A group of women riders are taking a very special motorcycle ride along the Californian coastline. Starting last Friday, the thirty-two female breast cancer survivors from the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada and Australia, departed Marina De Rey on a 900-mile, 9-day motorcycle journey up the famed Pacific Coast Highway to prove that breast cancer can’t defeat the human spirit.

Dubbed Amazon Heart Thunder, the fifth anniversary of the ride also challenges the participants to raise funds for breast cancer charities and as of today, they’ve raised $63,000, with Harley-Davidson Motor Company standing by as a proud sponsor every year.

Amazon Heart was founded in 2004 by two young breast cancer survivors, Megan Dwyer and Meredith Campbell, to help transform the lives of women living with breast cancer through adventure events that in themselves create a wider social impact in their local communities.

In addition to the California ride, Amazon Heart Thunder also organized a nine day ride in Australia from Brisbane to Sydney. This is the organization’s twelfth ride in the world, and the sixth in California.

The first ride, called "Changing Gears", expanded in 2005 to become a Global Relay with 1,000 mile rides in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia, involving 48 young breast cancer survivors from around the world. In 2006, the event name changed to Amazon Heart Thunder and rides were held in the US and Australia as part of Amazon Heart's range of adventures for breast cancer survivors.
 
“The sad fact remains that breast cancer continues to be a concern for women around the world” said Megan Dwyer, co-founder of Amazon Heart Thunder. “These rides provide a unique and inspiring peer support opportunity for under-served groups of breast cancer survivors, particularly young women.”

The ride expected to reach its destination of San Francisco on Saturday, October 10th. In the meantime, readers can follow the ride on the blog written by the ride's participants at the Amazon Heart Thunder website.

Harley-Davidson will continue their long-standing commitment to support the ride by providing each participant with a new 2010 Harley-Davidson model to use for the ride, as well as a Harley-Davidson MotorClothes riding jacket to keep.

“We’re proud to continue to support these passionate and inspiring breast cancer survivors as they live out their dreams and inspire other women to live life to the fullest – no matter what challenges they might face,” said Leslie Prevish, manager of women’s outreach for Harley-Davidson Motor Company.