Riding for a cause… Is there a better reason to ride?
“CHARLOTTE, NC (May 30, 2011) — On Saturday, June 18, 2011 Tamela Rich will launch her second cross-country motorcycle ride, departing from Motorcycles of Charlotte on Westinghouse at I-77. Along her route she will be raising money for breast cancer causes and interviewing cancer survivors for a book.
In 2010 Rich joined a handful of other women motorcyclists from across the United States and Canada and together their “Women Who Ride Conga” group raised nearly $40,000.
Dealership owner Mark Engel said, “We’re delighted to support the first day of Tamela’s ride, which we call ‘Kickstands Up.’ Anyone who wants to come down to our clubhouse at 9:00 a.m. is welcome to join us for a Continental breakfast and to wish the riders well in their journey through the mountains to Robbinsville, NC. The bikes pull out at 10:00 a.m.”
From Robbinsville, Rich and others will ride Deal’s Gap, also known as “The Tail of the Dragon,” then she continues her trip toward the west coast. Some of the riders will accompany her for a day or two into Tennessee and Arkansas before turning back to their homes. This is why the riders call it a “Conga” ride — bikers join for a mile, a day or a state along the way as their schedules permit and some of the riders make it all the way to the Women Who Ride Conga rally point in Shell/Greybull Wyoming on July 14, 2011.
Riders at Kickstands UP are asked to decorate their motorcycles in something “festive and pink” and Motorcycles of Charlotte will donate $25 for each decorated bike to drumStrong, a Charlotte-based cancer fundraising organization. At the end of her trip in July, drumStrong will divide the monies Rich raised between Carolina Breast Friends and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Last year Rich strapped a pink bra across the windshield of her motorcycle and selected this year’s bra from those entered in a bra decorating contest at a fundraising event.
“It’s amazing, people instantly know you’re doing something for breast cancer when they see your decorated bike. People from all over the country asked to get their pictures with mine,” she said. “This gave me an opportunity to ask for donations to the cause and to hear how breast cancer had touched their lives. Everyone has a story about a friend, a family member or a co-worker because breast cancer touches one of every eight women.”
The stories she heard from fellow travelers and her fellow fundraising motorcyclists inspired Rich to write the book,”Live Full Throttle: What you can learn about life from women who’ve faced cancer.” She will interview subjects for the book as she traverses the United States and Canada this summer.”
(Via .) PitchEngine.com