Joanie Deal of White Marsh has always loved motorcycles. As a child, she rode dirt bikes and four-wheelers, and she’s ridden pillion (a seat for a passenger behind a motorcyclist) for years on her husband’s bikes, but it was just a week ago Saturday that she herself officially became a biker.

Deal’s youngest daughter Ashley was her inspiration. Ashley bought herself a bike and got her dad, Buck, to teach her. Joanie watched the lessons, and pretty soon Buck was encouraging her.

“He just knew I could do it,” she said.

On Sept. 5, the husband-and-wife team went shopping and came home with a bright blue Honda Shadow 700. Before long, Joanie was in the driver’s seat. Although she spent the first day in first gear, by the second day she was shifting gears, and as of Monday, she was up to third gear.

“I’m facing my fears,” she said with a laugh. This fall, Joanie and Buck will be taking a trip to the mountains to see the autumn leav...