SHUT UP AND RIDE

As a little girl growing up in New York, Shantell Williams didn’t have a lot of heroes who looked like her.

Fast forward to her early 40s, when she discovered a woman named Bessie Stringfield, who in the 1930s was the first Black woman to ride a motorcycle across the country. Stringfield looked like Williams. She rode like Williams. Finally, Williams had found a hero and needed to tell everyone her story.

“I kept thinking, ‘What can I do to draw attention to Bessie and what she had done?” Williams told Growing Bolder. “If another little girl wants a hero that looks like them, I want them to know about Bessie Stringfield.”

From 1936 to 1946, Stringfield traveled the 48 contiguous states eight times as an Army dispatch rider during World War II. She delivered orders to Army bases on her motorcycle at a time when women weren’t allowed to enlist and before interstates even existed. Sometimes Stringfield slept in trees because most hotels wouldn’t allow women of color. She faced racism, sexism and danger. Williams thought Stringfield had done a great service for our country, but it seemed no one knew. Since Stringfield owned 27 Harley-Davidson motorcycles in her lifetime, Williams’ goal was to get Stringfield inducted into the HarleyDavidson Hall of Fame.

In 2016, Williams set off on her own road trip to retrace Stringfield’s journey. Little did she know that she would break a record by becoming the first solo rider to take this trip since Stringfield. Williams rode through 48 states in 27 days breaking a Guiness World Record. Later that year, HarleyDavidson inducted Bessie Stringfield into their Hall of Fame and created the Shantell Williams Mileage Award, which is given annually.

What’s amazing about Williams’ record-setting ride is that she had only been riding a motorcycle for eight months when she embarked on her journey. She bought her first bike without even knowing how to ride.

“I didn’t know anybody who knew how to ride, but I only had the money for the bike instead of the car I wanted,” Williams explained. “I remembered riding a three-wheeler when I was 12; so, I got on the motorcycle, and my kids followed behind me in the minivan.”

Williams laughed as she recalled the memory.

“I was in second gear the entire ride!” she said. “Two days later, I decided I should take some lessons. On day seven I was not the same person I was on day one. I remember crying that day. I was just trying to find a reason to quit. There was nobody more shocked than me that the trip actually happened.”

Netflix approached Williams in 2020 and asked her to ride again for a docuseries featuring her tribute to Stringfield. Williams decided to document the series herself and titled it, “Shut Up and Ride.”

“It means get out of your head,” she explained. “Shut up your brain and do it. You’ll be fine.”

It was her own message to herself whenever she considered quitting. Her second trip through 48 states lasted 23 days, beating her previous record. She took her film crew with her and rode 500-1,000 miles each day, stopping at gas stations and Harley-Davidson dealerships. She raised money for charity along the way, mainly for The Hen House, which gives financial relief to people and small businesses hurting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Williams understands all too well how businesses have suffered. As the owner of Shantell's Just Until Café, in Sanford, Florida, she struggled to stay afloat without any government help. (Learn one of her restaurant's signature recipes on page 64).

“We were blessed to have what I called My PPP— People Protecting People,” she said.

Williams managed to keep her 17 workers employed through generous donations, some from complete strangers. Instead of throwing food away, when no one was eating in her restaurant, Williams delivered meals to hospitals and first responders. Once word got out, the donations came pouring in.

“I’d go to the mailbox and find a check for $50 or $100 with a note to use the money to keep feeding people,” Williams said. “That was people protecting people.”

Everywhere she goes, Williams finds family. Her husband and 10 children are her family. Her restaurant employees and customers are her family. And her motorcycle community is her family.

“I just love the biker world community,” Williams said. “That’s what attracted me. That’s what’s kept me. We often say on the bikes that two wheels brought us together.”

Bessie Stringfield, the first Black woman to ride a motorcycle across the country.

[ SHUT UP AND RIDE ]

“It means get out of your head... Shut up your brain and do it. You’ll be fine.”

SHANTELL ON PERSEVERANCE

STORIES FROM THE ROAD

STORIES FROM THE ROAD

“I met a gentleman at a gas station in Winnemucca, Nevada. Frank was about 65 years old, white guy, drives a Chevy S-10 pickup. We exchanged ‘Good mornings’ and pleasantries about where each was headed. Then he asked, ‘Have you ever been stopped by the police for being Black?’ I thought about it for a second and said, ‘Yes, but I’ve also been stopped for speeding.’ We both laughed. Then he said, ‘Well, how did that make you feel?’ and I answered, ‘What it makes me feel right at this moment is that something is changing from this moment forward. The fact that we can have this conversation, that says everything.’ I was glad we had that conversation. I told Frank, ‘I’ll never forget you. I’ll share this story because it’s a moment for me.’ It was a good conversation. That was something different from my ride in 2016 to my ride in 2020.”

“I was down to my last $10 in Utah, talking to my husband through my helmet microphone. A 90-year-old woman started walking toward me, and I told my husband I needed to go because she might think I was crazy talking to myself. So, I’m pumping gas, and she goes to the garbage can, and then she walked right up to me. I put my hand out and she turned it over like I was her granddaughter and put $20 in my hand. She said simply, ‘I had a bike in the 50s,’ and walked away. I started crying.”

Esports //////////

Gaming Comes of Age

Dr. Vonda Wright, M.D.

I have a confession to make, and it may be an opinion you share as well.

About 10 years ago, when I started thinking about esports, I spoke publicly about the fact that it was going to be the demise of our children, with increased sitting in the basement, eating pizza and getting yelled at by their parents. Then, I decided to do what I suggest to my patients and my own children—let my curious brain do a deeper dive.

Esports gaming is not new. The first tournaments of digital play took place more than 30 years ago. However, they were hidden in the ivory towers of academia and ultimately crowded arcades and basements. As digital technology expanded, games became more sophisticated and accessible.

Esports, once solely considered a hobby and frequent source of parental angst, has come of age and driven esports into the mainstream of sports and entertainment. It is a robust $1.4 billion industry fueled by the passion of the players, worldwide participation, corporate sponsorships and big prize money.

Esports has rapidly evolved from the basement to the classroom, as states recognize esports as a high school varsity sport, more than 30 colleges offer scholarships for competitive play and corporate and athletic giants take their place in the gaming arena by fielding teams.

I also realized that for youth, (I’ll get to adults in a minute), who do not participate in traditional sports, life can be isolating and lonely. We glorify sports in this nation. I’m a sports doctor, so I know how huge a role they play in our culture. When I looked deeper at esports, I started seeing the benefits, and acknowledgement of benefits turned into fascination and respect.

Esports engage players’ imaginations, creativity, strategic thinking and, yes, their bodies. Plus, it provides strong social connections and an opportunity to feel pride in achieving victory and advancement. These are powerful components of a person’s overall health and well-being.

Much like traditional sports, in gaming, the perceived indestructability of youth, the pleasure and profit of winning, as well as the pressure to become legends, drives players and teams alike toward short-term goals—often with a blind eye to the athlete’s long-term sustainability, health or well-being.

I am thrilled that Growing Bolder has embraced gaming, and I’m so excited about the upcoming BolderX Among Us Tournament on June 10. (More on page 80). I’m now so passionate about esports that my team of sports clinicians harnessed the resources and methods we devote to traditional athletes to design some of the first-in-thecountry comprehensive sports medicine prevention programs for gamers. We help them maximize performance while minimizing the career-ending overuse injuries gamers encounter. The multiple joint and body system injuries they experience, such as tendon and back injuries, can be addressed through physical training, ergonomic design, smart nutrition and sleep restoration.

Traditionally, gamers were primarily teens or people in their 20s, but that’s rapidly changing. That’s a good thing. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the critical health need for older adults to socialize. Gaming and esports not only provide that opportunity to anyone wherever they live but also support neurodevelopment and slow cognitive decline.

Here’s what I love best about esports: It's the perfect opportunity to bring together people from different generations. When an older person engages in a game with a younger person, it puts them on an equal playing field. Many times, teenagers think they have nothing in common with someone over 50 years old, but gaming allows them to speak the same language.

Plus, esports provides strong mental stimulation through complex activities that help stave off the fogginess that can occur with aging. Gaming involves complex eyehand coordination; and if you're walking around with your game, it requires total body movement.

Gaming levels the playing field in ways previously unimagined and provides us an opportunity to connect with our children and grandchildren. Frankly, we should be thankful for gaming for giving us that opportunity.

Dr. Vonda Wright, MD is an orthopedic surgeon, an internationally recognized expert on active aging and a regular contributor to Growing Bolder. Learn more at DrVondaWright.com and follow her on social media at @DrVondaWright.