Cruisin’ for a cure for breast cancer

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By Deirdre Cox Baker | Thursday, October 2, 2008 11:21 AM CDT | () comments

A new way of raising money to help women get tested for breast cancer will feature two-wheeled motorized vehicles instead of people running and walking on two feet.

The Motorcycle Ride for the Cure is scheduled Saturday in the Quad Cities. Organizers Jeff and Angie Nelson brought the fundraiser idea from Peoria, Ill., where they successfully staged a similar event for seven years.

The parade-style motorcycle ride will begin at the Quad-City Downs in East Moline and end at the Blue Grass (Iowa) Community Center in Scott County.

“Motorcyclists support good works,” Angie Nelson said.

The executive director of the Quad-Cities Susan G. Komen Foundation, Nelson said the couple’s interest in the cause began when Jeff Nelson’s cousin died of breast cancer nine years ago. She was 34.

The incidence of breast cancer, as well as deaths resulting from it, both are down significantly in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A big reason for the decrease is greater screening efforts via mammograms and other tests that can be done to detect the disease in its earliest stages.

But mammograms, ultrasounds and diagnostic tests are increasingly pricey, officials agree, which means fundraising efforts are more necessary than ever.

In 2007, the foundation paid for 8,485 charges related to breast health and testing. That compares with 4,494 charges processed in 2004, said Linda Rymars, clinical research coordinator at Genesis Medical Center.

The Quad-Cities Komen affiliate raised $275,000 last year and has raised $4.1 million since 1991, Angie Nelson said. It is known best for the annual Race for the Cure that is held each June in Moline.

Pre-registration and pre-ride festivities are 3-8 p.m. today at the Uptown Neighborhood Bar & Grill in Bettendorf.

Check-in, where registrations also will be taken, is 10:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Quad-City Downs, and the ride actually begins at noon.

A post-ride party in Blue Grass will be 1-6 p.m., rain or shine.

The Motorcycle Ride for the Cure was a “huge, successful event in Peoria,” Angie Nelson said, adding that she hopes this first-time effort in the Quad-Cities goes just as well or even better.

Deirdre Cox Baker can be contacted at (563) 383-2492 or dbaker@ qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.

ON THE WEB

You can register for the ride on the Web site, komenquadcities.org, or call (563) 421-1905.