Cuban daredevil is dead

By Tracey Eaton

Cuban daredevil is dead

Photo: Hobbies en la Red

Lourdes Bretos has passed away, one of her relatives told me today. She was a pioneer among female riders of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Cuba.

Her father, Luis Bretos, ran a bustling Harley-Davidson dealership in Havana. Lourdes Bretos told me in a 1999 interview:

Harleys sold like hot bread. They sold like crazy.

In the 1950s, Bretos did stunts on Harleys, even riding one along the top of the narrow seawall on the edge of Havana. She told me:

Those were the best days of my life. We toured the entire island by motorcycle, going where there were no roads.

Bretos left Cuba in 1961.
She was reluctant to talk to reporters. Since 2010, I've been to her apartment in Miami three times asking for an interview, but I never had any luck.
My condolences to her relatives.