Hershey's Tour de Pink, 5th annual ride for breast cancer

This past week The Giant for Women crew and I went to the East Coast to take part in the 5th annual Tour de Pink. It was my third time riding the event, and Giant supported us in an amazing way.

I have had some great sponsors in my time, but Giant has always been so good to me. I was truly proud of the support Giant for Women gave to this event. As most of you know, this is Breast Cancer Awareness month. The Tour de Pink is a fundraiser for the YSC (Young Survival Coalition). This is a special group that helps young women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. They help women through all phases of their treatment and recovery. It’s an amazing group, and I believe in the strength that they all share with each other.

This year Giant for Women really stepped up their support and it was spearheaded by Tiffany Brown, our fearless leader. She managed to get Giant to make a special bike for the event, and also got our awesome mechanic Rich to the event too. It was such a presence. We had our truck, and a fleet of demo bikes for anyone to try out. We gave away several bikes in raffles, and also all kinds of gift certificates.

I do a lot of fundraising rides, and this ride had its racing contingent up front as usual. But, I have never seen a ride where on the last day there was basically no racing in the front. Everyone spread out and really socialized. We got to meet people and hear why they were involved. One of our Giant for Women council members Sarah, had her sister join us. I loved that idea, and I have already asked my sister to join me next year. The event is just such a great opportunity to reconnect.

On Sunday, I spent a lot of time riding with Michelle who is a Giant employee extraordinaire and is also undergoing therapy for breast cancer. I couldn’t believe that she was out there. It drove home the importance of the YSC for me in a way that I hadn’t connected with in the same way before. Seeing people’s inner strength in a fight with a disease puts everything in perspective. We ride for camaraderie, we ride for strength, but most importantly we ride to support each other. I was glad to have been a part of it, and the inspiration will pull me through until our next gathering.

On the technical side of things…. I did see a lot of people who could have benefited from being professionally set up on their bikes. If you plan to do a tour, make sure that you have someone look at your position, and also make sure that they make sure your equipment is in good working order. It will make your ride so much more comfortable, and yes, it will even make your butt less sore

Best,
Mari