Maggie McNally

Maggie McNally started riding in 1981 in her home city of Albany, NY, when a friend said, "Girls cannot ride motorcycles." She had her permit within a week. Today, she operates Capital Area Rider Training LLC in the same parking lot where that conversation occurred.

Following a serious collision when a pickup crossed a 4-lane roadway, Maggie purchased a new motorcycle and got very active with her local chapter of Women on Wheels (WOW). Through WOW, Maggie attended a pilot motorcycle training class, launching her interest in rider education.  She also organized charity events, promoted female ridership, and became active with AMA District #3, rising to the position of Road Division Chair, which eventually led to her taking the role of an AMA Field Rep.  In 2009, Maggie accepted a position on the American Motorcyclist Association's Board of Directors for the Northeast Region.  This appointment made Maggie the 3rd female seated on the AMA Board. This role allowed her to join the team organizing the 2012 AMA Women in Motorcycling Conference in Carson City, Nevada, where she and three members of the event site committee rediscovered Mary Magee.

In February 2013, Maggie became the first woman to chair the American Motorcyclists Association's Board of Directors.  She maintained this role until 2020, when she reached the end of her term limits, returning to the Board in 2023, where she now chairs the AMA Recreational Riding Committee.  A highlight of her term as Board Chair was sharing the stage with May McGee to induct her into the prestigious American Motorcyclist Association's Hall of Fame class of 2018.

For many years, Maggie's children grew up in sidecars and were regular fixtures at events throughout Upstate New York.  She and her then 8-year-old daughter represented female riders in a segment of the Today Show in 1994.  Today, her son works alongside her at the family's motorcycle school.  

Maggie has been recognized as "Board Member Making a Difference" by Associations Now magazine and named as one of DealerNews' "Top 100 Leaders in Powersports".  Maggie hopes to inspire other women to ride, work, or volunteer in the motorcycling industry, continuing to promote female ridership.  She enjoys teaching and advises new riders that it does not matter what you ride; what matters is that you ride.