Porter Gale and Donna Murphy can persuade you to buy, but they’d rather persuade you to care.
So the former advertising executives are undertaking what they are calling 2 Chicks, 2 Bikes, 1 Cause, a 4,400-mile cross-country bike ride to generate awareness for the need for early detection of and more research to prevent and combat breast cancer.
Backed by sponsors including Microsoft, Maidenform and Nordstrom, the 2 Chicks ride begins April 25 in Seattle and ends Aug. 25 in New York. The trek will benefit the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations and local associations through fundraising events in towns along the route.
The effort is a personal one for Gale, 29, whose mother found a breast lump five years ago, was diagnosed with breast cancer and has survived.
Murphy, 31, has no family history of the disease, but that, she says, is significant to her partnership in the cycling endeavor.
“We represent this young female population. If it’s in your family you know everything about it. If not, you know nothing.”
The two will be accompanied by a documentary film crew who will record the journey and interview breast cancer survivors, friends and family.
By way of sponsor Microsoft, anyone with Internet access can join in the virtual trek. A Web site dedicated to the journey will feature updates from the road — including pictures and a flat tire tally — as well as chat rooms, interviews and a postcard that surfers can forward to friends on breast health tips. The Web site will launch Wednesday at http://www.2chicks.org.
The two plan to wheel through Chicago Aug. 4. To ride with them or for more information, call 800-719-9154.