Riding a bicycle 217 miles across three states might seem like a daunting task, but for four Oxford-area women, it’s all for a worthy cause.
Sue Biddle, Karey Collins, Lori Ross and Dawn Williams will be biking from Hershey, Penn. to New York City’s Times Square Oct. 3-5.
Their mission ? raise money for the Tour de Pink’s Young Survival Coalition.
The organization focuses on breast cancer issues facing women under 40, particularly those with young families.
To help these women reach their goal of raising at least $12,500, JDs Key Club in Pontiac will hold a fund-raising party Thursday, Sept. 25. Tickets are $10 each.
All of the entrance fees plus 50 percent of the bar tab will benefit the Tour de Pink team.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the dueling pianos will start at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a raffle for a donated bike from Giant Bicycles.
The idea for the bike ride came about last year. Some of the ladies did a three-day breast cancer walk and Collins, an avid bicyclist who’s raced mountain and road bikes, asked them if they’d like to do a bike ride this year.
‘I talked them into it,? Collins said.
Added Ross: ‘Karey . . . asked us to step it up a notch this year and get on a bike. We all said, ‘Sure. Let’s go for it.??
To get in shape for the long journey, the ladies ride 10-15 miles on a regular basis and 50-60 miles on their long rides.
The ride from Hershey to New York will be broken up over three days ? 86 miles the first day, 83 the second and 48 miles on the final day. It’s a very hilly route with a trip through the foothills of the Pocono Mountains. ‘We’re all just shooting for finishing,? Ross said.
‘The hills and the unknown do scare me,? said Biddle, laughing. ‘I just feel like I need to put mind over matter and be thankful that I have my health and that I can do this to help others.?
Williams knows it will be a tough ride since she hasn’t challenged herself this way in the past, but with the training they’ve done and the support she’s received from her friends and family, she’s optimistic they can all finish the race. Among her supporters is her eight year-old daughter, Madison Thomas.
‘My daughter has been so helpful,? Williams said. ‘She’s helped me fund raise by selling hats and helping at garage sales. She understands when I have to go train on long bike rides.?
It’s not the Tour de France, but for the ladies, the ride carries just as much personal significance to them.
A close friend of theirs, Kathy Luby, who taught school and had five children in the Lake Orion school district, died in March from breast cancer. She was 40.
They will be biking in Luby’s memory.
Biddle, a single mother who runs a child care center, remembers how selfless and giving Luby was.
?(Kathy’s) children attended my daycare center in Lake Orion, and I just feel that Kathy, before and after she was diagnosed, was always taking care of others and putting them before herself,? Biddle said. ‘She was a wonderful, giving teacher who was there for the other kids at school.?
Some of the ladies have seen the impact of breast cancer in their own families. Collins? aunt is a longtime breast cancer survivor. Ross’s younger sister, Shelley, was diagnosed with breast cancer this past spring.
‘That’s another incentive for me,? she said.
Williams, who has lost family members to cancer and has several friends under 40 who’ve had breast cancer, considers this race a personal mission for her. She’s riding for her girlfriend, Amy Reid, who had a mastectomy last year and has three young children. Williams? father died at 47 from colon cancer, and her grandmother died from breast cancer.
The Tour de Pink website is located at www.tourdepink.org.
JDs Key Club is located in Pontiac at 1 North Saginaw. For more information about the fund-raiser call 248-338-7337 or visit their website at www.jdskeyclub.com.