Yet she found herself doing that while traveling via motorcycle from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
She was with eight other women who, like herself, were younger breast cancer survivors seeking camaraderie through Amazon Heart Thunder, a high-profile advocacy, community-building and fund-raising adventure venture.
 Coastsider Ginny McClellan, fifth from left, is surrounded by other participants in Amazon Heart Thunder, a fund-raising ride for women who are cancer survivors. Photo courtesy of Ginny McClellan. |
"Nothing that's in front of me is bigger than the power behind me," she said. "I have a God who never gives me anything I can't handle. The power behind me is always greater than the obstacles in front of me."
Cancer, and the fact she didn't know how to ride a motorcycle, were obstacles for McClellan once.
She was 43 when she found a lump in her breast. It didn't surprise her because her maternal grandmother had had cancer. She had a lumpectomy and underwent chemotherapy and radiation, and found a new will to live to see her then-3-year-old son, Jacob, grow up.
She approached illness with spirit. She got colored wigs and enjoyed different looks. When she lost her hair she bought hats, and her son wore hats too.
"Breast cancer made me realize that I only have one life to life," she said. "Every moment is a gift, that's why we call it the 'present.'"
Enjoying life meant undertaking things she'd only dreamed of, like riding a Harley Davidson. In 2004 she bought a Sportster 883L without knowing how to ride it, took a motorcycle safety class, practiced around home and fell in love with it.
She went on the Amazon ride with the blessing of husband Michael.
After practice rides and a stint in the audience of the Jay Leno show, the ride began on Sept. 15. The nine riders included Amazon Heart co-founder Megan Dwyer, one woman who underwent chemo en route, and two more in a support truck with bumper stickers that read "The Young and the Breastless" or "Save the Tatas."
After a barbecue kickoff on Manhattan Beach, the group headed north through Ventura, Buelton, Cambria, Monterey and Benicia.
They stopped along the way for sightseeing or at Harley Davidson events. Motorists honked and waved, and they met other survivors with emotional stories, like the woman who whipped off her hat to reveal a bald head and shouted "Right on!"
"It was pretty empowering," said McClellan.
They stayed at motels and socialized by the pools. "It was about supporting each other," said McClellan. "Very emotional. I don't do well hanging around other women and exposing my (life) ... (But) it was a beautiful ride.
"It was being with people who understood where you've come from and where you've been, sharing our scars," she said. "It got pretty personal sometimes."
The group bypassed Half Moon Bay because of blustery winds, but celebrated the end of the ride with family and friends at Crissy Field on Saturday.
They had collectively raised $26,000 for overhead and Amazon Heart's Young Survival Coalition.
McClellan, a quality control supervisor at Vector, has a success story. Four years after treatment she is healthy. She also has a spunky fresh outlook now.
"You can't let (cancer) beat you down," she said. "Fight, live life, be strong and find a peer support group. Things seem so much smaller when you realize you're not the only one."
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Amazon Heart makes cancer a life-affirming adventure
By Stacy Trevenon--[ stacy@hmbreview.com ]
Amazon Heart was founded in 2004 by two women diagnosed with breast cancer in their early 30s.
Meredith Campbell is a champion sailor, charity marketing professional and mother who continued sailing, working and traveling while undergoing chemotherapy. Megan Dwyer was diagnosed weeks after starting a new career as a real estate agent. She now trains breast cancer advocates, volunteers as a peer support counselor, mentors and serves on the board of the Young Survival Point of Contact program and is a National Breast Cancer Coalition 2006 Team Lead.
The organization administers to women with breast cancer through adventure events that foster a wider social impact, community, empowerment and living life fully.
By 2010 Amazon Heart will have provided programs in the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The adventures take the form of hikes in Colorado, building an orphanage for tsunami and AIDS victims in South India, long-distance motorcycle trips, Amazon Heart Thunder excursions and a boat regatta in Australia.
Projects also include retreats, fund-raisers and peer support projects.
Partners include the Young Survival Coalition, the only international nonprofit dedicated to younger breast cancer victims.
More information can be obtained at www.amazonheart.org.
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