The Chrome Queens

Angela Peters' first time on a motorcycle was on the tank of her dad's panhead Harley-Davidson.

"Well, I'm 34 now," she said, "So I've probably been riding 33 years."

Most of those years she spent riding passenger, but that changed last year when she got her own Harley.

"I wanted to be able to ride beside my dad," she said. "Not behind my dad."

But the vast majority of motorcycle clubs only allow men to be independent members. So Peters, along with her friends Susie Smith, Bobbie Pinkerton-Byrd and Char Miller, started her own riding group, the Chrome Queens.

Susie "Sizzle" Smith, left, and Char "Tigger" Miller hang out near the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in Cape Girardeau on Thursday.Laura Simon

Peters said in the motorcycle community, there's a chain of command, and although the Chrome Queens are technically a riding group -- not a motorcycle club, as they lay claim to no territory -- they still had to make sure they weren't stepping on anyone's toes.

But the thrill of independence is one of the core elements that drew them to motorcycles in the first place; conditional membership wasn't going to cut it for them.

"I didn't want to feel like I got in because of [my fiance]," Peters said. "I didn't want to feel like I got in because people know who my dad was. I wanted to do it on my own."

"We're the first all-female riding group that's not got an affiliated brother club in Southeast Missouri," said Miller, the club treasurer.

Being their own group allows them to pursue their own philanthropic causes as well.

"Being an all-female riding group, we wanted to do something that affected women," Peters explained.

So they dedicate themselves to helping those fighting breast cancer.

"When we started this," Peters said, "We didn't know each other. We knew of each other, but we all knew someone who's been affected by breast cancer."

The group's colors are pink and silver, for breast cancer awareness and the chrome on a Harley.

Smith, the Queens' vice president, said if there's something a cancer patient or her family needs doing, they'll do it. The money the club raises helps in all sorts of ways, including medication costs and help with bills. Sometimes, the Queens just sit with people who need company during chemotherapy.

"Life would be awesome if all we had to do was get on our bikes and ride, but think of all the people who can't do those things," Smith said. "What's the point of having all this fun and this motorcycle if you can't turn around and give to someone else?"

But the riding is their passion.

"You can call it a midlife crisis if you want," said Smith, who bought her motorcycle at 43 years old. "But I can't imagine life without a motorcycle."

Miller said there's nothing like riding.

"It's a feeling you have inside when you climb on a motorcycle," she said. "Especially a Harley. A lot of people ride, but when it's a passion, it's different. No matter what mood you're in when you get on the bike, you feel 100 times better when you get off it."

The group's safety officer, Pinkerton-Byrd, said she's proud to be part of the first all-female riding group around.

"Everyone said it had never been done here before," she said.

But bikers don't tend to be dissuaded so easily.

"If someone says we can't do it, we tend to do it," she said.

Like-minded ladies are welcome to join, Pinkerton-Byrd said, so long as they have a passion for riding. Interested women may learn more about the group by visiting their Facebook group.

Smith said while they don't actively court new members, she's proud of what the group stands for.

"We wanted women to know they don't have to be with a man to be part of a group," she said. "If you enjoy riding motorcycles and you're for the cause, you should be able to be a part of it."

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627