Mary McGee was one of the first women to race motorcycles, profiled in the recent ESPN documentary, “Motorcycle Mary.”
- Died: November 27, 2024 (Who else died on November 27?)
- Details of death: Died at her home in Gardnerville, Nevada of complications from a stroke at the age of 87.
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Mary McGee’s legacy
McGee said she began racing “by accident” in the late 1950s as a young bride who enjoyed driving her MG TD sportscar to work. Her husband, an auto mechanic, saw her interest and took her to see a race. Intrigued by the sport, she immediately signed up to compete in the next one. After just four laps of practice driving, she was ready to go. Before long, she was winning races in women’s divisions, as well as competing against men, driving in road races that often took place at decommissioned World War II-era airports.
As she was beginning her auto-racing career, McGee was also learning to ride her first motorcycle. She began racing motorcycles in 1960, and within a few years, she was challenged to try something new by a legend of auto racing, actor Steve McQueen (1930–1980). She knew him from racing cars, but he was also a noted off-road motorcycle racer, and he urged her to join him in desert races. Never one to shy away from a new challenge, McGee agreed.
Even more than road racing, off-road racing was primarily a men’s sport, but McGee was a strong competitor alongside the men in her first race in 1963. A few years later, she began racing in the punishing desert races in Baja, California. She told stories of racing in desolate conditions, sometimes with injuries or with little to drink. A peak of her career came in 1975, when she became the first person ever to race the Baja 500 solo – a grueling race that had always been completed by partners or teams.
After taking a years-long break from racing, McGee returned to the sport in later years, competing in divisions for racers over 60 and, later, over 70. She also became a mentor to other women in motorsports. In 2018, she was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. The short documentary “Motorcycle Mary,” which profiles her life and career, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, and it was released on ESPN’s YouTube channel the day after McGee’s death.
Notable quote
“Being a woman on a motorcycle somehow makes you feel more important, like you’re telling the world ‘I can do this.’ More women should also enter any kind of racing event. Just enter. You may not win, but at least you entered. My goal was to always finish.” —from a 2012 interview for WCM.org
Tributes to Mary McGee
Full obituary: The Washington Post
