Bums on Bikes for Breast Cancer
“A ride a day keeps the stress away” Joko Hurricane Max
By The Pink Challengers 30 November 2008. Wow what a day! The day begins bright and sunny and promises a day of superlatives. And who would think that bikers, generally perceived as unruly and rowdy, would give their time and lend their superb machines to help breast cancer survivors promote public awareness of the number one killer cancer amongst Malaysian women. The Harley Owners Group (HOG) and other super bikers did and in style too. The 20 survivors riding pillion were Pink Challengers from the Breast Cancer Welfare Association. Pink Challengers formed in 2005 is the first dragon boat team in Malaysia comprising of breast cancer survivors. Menara Hap Seng in Kuala Lumpur was abuzz with activities on that Sunday morning. Pink Challengers, their families and supporters were there by 7:45am to decorate the support cars and prepare for the arrivals of the bikers. The bikes and riders were not spared and were decorated with pink ribbons, streamers and paraphernalia. The initial estimate of about 60 bikers for the flag off at Menara Hap Seng swelled to 152 in the final count, with some 30 bikers coming from HOG Singapore Chapter. These bikers from Singapore changed their original plan of going to Desaru and detoured to meet the bikers at Ayer Keroh. Besides HOG, there were other super bikers on their impressive machines.As aptly put by the Managing Director of Hap Seng Consolidate, Dato’ Edward Lee during his speech, this event is a unique partnership between Pink Challengers and Harley Owners Group Malaysia Chapter – women who have experienced the challenges of breast cancer coming out into the open to educate the public on the importance of early detection of breast cancer and the macho bikers with their superb machines drawing the crowd towards them in Malacca. The media (English, Malay and Chinese) was present to lend their support at the flag-off venue. After the flag-off at 9:30am, the traffic police escorted the convoy to the Sungei Besi Toll. For the Pink Challengers this VIP treatment for the right of way is probably their first. Traffic was stopped at intersection and this is the only time one can jump the red light with no worries! Once past the Sungei Besi Toll, the HOG Marshalls demonstrate their skills in herding the convoy to the fast lane of the highway. It was literally poetry in motion and fascinating to watch! They were marshalling the riders to maintain the two-abreast convoy and urging the stragglers to keep in pace. To the uninitiated, the signal to go two abreast was either a ‘peace’ sign or a rude sign! There was an instance where a wayward driver decided to be part of the convoy. Their experience in dealing with such situation shows as they took this in stride with no loss of control. Great Marshalling! For most of the pillion riders, after the initial anxiety, the ride turns out to be one exhilarating experience. For those without the full-face helmet, the feel of rushing wind is thrilling – one can get addicted to this! This is the case for most of the pillion riders – they look forward to another ride! Prior to the ride, the question of how fast the bike would travel was uppermost in the minds of the pillion riders. In order not to scare those who had agreed to take the challenge, they were misinformed! The ride would not have enough pillion riders if they were told that the bikes would go in excess of 100km/hr. At Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall the local media was also present. With the draw from the big bikes parked at the entrance of the mall, the Pink Challengers together with the Malacca breast cancer survivors group and supporters distributed flyers on educating the public about breast cancer. A booth set up earlier by the Malacca group also has breast models to teach the correct way of Breast Self Examination or BSE. Also shown on a portable screen were activities of the Pink Challengers such as dragon boat training, competing in dragon boat competitions in Penang, Sabah and Singapore. This showed the public that even if one is diagnosed with breast cancer, life continues and probably offer more! The ride ends at the HOG showroom along the Federal highway. During the photo session at the closing, overheard was “Can we ask the riders to stand in between their pillion riders?” To which one biker quipped, “Be careful what you ask for” Ooops!!! Safety was paramount and again the HOG team showed their mettle in rally biking. A training practice was organized prior to the actual ride. Prior to the practice run most of the Pink Challengers were quiet and probably thinking what had they got themselves into! The perception was riding motorbikes was dangerous. However, after the practice run, one of the bikers commented that the pillion drivers were chirpier! Guess the fears and anxiety had vanished. The Pink Challengers were able to enjoy the sumptuous Hari Raya and Deepavali dinner buffet hosted by HOG. These big bikes are heavy and do take a lot of effort to manoeuver. For the bikers taking on a pillion rider requires superb skills and a compliant pillion. At the flag-off, pillion riders were paired by the HOG Safety Officer to ensure a safe weight arrangement. Some of pillion riders hoping to ride on the more comfortable machines were dashed, as they were not the right size for it! Again the bikers showed their mettle – KUDOS to the riders on taking their pillion with such professionalism! For the Pink Challengers it was to their credit when mentioned in the blog following the ride that they were tough enough to be Biker Babes! Yeah way to go! “Bums on Bike For Breast Cancer” would not have materialized if not for the whole hearted support from the Pink Challengers’ main sponsor, Hap Seng Consolidate. Without their support Pink Challengers formed in 2005 would not have come this far and to the survivors, life couldn’t be more exciting! The support given by HOG, Hurricane Max with his group of super bikers and the Malaysian Bikers Community is equally crucial in realizing this event. A BIG THANK YOU to everyone! Of course, credit to the Pink Challengers Manager Barbara Delaney and Team Captain Wong Mee Yee who had to convince and needle the paddlers to take on this challenge. It was already tough enough to come diligently for practice under the hot sun at Putrajaya Lake every weekend. After the ride, the entire pillion Pink Challengers were glad that they had participated. In fact a request for the next ride was posed to the HOG!
“Bums on Bike For Breast Cancer” was also a fund-raising event as the Pink Challengers pillions were required to get sponsorship. A very big thank you to those who had generously contributed to the event. Mission accomplished – the event was a runaway success. It had met its aim to spread the message that early detection of breast cancer saves lives whilst at the same time having fun at it. Early detection not only save lives but would be less painful and incur less expenses if detected early enough. Go Pink Challengers! |
