"Motorcycle Mama"
By Stephen Palkot - The Herald-Coaster

Monday, July 26, 2004 3:38 PM CDT
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 Nadine lives a relatively quaint lifestyle. She has worked for the Sugar Land Police Dept. as a  dispatcher since December of 2003 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 in December 2003.

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.