Sturgis Biker Belles: Celebrating Women Who Built a Legacy

17 Years of Sisterhood, Strength, and the Open Road

By Jenny Lefferts, Photos by Sturgis Buffalo Chip, Jenny Lefferts, Marjorie Kleiman, and Tricia Szulewski
Rallies & Events /

Biker Belles

If you’re going to do one group motorcycle ride in your lifetime, put the Sturgis Buffalo Chip’s Biker Belles at the top of your list. What started as a women’s charity ride years ago has gone much further, evolving into a day to celebrate and support women, with VIP guests and speakers, an auction, coffee clutch, comfort zone, and more.

Although WomenRidersNow.com (WRN) has been reporting on the Biker Belles since its very first event, I only discovered Biker Belles for myself in 2021 during the Suffragists Centennial Motorcycle Ride, a cross-country journey celebrating the anniversary of women’s right to vote. Along the way, we stopped at South Dakota’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally for the Sturgis Buffalo Chip Biker Belles Women’s Day celebration. The moment I arrived I knew it was something special. It doesn’t matter what you ride or who you are. If you support women riders, you belong.

2025 Biker Belles
August 5, 2025 marked the Biker Belles’ 17th anniversary with 130 women and founding members in attendance.
Biker Belles 2025 group shot
What began in 2009 with fewer than 20 riders has become one of the most beloved traditions at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Sturgis Black Hills women riders
WRN founder, Genevieve Schmitt (left) and Betsy Huelskamp (right) on the 2012 Biker Belles ride through the Black Hills.
WRN Co-Chairwoman Sarah Schilke participates on a panel of motorcycle industry women in 2015. Pictured: Marilyn Stemp, Sarah Schilke, Jody Perewitz, Leticia Cline, Karalee Clock, Toni Woodruff.
WRN Co-Chairwoman Sarah Schilke participates on a panel of motorcycle industry women in 2015. Pictured: Marilyn Stemp, Sarah Schilke, Jody Perewitz, Leticia Cline, Karalee Clock, Toni Woodruff.

Biker Belles Roots

We have many remarkable women to thank for the rise of the Biker Belles. Key founders include Cris Sommer Simmons, Meg McDonough, Gloria Tramontin Struck, Lori DeSilva, and Laura Klock who turned a spark into a legacy.

Cris Gloria Lori
Cris, Lori, and Gloria celebrating Gloria’s 100th birthday during the 17th annual Biker Belles celebration.
Meg McDonough Biker Belles 2011
Meg McDonough, the first female road captain of the historic Jack Pine Gypsies Motorcycle Club, was the strategist who united the founding women. Here she is leading the Biker Belles ride in 2011.

In the early 2000s, most women’s rides leaned pink, with causes focused on breast cancer awareness. While those events were (and are) deeply meaningful, Meg knew there was more to celebrate. 

Meg McDonough
“I felt there was a need for an event that honored impactful women within motorcycling, who were paving the way and changing the industry for the better,” says Biker Belles founder, Meg McDonough.

Biker Belles Founders

Cris Simmons 1981 Sturgis
Cris Sommer Simmons first rode to Sturgis in 1981 when seeing another woman motorcycle rider on the road was rare. A journalist, author, and Sturgis Museum Hall of Famer who documented the culture she helped shape, Cris is one of the most respected voices in motorcycling.

In 1985, Cris Sommer Simmons co-founded Harley Women magazine, the first publication dedicated entirely to women riders which laid the foundation for what eventually became WomenRidersNow.com. She has raced vintage motorcycles in the Cannonball cross-country endurance run and chronicled the women who rode before her. When Woody invited her to help lead the 2009 Pink & Proud Ride, Cris brought her trademark authenticity and influence.

Cris, Pat, Vicki
Cris and her husband, Pat Simmons of The Doobie Brothers, volunteered to help from the very beginning. Together they helped turn a small charity event into the foundation for Biker Belles.

Following the 2010 Pink & Proud ride, Meg gathered Cris, Gloria, and Lori to propose shifting the focus from awareness to empowerment. She later brought the idea to Rod “Woody” Woodruff, who embraced it and invited Laura Klock to join. Together they aligned the event to the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Laura’s Helping with Horsepower program, creating what we now know as Biker Belles in 2011.

Laura Klock
Laura Klock’s Helping with Horsepower motorcycle rebuild program empowers, encourages, and inspires at-risk youth—the mission directly aligns with the Biker Belles!

Celebrating 100 Years of Gloria!

Gloria Tramontin Struck brings living history to the mix. Born in 1925, she began riding at sixteen at her family’s motorcycle shop in Clifton, New Jersey, and she has never stopped. You can read more about her in her autobiography, “Gloria, A Lifetime Motorcyclist.” Check out WRN’s book review here.

Gloria celebrated her 100th year as Grand Marshal of the 85th Sturgis Rally, a fitting tribute to one of the most beloved figures in motorcycling. With her daughter Lori DeSilva by her side, Gloria continues to embody the freedom, humor, and resilience that define women who ride.

Gloria Struck painting David Uhl
In 2012, artist David Uhl’s depiction of 25-year-old Gloria brought in nearly $2,000 in the Biker Belle’s silent auction.
Gloria Struck riding motorcycle
Lori DeSilva represents the family heart of Biker Belles. She has logged thousands of miles alongside her mother. Here, WRN editor, Tricia Szulewski captured them both in Deadwood in 2012 getting ready to ride back to Sturgis.
3 generations of strucks
In 2015, three generations of Struck women—Gloria (middle), Lori (right) , and Lori’s daughter Kathy (left)—rode together for Gloria’s 90th birthday, proving that passion runs deep and strong.

A Family Affair

Another family woman, Laura Klock, set a national land-speed record at Bonneville in 2006 on a Harley bagger she had only ridden twice. A year later, she returned with her daughters, Erika and Karlee, becoming the first mother-daughter-daughter trio to hold simultaneous land-speed records.

2017 biker belles klocks
Laura and her record-setting daughter, Karlee Cobb featured at Biker Belles in 2017.
Biker Belles first logo laura klock
Laura Klock’s image inspired the first Biker Belles logo — strength, balance, and grace on two wheels.

Thanks To Oh, So Many…

At the center of it all is Toni Woodruff, Woody’s daughter and the heartbeat of Biker Belles. With her leadership and love, she has grown the event into both a ride and a refuge, a place where women are seen, celebrated, and inspired.

Toni Woodruff Leg McDonough
“All we can hope,” Toni says, “is that Biker Belles continues to be that place to gather, ride, and experience joy.” Here is Toni and Meg at the 2025 Biker Belles event.
Biker Belles 2011
Over the years, countless women have shaped Biker Belles — riders, mentors, volunteers, and first-timers alike. Industry veterans continue to influence the event, like Karen Davidson, Gevin Fax, Kelly Yadzi, Vicki Sanfelipo, and the late Jessi Combs to name a few.
Biker Belles girl guide
Brandi Moya led the Biker Belles morning ride, rolling in from Las Vegas with a crew of women, some new, some seasoned, all united by the joy of the road. This year, she also launched the Girl Guide to Sturgis, a resource designed to help women discover events, connections, and experiences throughout the rally.

From fewer than twenty riders in 2009 to hundreds today, Biker Belles continues to honor the pioneers, celebrate today’s riders, and clear the road for those yet to come. Every August in Sturgis, when the engines fire and the horizon opens wide, that legacy roars louder than ever, proud, powerful, and unstoppable.

Harley-Davidson Sportster S Jenny Lefferts
Thanks to Harley-Davidson for loaning us this amazing and cool ride, a 2025 Sportster S. What a way to take in the Black Hills with hundreds of women riders!
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