Calgary seems to be a hotbed of motorcycling activity with charity rides
and awareness rides taking place regularly during the season. But one new
charity ride has an interesting twist--it's for women only--and only for the
women who are a part of the Spokes Sisters group.
The Spokes Sisters are a relatively new motorcycle group, and they are
dedicated to raising awareness about breast cancer and funds for breast
cancer research. In early September the Spokes Sisters embarked on a three
day road trip and toured southern Alberta and B.C. to promote safe breast
health everywhere they stopped.
"We¹re teaching women about proper breast health care,"says Angela
Pipe, who acts as the Spokes Sisters public relations representative. Pipe
has been riding for more than two years, and just purchased a brand new
Honda VTX1300.
"We also want to teach men that breast cancer isn¹t just a women¹s
disease, and that they need to be involved in their partner's lives,"Pipe
explains.
"A man should know what his partner's breasts feel like, and if they
notice something out the of the ordinary, they should encourage her to have
it checked out immediately."
The 10 women motorcyclists who make up the membership of the Spokes
Sisters ride a variety of motorcycles, but the majority of machines are large capacity cruisers. The machines include a Harely-Davidson, two of the
large Honda VTX's, several Yamaha Viragos, and Suzuki Intruders.
When the Spokes Sisters departed Calgary, they left in a blitz of media
coverage--there were television, radio and newspaper representatives
aplenty. The group left en-masse from the Grace Women¹s Health Centre in
Calgary, each one of their motorcycles decorated with a pink ribbon.
And not only were the motorcycles decorated in pink ribbons, each one of
the Spokes Sisters wore identical hand painted pink scarves.
"The pink scarves are our trademark,"Pipe jokes.
From Calgary, they headed west to Banff, and then into B.C. and the
towns of Radium, Cranbrook, and Fernie. They rode back into Alberta and
stopped at Frank and then Longview, with a wind up celebration in Bragg
Creek.
The Spokes Sisters got their start when three women--Pipe, Ada King and
Theresa Black--all realized they were motorcycle enthusiasts. Pipe and King
were old friends who had just become reacquainted, and when the subject of
motorcycles came up--the two came up with the idea of riding for a cause.
And Black, through a friend who knew the Pipes, soon heard of the two women
riders.
From that humble start at the end of January, 2002, the group has grown,
very slowly. And that's the way Pipe says they want growth to occur--slowly.
Early on, the group realized they wanted to be more than just a riding
club. They wanted to help teach women about proper breast health care, and
provide a valuable service to the community.
Pipe says the women were encouraged by the success of Edmonton's
Harley's Angels--a group of women riders who last year staged a motorcycle
tour that raised funds for research and awareness of breast cancer. The
Calgary group inquired about becoming a chapter of the Harley's Angels, but
in the end, as Pipe says: "We wanted to play by our own rules, and create
our own environment."
The group started looking for their own name, and researched some of the
monikers already in use by women motorcycling groups.
"Judy (Gibson) said What about Spokes Sisters?" Pipe recalls, and
laughs when she adds: "I said, It took you six weeks to come up with that?"
"The name suited us very well, and it all came together. The idea of
spokes in a wheel radiating out, the wheel on the road--so we became the
Spokes Sisters."
Planning for the breast cancer awareness ride was underway in February.
And, as more ladies came to the group, each one brought a new skill or
strength that allowed the Spokes Sisters to become an incredibly dynamic
group of women.
These women riders are automotive retailers, bankers, educators and
health professionals--and everything in between.
It was this diverse group who planned the ride, and through their
business and personal contacts they were provided a condominium unit in
Windemere, a lunch in Banff, great rates at a resort in Kimberly, and the
proceeds raised from the sale of a steak sandwich special.
The Spokes Sisters financial goal was to simply raise $10,000.
"We¹re very close to that $10,000 goal before we even hit the road,"
Theresa Black says. "Through corporate donations, rider contributions, and
sales of our logo pins, we¹re already up to about $9,000."
At each stop, the Spokes Sisters hand out small pink ribbons, and
distribute cards with information about how to perform a proper breast
self-examination.
"One woman out of eight dies of breast cancer every week in Alberta,"
Pipe explains. And it¹s amazing how many women don¹t know how to do a
proper self-examination.
"We were recently in a restaurant, and our waitress discovered what we
were doing. She said that she would probably die from breast cancer, every
female member of her family has had breast cancer--yet she didn¹t know how
to do a self-examination. For women like her, and many others, the whole
group and the tour has become something of an odyssey."
For some of the women riders, the tour is personal. Ada King's aunt
Ruthie is a breast cancer survivor, and Ruthie has become something of a
mascot for the group--she rides along in the support van when the women head
out on the road. And when they do stop at a restaurant or in a small town,
Pipe concludes: "We never have a quiet entrance, when 10 women pull up on
motorcycles, we always make quite a splash."
As of September 16, the Spokes Sisters have raised in excess of $14,500.
And so the Spokes Sisters will continue to be true to their motto, "Fund
Raising, Fun Riding--Cruisin' for a Cure".

The following are clippings from local Magazines and Newspapers such as the Calgary Sun,
Calgary Herald, and other newspapers throughout Western Canada.
Many thanks to the media for supporting the Spokes Sisters!

Check out the latest write-up about the Spokes Sisters!

2^nd Annual Ladies Only Penning Event raises over $47,500

SpokesSisters attend Calgary Stampede’s “Dare to Wear Pink” event

3rd Annual Ladies Only Penning Event
June 14, 2008
Okotoks Agriplex

Poker Run
June 22, 2008
In association with Bow Cycle Customer Appreciation Ride
Registration info. to be posted at later date.