'Bigger, better, pinker' for cancer fund ride

PRETTY IN PINK: Kathy Berg, 47, rides around the bays with pillion passenger Liam Fuller, 11. Ms Berg has no personal connection to breast cancer, but believes the charity deserves support.

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Pink is not normally a colour linked to big tough motorcyclists.

But yesterday, pink-clad riders from the Wellington branch of the Women's International Motorcycling Association (Wima) cruised around the city's bays to raise money for the Breast Cancer Foundation.

The sun shone after a wet week, and they donned pink wigs, pink sunglasses and even pink fur for the ride.

"The ride gets bigger, better and pinker each year," organiser Carol Spaulding said.

More than 90 riders took part in the event, raising more than $1400. It was the sixth time the Wima ride had been held. Ms Spaulding, who rode her 900cc Honda CB, got involved with the event six years ago after her mother survived breast cancer.

About 2400 women and 20 men are diagnosed with the disease each year, with about 600 women dying from it annually.

Nearly 85 per cent of woman diagnosed with breast cancer will survive five years or more. The death rate dropped by nearly 24 per cent from 1995 to 2005.

Wima threw its support behind the charity after a member died from cancer in 2003.

- © Fairfax NZ News