/Triumph said Kellerman doesn't realize she's 71 years old.
"She's a prime example of somebody getting older and not growing up," Krull said.
Flegal said he doubts anyone in the Gutter Gang could accomplish what Kellerman has.
"That's why we worship her that way. We are good motorcyclists. We have ridden all our lives," Flegal said. "I've always had a motorcycle and I couldn't do it. I mean I just couldn't do it physically. I'm not strong enough."
Local motorcyclists revere 71-year-old grandmother
It's not that she's driven her BMW motorcycle through all 48 contiguous United States and Alaska in under 10 days, or even that she has ridden for 1,000 miles a day, three days in a row.
What makes Ardys Kellerman unique is that she usually rides her motorcycle alone.
What makes Kellerman a very special woman is that she is 71 years old and has five great-grandchildren.
She has been riding motorcycles for about 35 years and has owned eight BMWs.
Kellerman just returned from a 13,000-mile, three-month trip around the northeast that she took alone.
"I make better time by myself," Kellerman said.
At least once a week when she is in town, Kellerman meets with a bunch of her friends called the "Gutter Gang" at Lone Star BMW/Triumph, a local motor-cycle shop.
Bob Flegal, a member of the Gutter Gang who has been riding motorcycles since he was 15, has known Kellerman for about eight years.
"The way she rides is just phenomenal. She's our local hero rider," Flegal said. "Everybody bows to Ardys when she comes in here."
Ardys estimated she has driven between 400,000 and 500,000 miles since she started driving BMWs.
"Later in the '70s, I was single with kids, and my van broke down that I was using to go to work with, and the cheapest transportation I could get was a motorcycle," Kellerman said.
She currently owns her seventh and eighth BMW, which she alternates between long journeys. She leaves one motorcycle with her friends at Lone Star and rides the other one until it is in need of repairs. Between trips she picks up the fresh motorcycle.
Kellerman moved to Texas in 1995, after working in Rhode Island as an electronic technician. She retired from her job about a year ago and now has time to ride for months.
On her way back from Maine last month, a bird flew into Kellerman's motorcycle, and the mechanics at Lone Star found it after she dropped her bike off for a post-journey overhaul. The Gutter Gang teased her relentlessly.
Kellerman said it would be difficult for her to quit riding her motorcycle.
"This is one thing nice about being on a bike: You can get out and see things better," she said. "Except little birds."
Kellerman took a group of nine members of the Gutter Gang on a thousand-mile trip to Roswell, N.M., for lunch.
"To take a group that size and ride like that was really stupid," Kellerman said.
Flegal said it wasn't hard to keep up with Kellerman, but it was hard keeping her from getting agitated because they "dawdle[d] too much."
"She pulls up to a gas station and doesn't even get off the bike," Flegal said. "Taking a pee? No way."
Flegal said he asked Kellerman what her secret was to riding such long distances before they left for New Mexico. He said she replied, "I just don't think about it."
"I thought, 'Oh, she's not going to tell me. She blew me off,'" Flegal said. "But I was thinking about preparing for the trip two days later, and I realized she had given me the secret. She just doesn't think about it. It's all attitude."
Once while riding through Montana, Kellerman was pulled over by a state trooper. She said she told him in Texas drivers usually "open up" when they get into "the boonies." He wrote her a ticket, but reduced the speed, saving her $100.
Kellerman has participated in five Iron Butt Rallies, four of which she completed. Motorcyclists competing in the rallies ride for 11 days around the four corners of the nation, collecting bonus points for difficult routes. To finish with a high ranking, riders must collect about 13,000 miles throughout the trip.
"We all think we're all big motorcycle dudes, but Ardys is the one that really goes out and does it," Flegal said.
Although she was not selected in the lottery for a place in the rally this year, Kellerman said she plans on trying again in 2005 when the rally runs again.
"If I'm around, why not?" Kellerman said, laughing with the Gutter Gang.
Her next project is to visit at least 50 national parks within a year, including parks in Alaska, California, Florida and Maine.
Kellerman picked up her fresh motorcycle and is leaving for another trip this week, in which she will visit more national parks.
"I'm going to a dinner in Nashville, and I'm going to meet a friend in Pennsylvania for dinner one night, and then I'm going to Maryland," she said.
Kellerman said she knows someone in every state.
John Marshall, president of the Hill Country BMW Riders Club, has known Kellerman for about five years and said he gets worried about her sometimes while she's away on long trips alone.
"She always comes back," Marshall said.
Robert Krull, owner of Lone Star BMW/Triumph said Kellerman doesn't realize she's 71 years old.
"She's a prime example of somebody getting older and not growing up," Krull said.
Flegal said he doubts anyone in the Gutter Gang could accomplish what Kellerman has.
"That's why we worship her that way. We are good motorcyclists. We have ridden all our lives," Flegal said. "I've always had a motorcycle and I couldn't do it. I mean I just couldn't do it physically. I'm not strong enough."
Will She adopt us??? rh
