After horses and before cars or jeeps, the motorcycle enjoyed a career as the postal carrier’s means of transport.
The United States Postal Service relied on horse and wagon for deliveries for generations. Rural mail carriers in particular, faced with large distances and rutted roads, stuck with their equine co-workers well into the 20th century. That began to change as motorcycles took hold. Lighter, more maneuverable, and often more reliable than the automobiles of the day, early Harley-Davidson and Indian models ferried postmen and their cargo across the country’s counties.
This wasn’t by coincidence. Manufacturers, sensing government dollars and an unexploited niche, wasted no time advertising the motorcycle’s merits in publications such as the R.F.D. News, the Rural Letter Carriers’ Association’s newsletter. In this image from May 1912, carriers in Kiowa, Kansas, pose with trusty single-cylinder Harley-Davidsons and the daily mail.
Motorcycle ‘mom’ Leora Greathouse still adventurous at 84
GIRARD — An early morning routine of drinking coffee and playing mind games — and a taste of treats — keeps mother and grandmother Leora Greathouse active.
“I’d go almost anywhere for ice cream,” the 84-year-old, a regular at the Girard Multi-Generational Center’s “morning jabber sessions,” said.
Greathouse spends her days helping a neighbor and sewing items for friends — everything from curtains to wedding slippers.
A lifetime Girard resident, Greathouse was married in 1952, and has three children and four grandchildren, who are “all local.”
However, most weekends from April through September, Greathouse has a different family — two Gold Wing Riders Association clubs, including chapter M from Austintown of which she is a 20-year member, and chapter I2 in Warren, which she recently joined.
Greathouse began riding a motorcycle with her late husband, Joe, shortly after they were married in 1952 and continued riding following his passing in 1999.
“We didn’t have the time and the money when we were younger to travel,” she said.
So after their kids were a little older, the two started riding together. Although for a short time in 1957 she did own her own motorcycle, she is not a driver. However, she knows how important the second person balancing the motorcycle can be.
She remembers almost knocking her husband and other drivers off the bike just by changing position too quickly.
“For one thing, I’m short in stature, and my feet don’t touch the ground,” she said.
Greathouse said riding is a passion for her, and it’s a great way to see things and share comraderie with her many friends.
“Most of our riding couples are in their 60s. We have a few in their 40s, but I am the oldest in both groups,” Greathouse said. “I am honored to know them. They keep me alive.”
A level 4 safety rider, Greathouse is trained in CPR and first aid, is an organizer of short and sometimes longer trips, and advises the 68 members of the M chapter. Preparation is key to riding, she said, and she is always clothed for riding — with helmet, coat and boots, and most importantly, weather-appropriate gear.
“Always bring a raincoat,” she advises new riders. Greathouse said she always wears a coat, even in the heat of summer, as well as during the chill of early fall.
Greathouse said riding communication has changed since the old days of signaling. The Gold Wings have better communication with cellphones now. But a nine-cycle formation is still the best way to ride, she said.
Greathouse also has more personal riding experiences, including long trips to the Southwest and traveling through a cloud high in the Georgia hills on a trip with one friend in the early 2000s.
“She didn’t tell me how cold it was until we were off the mountain, traveling through a cloud, but it went down into the 30s,” she said.
The experience of being on a bike instead of closed in a vehicle makes for an adventure, Greathouse said.
Kevin Valot, 60, is the preferred driver for Greathouse’s adventures nowadays. He said he is impressed with Greathouse’s stamina and cheerful willingness to ride throughout any circumstances.
Valot recalls first meeting the rider everyone calls “mom.”
“We were going to Utica for an ice cream festival,” said Valot, who, along with his wife, have taken up riding in their “empty nest” days.
Valot said a couple riders at a meeting were just talking about the upcoming ride and Greathouse, without a driver, was considering staying home. Valot, whose wife drives her own Honda, had a place on the back of his cycle for Greathouse.
“That lady’s face lit up,” he said of her reaction when he invited her along.
On another ride to Columbus, terrible weather was expected and Greathouse and Valot — the only riders to brave the trek outside the accompanying backup vehicles — got pretty drenched, they recalled.
“She rode with me 100 percent of the time and it rained hard,” Valot said. “She is a dedicated rider.”
Greathouse said she has visited 46 of the 50 states and Niagara Falls, Canada, and is ready to ride whenever she gets the opportunity.
“I just like the scenery,” she said.
eearnhart@tribtoday.com
Rogue
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