Tamela Rich, seen here on her motorcycle, left on her cross-country journey this weekend. The ride raises money and awareness of breast cancer research, but will also help Rich with a book she’s writing about breast cancer survivors. Photos courtesy of Anthony Ciordia
For 40 days, Tamela Rich will hit the open road for a cause.
Traveling cross-country on her motorcycle, Rich left Charlotte on Saturday, June 18, to join the Women Who Ride Conga fourth annual event. She won’t look back toward the East Coast until she has raised money to fight breast cancer.
Rich, a self-described adventurer, also is a ghost writer, author, wife, mother and motorcycle enthusiast. She began riding in 2010, intrigued specifically by long-distance rides, and quickly fell in love with the sport. Rich only rode for three months before embarking on her first cross country ride, embracing the frame of mind that there’s no better way to learn something than to jump in head-first.
That first ride, in June 2010, came when Rich decided she’d like to find a different way to reach a client in Oregon than just jumping on a plane. “I decided instead of jumping on a plane, I’d ride a motorcycle,” Rich said.
Shortly after that, Rich found Women Who Ride Conga, a group of American and Canadian women who ride their motorcycles across the country each year in an attempt to raise money for breast cancer research. The group raised $40,000 with last year’s ride, despite it very much being a “grassroots” kind of thing, Rich said.
The riders take part in fundraising events and efforts as they make their way across the country. The ride culminates with a three-day fundraising extravaganza halfway across the country, in Wyoming.
When Rich arrived in Wyoming last year, she was caught off guard by the decorations on each person’s bike. The event was a sea of pink, while Rich’s motorcycle was short on flair. So, she strapped a decorated pink bra to the front of her ride. Now, it’s something she credits for being her good luck charm for the rest of the ride, and a token that quickly branded her trip.
For the rest of her trip, over a span of 43 days, Rich met lots of new people affected by breast cancer. It wasn’t long before the writer in Rich began taking notes on all the stories she heard from the many people across the nation who had dealt with breast cancer in their lives.
“I wasn’t very prepared,” Rich said of the many people wanting to share their story. The phenomenon had such an effect on her that Rich decided to hop on her bike again this year, but this year interview cancer survivors for her next book: “Live Life Full Throttle: What you can learn about life from women who have survived cancer.”
The book will establish the thought process each woman went through after learning of their cancer diagnosis and how each lived life knowing they may not have much time left.
“(The book will be about) learning about life and the time you have,” Rich said. She already has a list of women she’ll speak with along her route, and this year, now a part of the Women Who Ride Conga family, Rich is much more ready to ride.
“Now, I have people from all over the country I’ll be riding with,” she said.
Having left Charlotte on Saturday with a new pink bra adorning her bike, Rich hopes the token/calling card will bring her as much luck this year as it did on her inaugural ride. But mostly she’s looking forward to the warm welcome she’ll get from her many supporters between here and the West Coast.
“It is a lovely community of people who have truly embraced what we are doing,” she said. “I had no idea how much that experience would change my life.”
Follow Tamela Rich
You can keep up with Rich’s journey across the county by visiting her travel blog, http://roadtrip.tamelarich.com. All money raised from her ride will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Carolina Breast Friends.
Comments