Photos courtesy of Sommer-Simmons

Sommer-Simmons competed in the inaugural Motorcycle Cannonball with her 1915 Harley-Davidson 11-F , the same bike used by Effie and Avis Hotchkiss when they road across America over a century ago .

“ I was working like 16 or 17 hours a day and I didn ’ t even want to close my eyes at night because these women were such an inspiration ,” Sommer-Simmons told Thunder Press .

She borrowed images from magazines , pleaded with museums for usage rights and dug deep into America ’ s motorcycling history only to discover what we have always known : there have always been female riders , despite what Hollywood and pop culture would like us to believe .

The book came out in 2009 . In 2010 , Sommer-Simmons joined the inaugural Motorcycle Cannonball , a transcontinental antique motorcycle journey that started in Kitty Hawk , North Carolina and ran to the Pacific Ocean .

“ It was the weirdest thing ,” Sommer-Simmons said . “ I had been looking at all those old pictures for so long and all the sudden it felt like I was living the book . I knew what it felt like to ride these old bikes .”

Indeed , Sommer-Simmons was recreating history by riding a 1915 Harley-Davidson 11-F , a three-speed V-twin . That same model was ridden by Effie Hotchkiss in 1915 , with her mother Avis in a sidecar . Those two women are seen as the first women to complete a cross-country , round trip motorcycle ride totaling some 9,000 miles .

When Effie got to the Pacific Ocean , she pulled out a small jar filled with water from the Atlantic and poured it into the Pacific . Sommer-Simmons did the same thing .

“ I wanted to honor the women that paved the way for me , and I hope I have paved the way for other women ,” she said .

Sommer-Simmons has been an ambassador for female motorcycling since 1985 , when she co-founded Harley Women , considered the first widely distributed magazine for women riders . Besides The American Motorcycle Girls , she published the widely popular children ’ s book Patrick Wants to Ride ( 1994 ) and The American Motorcycle Girl ’ s Cannonball Diary ( 2012 ).

Sommer-Simmons has worked hard to support women riders . And a lot of that work has paid off .

“ Some men didn ’ t like seeing women ride . God forbid a woman would get her independence ,” she said . “ Now , a lot of younger women come up to me saying I inspired them . To me , that means that the magazine really did mean something .”

Find Sommer-Simmons book at www . cannonballcris . com

— KALI KOTOSKI

66 | MAY 2020 | THUNDERPRESS . NET