Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1547197
M any authors have taken a swipe at trying to explain why we ride motorcycles, with most all of them succeeding only in making us roll our eyes, shake our heads and sigh. As the saying goes, if we have to explain it, you won't understand. If, however, that author was one of motocross's pioneers, telling us that riding a motocross bike not only provided an adrenaline rush, but that it actually kept her alive, well, now you have our attention. "Motocross," says Johanna Stenersen, "saved my life." The title of her book is Torn Back and Raw: An Intimate Portrayal of a Life Hijacked by Mental Illness. The au- thor's name is likely not recognizable to most motocross fans today, but Stenersen was one of the top women's MXers in the early days of the sport, which sadly isn't well represented in racing's history books. Women's motocross has been in and out of the spotlight many times since its inception. Support from the manufactur- ers, distributors and corporate sponsors has helped the men's side grow fat and happy, while women's MX has, at best, nibbled on some crumbs along the way. In the early '70s, the top competitors were Sue Fish, who would go on to compete against the men in the AMA Nationals, and Johanna Stenersen, a strong kid who was already in the gym, pumping iron to get even stronger. She had one goal: beat Sue Fish. "It was a two-person race. That was it. Sue and I would lap the entire field of women at every race. Nobody could compete with us." "I started riding when I was 11 years old," Stenersen recalls. "My brother Don, who was two years older than me, taught me how to ride on his Honda 55. We lived near San Clemente [California], and at that time, there was a lot of undeveloped land nearby, so it was easy to find places to ride. It was like a playground. I moved on to a Hodaka Ace and started racing in the Powder Puff class when I was 13. "Riding motorcycles was a great outlet for me. We grew up in a highly dysfunctional home, and this was a way out for us. My brother was also a racer, but it was easier for me to get trophies, so that created some sibling rivalry." Stenersen would also occasionally compete against the boys. As many women racers learned, boys don't like being beaten by girls. "Those poor, little, fragile egos," she remembers. "Young boys filled with testosterone. If you had a ponytail, which I did, you were a target. They wanted to take you out and I don't mean on a date! But JOHANNA STENERSEN TALKS ABOUT HOW MOTOCROSS GOT HER OUT OF A DARK PLACE. "MOTOCRO SAVED MY LIFE" Johanna Stenersen was one of the country's top women motocrossers in the mid-1970s. CNII ARCHIVES P138 BY KENT TAYLOR