 | | Holbert and her daughters, Andrea, 17, and Allison, 9. All three enjoy horse riding and both girls have placed in local rodeos.
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| Guy resident Nadine Holbert received her first motorcycle at the age of 13, and since then, she took a hobby that became her life's passion, earning her a place in history as one of the pioneering women in the sport of motocross racing.
Today, Holbert, 43, lives a relatively quaint lifestyle. She works as a Sugar Land police dispatcher and lives on a farm in Guy with her two daughters where they enjoy riding horses and tending to the many animals in their household.
However, just over 10 years ago, Holbert's lifestyle found her constantly on the move as she traveled across the country, following tournaments as a highly sought-after athlete with numerous sponsorships and appearances at major venues, including the Astrodome.
Holbert said she began the sport of motocross in her home state of Iowa as a high school student in 1978, and continued in the sport through her move to Texas in 1984. The sport became a full-time endeavor one day in 1990, when she received her first major sponsorship, and continued through 1994.
She said the death of her husband, who served as her coach and manager during her formative years in the sport, marked the end of the her interest in the sport, though she has considered making a comeback from retirement.
"Motorcycles is how we met, and it was our life, and we worked together, and so continuing in the sport was disheartening," she said.
She said after her husband's death, she earned a college degree in computer systems and a horse riding friend of hers informed her of the job in Sugar Land, which she took just eight months ago.
Today, Holbert enjoys her work as a police dispatcher, saying the job allows her to help people, utilize her computer skills and put to work the customer service skills she picked up working in motorcycle shops for years.
Her daughter, Andrea, also took up motocross, and earned several distinguished honors of her own at a very young age. Since her father's death, however, Andrea Holbert made the transition from motocross to horse-related competitions and now competes in area rodeos.
An adventurous spirit
Holbert said she was born and reared by motorcyle-loving parents in a small town in northwest Iowa. She said her father purchased her an on- and off-street motorcycle at 13, and she would ride it through the fields of the countryside.
Holbert said it was only after receiving her motorcycle that her mother took up the sport as well. However, even before getting involved with motocross, Holbert said she sought adventure through her horse riding.
At the tender age of five, Holbert recalls, she would venture onto a nearby roadside, wait for cars and take off just as they passed, as though she was racing them. She said her neighbors worried greatly for her safety.
"They would always call and check on me," she said with a laugh.
In 1978, said Holbert she took on the sport of motocross at the encouragement of a boyfriend, who would ride with her in off-road locations and teach her the basics of the sport.
However, those lessons would not prove sufficient at her first tournament. She said she was "kind of naive" going into her first race, where she got "knocked out."
"I crashed my first race," she said with enthusiasm in her voice. "I got smoked, but I had a lot of fun. It was awesome, so I went home and practiced and came back."
Holbert said she raced at the amateur level and slowly earned prizes before she would go professional.
Holbert said motocross racing does not prove for a smooth ride, saying the goals are two-fold: to beat competitors and to beat the elements.
She said the races may either require competitors to ride a set number of laps through a course about three-quarters to 2 miles, or to ride for a period of time such as 30 or 45 minutes through a course. The races can be extremely strenuous, she said.
To be a good motocross racer, said Holbert, requires making split-second decisions, having upper and lower body strength, having good balance, and having the ability to maneuver a motorcycle on rough terrain.
Alone in the field
In those early years of competing, Holbert said, she did not meet a single woman competitor, but she claims she "never really thought about that."
"I always thought of just racing," she said.
Holbert said some men would not take well to losing to a woman, but she made good friends with others.
"There were a couple of times when there was some dirty riding," she said. "And I didn't let that intimidate me. I just bumped and shoved right back."
She said her status as the sole female racer, not to mention her athleticism, earned her the attention of spectators and she became a draw over time.
Her first all-female events, Holbert said, occurred in the early '80s, including the Loretta Lynn competition in California. While the women's divisions would become better organized with time, Holbert said she experienced frustrations because the small number of women participating forced riders of all skill levels into a single race, rather than races divided by skill level, as is the norm in the men's competition.
By the early '90s, however, Holbert said she saw more women involved in the sport and races would be divided into skill-level classes.
A good move
By 1984, said Holbert, she decided to move to Texas. She said the long winters and short summers of Iowa did not prove good weather for practicing motocross, plus, friends she met in California encouraged her to move southward.
"I ended up coming down and finding a job and loving Texas, especially because you can be outside all year 'round and not just a few short months," she said.
Holbert said she worked in a motorcycle dealership in Houston, and met her husband, Robby, one day at the Rio Bravo motocross in Houston in December 1984, about a year after her move.
Holbert said Robby saw her compete in the men's race and "whoop" the competition so bad she was able to return to her seat and make herself a sandwich while some men continued crossing the finish line.
From there, Holbert said, the two became partners in her endeavor as a motocross enthusiast. Robby, she said, suffered injuries from his days in motocross and was already retired when they met. Nevertheless, he aided her by providing coaching and management.
Among her early achievements in Texas, Holbert cites her second place award in the 1984 Texas state championships for 250 CC motorcycles and a second place award for the 150 CC championship, both in men's categories.
Going Pro
Holbert said the years 1991, 1992 and 1993 proved the most intense years of her riding, being the years she competed full-time and professionally. Holbert said the transition occurred after she picked up a major corporate sponsor.
Holbert said by 1990, she had been trying to earn a sponsorship, and would use her racing contacts while writing letters to potential sponsors in hope of landing a deal. She would sometimes receive small tokens from companies, such as discounts on products, and always wrote thank you letters to those companies.
She said the turning point occurred in 1990 after finishing in fourth in a men's class race in Lake Whitney. She said she heard her name announced over a loudspeaker, and sure enough, met a representative of Dunlop Tires and the race announcer, where the Dunlop executive expressed interest in a sponsorship.
"He received my resumes and letters, but never got back with me, because he didn't think women were serious. But after seeing me ride, he said he definitely wanted to sponsor me and have me a part of his team," she said.
More sponsors followed, along with media coverage, including ESPN appearances and stories on Houston television news stations, among other publicity. She admits however, earning a living proved "hard" in the sport.
One of those who sponsored her, Houston motorcycle distributor James "J.P." Parson, said he has known Holbert since 1985, and said she was the fifth fastest woman in the world in her time and could take apart and reassemble a motorcycle completely.
Parson said he chose to sponsor Holbert not only because of her performance on the dirt tracks, but also off.
"I sponsored her because of her exposure in the sport, because of her presence and professionalism and her joy of riding - just good representation of the product line," he said.
Holbert said her life became hectic. She said by then she owned several race bikes and would travel, for instance, throughout California and then maybe have to appear in Texas and immediately afterward compete in Florida. Even the Texas races proved away from home, being in Dallas rather than Houston.
She said she missed her husband, who stayed at home during much of the travels.
"That was tough. You get used to having that support and it's not there," she said.
Nevertheless, Holbert said she enjoyed meeting many people and developing friendships with fellow motocrossers.
"It was the people," she said. "I love to race, but I love going to the races and people would be there and it was like a big extended family."
Among Holbert's many achievements, she gave the keynote speech at the first women's awards banquet for the American Motorcycle Association and has been inducted into that group's Hall of Fame.
The sport, she said, always proved dangerous. Holbert said she suffered a broken shoulder, broken ribs, dislocated both her wrists, suffered a concussion, tore the ligament in her knee and suffered sprained ankles, not to mention the constant "bumps and bruises."
Holbert also taught the sport to children during the early '90s and enjoyed teaching the sport to those who shared her passion.
"Mostly I enjoyed working with people and getting them started in the right direction," she said.
Two of her students, said Holbert, went on to compete nationally.
Both daughters also became competitive, but the two quit after Robby's death. Among Andrea's accomplishments, said her mother, she became the first to win a 50 CC boys race, in the Astrodome, and won the Texas State Championship.
Making a Comeback
Today, raising her two daughters and caring for her four horses occupies much of Holbert's free time. She said she chose Guy partly on the recommendation of a friend and was attracted to the Needville Independent School District and the country life. Prior to living in Guy, she moved several times throughout the region.
"It's more laid back and relaxing," she said of her current life. "I can sit back and enjoy life a little bit more now."
Holbert's two daughters both have become accomplished horse riders. Andrea, 17, placed fourth in a regional event in Wharton and advanced to the state rodeo competition in Abilene. Allison, 9, placed fourth in a Fort Bend County Youth Rodeo Summer Series and traveled to Jackson, Miss., for the All-American Youth Pony competition for children under age 13 and horses 42 inches and smaller.
Holbert said she considered the possibility of competing again in the sport of motocross, though she said she does not want to take the sport so seriously, again.
"I have to keep the fun in perspective," she said.
She said a visit to a friend from San Antonio, who also enjoys motocross, led her to reconsider, and she said she will now participate in a tournament in November.
Overall, however, she has been enjoying her time living in Guy and working for Sugar Land.
"I finally feel like after my husband died and moving a lot, I finally have structure and stability in my life," she said.
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