Old Fox dada,

So in that month, the lady did 21,000km. But that is still a huge number to do even in a month. The question is where did she ride that much?

and that number overall looks even more interesting when u consider that only 61k miles are needed to circumnavigate the globe. and she did 100k miles in that year. whoa whoa whoa!!

Her triplogs (IF she had the time to write/dictate it) would be amazing!

+1; that's what I was wondering too

I wonder if she'd have time to do that

Some more interesting finds...
74-year old great grandma wins BMW motorcycle mileage contest - PNW Riders

Such an old lady riding so much and so hard is really inspiring.

There is this small respite that we Indians might have by pointing out that the roads & traffic are a whole lot better there than that in our country.
Riding a 1000km a day in our land is a mean task.

I guess she just kept going round and round the continent to cover the distance!

The figures begin to make sense if there are rides like the Iron Butt rally - 11000 miles in 11 days or their 48-10 which is about covering all 48 states in the US (except Alaska) in 10 days!

In fact there are quite a few of these 100,000 miles a year riders just on the IBR list. Check out this extract from their web-site here


100K Club (100,000 miles or more in a year):

Name State Year Motorcycle Mileage

Dave Zien Wisconsin 2010 H-D Road Glide 141,757

Jack Shoalmire Oklahoma 2009 BMW R1200RT 104,750
* * * 91,234 of the 104,750 where certified IBA rides! * * *

Gary Johnson New York 2008 Honda GL1800 102,101

Robert Higdon FLORIDA 2007 BMW K75 106,458
* * * Robert is 68 years young on this ride! * * *

Ardys Kellerman TEXAS 2007 BMW R1150RT 103,345

Richard Buber FLORIDA 2005 Honda Gold Wing 114,789

Dave Zien WISCONSIN 2004 H-D FXRT 104,678

Jack Dodds FLORIDA 2004 H-D Ultra Classic 108,831
* * * Jack is 73 years young on this ride! * * *

Michael LaDue Seattle, WA 2003 Honda Gold Wign 107,781

Verne Hauck MillersvillePA 2002 H-D FLTRI Road Glide 113,245

Don Arthur McLean, VA 2002 BMW K1200LT 115,046

Phil Mattson Creston, IA 2002 H-D FLHTCI 125,123

Phil Mann Michigan 1994 BMW K1100RS 115,203
* * * 113,205 miles in SIX months * * *

Joe Mandeville California 1993 BMW K1100RS 122,976
* * * 102,976 miles in SIX months * * *

Michael Kneebone Illinois 1984 Yamaha Venture Royale 107,501

Enough of them around I guess

Will surely update with any trip logs that I come across.

OF Sir - Absolutely great; truly inspiring; excellent finding; hats off!!!

I was thinking that since she was a bit old.. and you know old people have the tendency to forget many things. So maybe she had to ride to the grocery store and back for every single item she forgot to buy
Just kidding. No offence to the old lady but respect for riding so many kms in such short time.
I can only imagine the butt pain one must have to suffer during/after such a feat

Phew! And I thought I was old ! These girls beat me all out on all fronts - miles, guts, determination, passion and of course age !!
Way to go ladies

^^^ Sir, in Indian terms, you're still a star & inspiring for us Given the same US atmosphere, you might exceed her records, who knows?

hats off to these ladies.......

Thanks R.G ! Am honored by your kind words ! And with the kind of hard core, passionate riders we have on our forum, many of them could surely give those ladies a run for their money.

Take Care

That's good news, quite amazing! It gives me hope that I can still ride my bike when I'm that age. And I'll be happy just to do short trips, even if it's only to ride to the grocery store and back for every single item I forgot to buy as Nithesh said.. Clearly, there's no age.

!!! Cheers ladies.!!!

Re: Million mile women riders!

Bumping an old thread here.

One of the two women high-milers about whom this thread is, Ardys Kellerman, died earlier this week in a road accident on the 25th of June. The accident details can be read about here.

Going through the thread, I read some posts that in the guise of amusement border on impudence when commenting on the achievements of the two women. I wonder if any of us can even dream of managing to ride a 100,000 miles in a year (that's 160,000 kilometers) even if the entire thing was an expense paid one. And she did it at the age of 78! Doing a million miles in a lifetime is no mean feat 'even' if it is on those excellent roads in the US. A million miles are probably what only astronauts and pilots rake up during their lifetimes.

Okay, hatchet buried. It is a fact, known to and acknowledged by us motorcyclists, that motorcycling carries far greater risks to life than any other everyday activity and this stands true even in the best of traffic and road conditions. Ardys was passion personified for motorcycling and despite such a huge amount of experience, she met her maker through a motorcycling accident. May she rest in peace. Here's a brief biography, written in 2007, of this remarkable woman as written by her partner in 'crime' Voni Glaves. And if this is not inspiring, then I wouldn't know what is.

Over to Voni:

“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 Oil-head RT’s.

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.

Her first long distance ride was to the Four Corners of the US. She had ridden from Maine to Key West, where it was unbearably hot, so she rode to Blaine, Washington to cool off before continuing on to San Ysidro, California. That was the year she rode 50,000 miles in six months for the BMW MOA Women's Mileage Contest, a mark which stood unchallenged for ten years.

Lone Star BMW in Austin, Texas has a dedicated corner of the dealership where Queenie and her minions gather. They display one of her Iron Butt flags and a newspaper article and other of her memorabilia there. Since they are open till 7 p.m. on Thursdays, that's the day they gather to go out to dinner somewhere. One of the Gutter Gang decided he'd ride a thousand miles and asked Ardys to sign his paperwork. To tease him, she said she'd have to ride along to really document the ride. As it turned out, seven more guys earned their Saddlesores under her watchful eye. With some of the bikes having a range of 125 miles that made it tough in west Texas but they managed to do it in just 22 hours. It was her most time-consuming ride ever.

Two of her equipment secrets are her sheepskin and her Motolights. When asked what it is that makes her ride like she does, she acknowledges that she just doesn't know. Competition is part of it. Before motorcycles, she had a bicycle. She had a pilots' license and always has been adventurous. She had done a lot of driving in the Northeast and she really likes to travel around. Even before she got her driver's license, she could tell others how to get places. She really didn't need written directions. The price of gas has something to do with it as well.

Her grandson, Scott, now has a Harley made the year he was born. When he was in elementary school, he was talking about his grandmother's motorcycle. He just didn't realize everyone's grandmother didn't ride. Of course the kids didn't believe him so he brought an MOA magazine with his grandmother winning the mileage contest for Show and Tell. It’s hard to dispute evidence like that.

Last summer she took her 15-year-old grandson, Jared, on a zoo tour driving by truck to San Diego from Massachusetts visiting zoos along the way including an animal safari Texas style. They missed Atlanta because Jared had to be back for school. She gave her youngest granddaughter, Tara, an all the gear all the time believer, a ride to her favorite Chuck E. Cheese. She's ridden up Mt. Washington with her son. Several of her family members ride, but not one as much as she does.

This year's highlights are many. She's met so many nice people and has gone to more rallies this year than she has in recent years. Riding with Heidi still doing 1,000 miles in one day in the constantly changing topography of Colorado is another highlight. She's been camping more this year as well. Meeting interesting people and seeing more of our beautiful country are important to her.

This year she's been to the North Florida Winter Rally, Bike Week in Daytona, the Women and Motorcycling Conference in Atlanta, the RA Rally in Boise, the Top O’Rockies Rally and she completed the Peaks of America tour by attending the MOA International rally in Vermont. She has spoken on two panels about long-distance riding. She brought down the house when asked when she knows she’s too tired to ride more, by confessing it’s when she ducks for overpasses. After the end of the mileage contest she'll return to Rhode Island to pick up a new bike she bought recently. This remarkable lady continues to shatter stereotypes, rack up miles and make friends along the way.


Some interesting links about her:

BMW Salutes Million Mile Ladies Ardys Kellerman and Voni Glaves

Ardys Kellerman Rides Over 100,000 Miles In One Year

Re: Million mile women riders!

RIP Ardys Kellerman , RESPECT your achievements, very few dare to just think but you did things, not achievable for most.
Million Miles of RESPECT.



PS - On a lighter note, 'a 82 year old male driving (that too a passenger car) & crashing'. Whoa !!

Re: Million mile women riders!

Extremely sad incident. If people think it's easy to do that in foreign country then think again of the age factor. I think the motorcycling community is abuzz with this latest incident.

RIP mam. I am sure you are riding on the highway to heaven now