100-year-old Woman Rides Motorcycle

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Taylor Rhea

Nothing feels quite like riding a motorcycle. Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, describes it best when he writes, “You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.”

Atria Elizabethtown resident Adele A. can relate. She was fresh out of high school when she first hopped on the back of a bike, riding all the way from Chicago to Milwaukee­ ­– without her parents’ permission.

As her 100th birthday approached, Adele wanted to feel that sensation again. She wanted to, as Pirsig declared, get back “in the scene.”

Adele holds a special place in the hearts of Atria Elizabethtown staff and residents, having volunteered there as a receptionist for 10 years before eventually becoming a resident in 2010.

An avid volunteer for Feeding America, Adele created handmade baby bonnets for the NICU at a local hospital and remains a member of The Women’s Club in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

To show their appreciation for Adele, the staff at Atria Elizabethtown made special arrangements for a motorcycle ride in honor of her 100th birthday.

So as she celebrated her arrival at the century mark, many decades after her first unpermitted, 92-mile jaunt from Chicago to Milwaukee, Adele once again found herself back in the scene – feeling the excitement and exhilaration that can only come from riding a motorcycle.

Check out the video above!

Category: Active Aging Tags: Atria Elizabethtown, centenarian