Ride History

It all started in the spring of 2004. Rose-Ellen (Zell) Graham was thinking about her friend Sue Mitchell, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She wanted to do something for all the women, and their families, who have been afflicted by this disease. This desire to make a difference was combined with her love of motorcycling and thus was born the idea of the Ladies Motorcycle Ride for Breast Cancer Research.

Zell joined forces with a handful of similarly minded women from the Parksville area. Working with a shoestring budget they organized the first ride in June 2004. The riders traveled from Parksville to Courtenay and back along the scenic Oceanside Highway (Highway 19A). Over 40 women completed the ride and together they raised $8000, which was donated to the BC Cancer Foundation. The mid-island community was very supportive – many local businesses donated prizes or refreshments and a number of volunteers helped with advertising, site setup, registration and serving the food. The Parksville RCMP provided an escort for the riders all the way to Courtenay and back, a service which was invaluable in keeping the riders together and giving a parade atmosphere to the event. The local band Celtic Chaos provided live entertainment after the ride.

The second annual ride was held on June 12,2005. The number of riders more than doubled ( to about 100 ) and they pledged more than twice the previous year's amount ( $18,000 ). Lordco Auto parts hosted the ride and allowed their parking lot to be taken over for the day. In addition to Constable Schwager of the Parksville RCMP once again providing an escort the ride enjoyed the services of Constables Parker and Somerville from the Nanaimo traffic services unit on two police motorcycles.

Rides were held in 2006 and 2007, with the participation and the amount collected for breast cancer research almost doubling each year. In the first four years of the ride we've raised over $105,000. At the end of the fourth ride the original organizing committee announced they were retiring. The torch has been passed to Jana Erickson and the folks at VI Honda.