Centennarian gets her motorcycle ride

Jul. 1—OSKALOOSA — Seven motorcycles rumbled up to Inglenook and Norwich Apartments Saturday morning.

They were there to pick up a special birthday girl.

After a few moments, Doris McGee walked out the front door, her smile lighting up her face.

"Everyone here looks so happy," Doris said. "You guys don't know what this means to me."

McGee turned 100 last Tuesday.

Kelli Kline, who delivers Meals on Wheels to McGee, came up with the idea for the ride. She has been delivering meals to McGee seven days a week for about four years.

Kline is also a motorcycle enthusiast who frequently rides with her husband. Kline and McGee would visit when she delivered meals, often talking about riding motorcycles.

Kline said the idea for the motorcycle ride came after a conversation with McGee a couple weeks ago. McGee told her the two hardest things she ever had to give up in her life were her pickup and her motorcycle. Kline took to social media, posting on her Facebook her plan for McGee's birthday present, and an invitation for other riders to join them.

James McHawes, 39, of Oskaloosa, found out about the ride from his mom, who called him after seeing Kline's Facebook invitation and asked him to show up. McHawes said he would be there, and that he could bring some friends. None of them had met McGee.

"It's just more of a support thing," said Jeff Scott, 42, of Rose Hill.

Kline's friend, Vicki VanderLinden, was part of the group on her Harley Davidson Tri-Glide trike. She was McGee's designated ride. So when McGee came out of her apartment building, Kline's husband, Douglas, put down some small wooden steps beside the trike and helped her mount the it.

"Would you like to wear a helmet?" Douglas asked her.

"No."

The group pulled over after a few blocks to let McGee put on a bandana. They rode west through town, out to and through Lake Keomah State Park and back.

McGee said the ride "was a dream come true."

She and her late husband, Loren, rode together all the time after they retired. They had been riding motorcycles before that, but retirement freed them to go where they wanted, when they wanted, for as long as they wanted.

"After we retired, if we took a notion, we just got on that bike and ride," McGee said. "If we get tired, we get a motel."

Loren died almost 20 years ago, and they had given up their motorcycle some years before that.

Her last time on a motorcycle before Saturday was about 10 years ago.

"I know this was my last and final ride," McGee said. "I'd go on another bike ride if I had the chance."

"She'll be an idol for me," said Jake Ellsworth, who joined the birthday ride with McHawes and Scott. "I'll be happy to hold my bike up when I'm 100."

Jeff Wilford is a staff writer for the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].