Jan Emanuel fell in love with motorcycles at age 16 — the bikes’ shape, chrome and muscle — she liked it all.
“When I was young, someone said girls can’t ride bikes,” the breast cancer survivor said. “I said, ‘I can.'”
The stereotype that a girl — a black one at that — couldn’t ride bikes didn’t hold her back as a teenager. And today, extreme weather conditions aren’t keeping the 46-year-old and fellow riders from zipping across the country on their bikes to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer research.
Emanuel, founder and president of Divas for a Cure, stopped tonight in Denver on her way back to Los Angeles from Maryland. She, two other female riders, and a two-person assistance crew have raised about $40,000 on this trip so far.
Different personal reasons compelled the divas to ride cross-country. Victoria Murphy had an aunt who died of breast cancer. Aj Jemison’s mom is a 9-year survivor of breast cancer. And Emanuel herself has lived with the disease for 23 years.
For Murphy, 47, motorcycles symbolize freedom and hope.
“They have power,” she said. “You don’t view the world the same on a bike. There are no walls to hold you back. It exposes you to new things.”
This afternoon, at Denver Fire Station 29, the divas roared into town on two Harleys and a Honda.
They’ll get oil changes and brake checks before they hit the road Tuesday. They expect to hit Los Angeles, averaging about 450 miles a day, by Thursday.
The trip stopped at the Denver fire station for convenience and because Lt. George Love of the department is a motorcycle buff who wanted to help a worthy cause.
The women pay their own way. Gas, lodging and food cost about $2,500 to $3,000 for the 20-day adventure, Emanuel said.
The National Breast Cancer Foundation estimates 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and about 40,000 will die from it.
“By the time it hurts, it’s probably too late,” Jemison said. “Make your birthday your breast day. That will always help you remember to have your mammogram.”
Despite the cost, the 115-degree weather driving through Arizona and the hundreds of miles of rainstorms, Emanuel said she wouldn’t trade one day of her trip for anything.
“We’re not just biker chicks, we’re biker divas,” she said. “Our passion has a purpose.”
Staff writer Vimal Patel can be reached at 303-954-1638 or at vpatel@denverpost.com.
