Things have been way more challenging this year. Getting started, getting all the new folks together and the logistics straight has been so very hard. Not having Brooke by my side and helping with all her great ideas is probably the biggest problem. She made things happen last year and it shows big time this year. I do have Broccoli dog with me 24/7 but he has no thumbs and can't write code for the website, so really he is just here for support. I have been given some great ideas from the new group this year and Curt has put together a good bunch of folks to do the ride. I'm going to be posting a new page about who is riding and what their reasons are very soon.

Some rather big news is Susan G. Komen has asked that I participate in a photo shoot with a group of other Passionately Pink supporters, including folks from a small town outside of Atlanta (have you heard of Douglas?) whose entire town went Passionately Pink. Talk about logistics. Maybe I should get their help!

The photo shoot should be very fun and give me a little morale boost and help me remember that we are all part of something very big. That what we as a group are doing in supporting this ride is to help save lives and give hope to our neighbors, friends and family who have been affected by Breast Cancer. And as before, this seems to be everyone I have talked to. From Atlanta all the way to the Arctic.

My motorbike is ready, sitting idle at the shop.

Little Known Fact

Let's for a day try to imagine a world without Susan G. Komen for the Cure, without the American Cancer Society (ACS), or the 5K runs or the 3 day walks, or without ATLtotheArctic. So, we would be left with doctors and patients. Well ok, so that's how it was in the past. There was less money, less people to support our loved ones, less research trying to find a cure or a drug or a treatment to help save lives.

Let's face it -- cancer is a disease that kills people. It is found in the likes of Lance Armstrong -- I mean he might as well be super man. It's also found in the likes of my sister -- a young, healthy, mother of five kids, with no family history of breast cancer. I hope you get my point: Cancer does not discriminate.

So, while my oddball motorcycle ride and this website might confuse some folks, to me it is a way to help fund research, to help give hope, and to provide a positive outreach for anyone affected by breast cancer, directly or indirectly. The ride is a tool to help raise more money, more hope, and more awareness about a disease that is almost taken for granted at this point. Maybe the ride will help to find a cure, or a less brutal treatment, or . . . Who knows?

I have a personal example to share. A little known fact about me, Daniel Palazzolo: I had two heart surgeries before I turned 18 months old. (I just turned 30 during last year's ride, and I'm feeling great.) Why heart surgery so young? I was born with a heart defect that prevented my heart from functioning properly. And in 1980, the fix for my heart defect was basically to re-plumb the way it worked using a synthetic shunt within the heart itself. But now, in the current day and age, the fix is an actual correction of the defect at birth, with no synthetic material; this allows the heart to develop normally. Why am I saying all of this to you? Well, because I recently met a friend who is on a cycling team that rides for -- of all things -- children with congenital heart defects! So, the money and awareness she is raising goes to helping children with heart defects at birth so that they can live more healthy and normal lives. After hearing her story, I realized my motorcycle ride to the Arctic doesn't sound so crazy after all.

I guess my point is that all the runs, walks, and rides -- whether in your neighborhood or to the Arctic -- raise money and awareness, as well as provide hope and a positive outlook for those who need it, and it really does make a difference.

Details Details

Well, it's been very busy here at the 2011 Ride HQ, also known as - My House. I've been on the phone with GoPro, and they are very excited about this year's ride. We are going to try something new this year and attempt a very cool time-lapsed photo album with GoPro. Basically, the plan is to set up a GoPro HD HERO to take a still shot every sixty seconds for the entire trip and then chop it up and make a really great photo album. The staff at GoPro are full of ideas and are very willing to help out.

We anticipate the arrival of the raffle GoPro very soon and will announce the next event once the camera is here. We hope to see a lot of motorbikers there! We are thinking about a weekend event, during the day. How does that sound for everyone?

Tomorrow night is the ADVrider bike night at Zuffy's Place. Curt and I will be there, and we hope that it is still going even though the attendance has been low. We know it's been a cold winter, but now is the time to dust off the bikes and get ready for the season.

As usual, the Donate Page is up and running. It is set up as a Komen Team Page this year. We have been working on recruiting more riders for all (or part) of the trip to help raise awareness and funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. So far the new approach is working. Once we confirm with the riders and answer all their questions, we will post up and have them tell us what inspired them to ride for a cure. It's been a slow start and the ride has become logistically demanding with new riders and a new agenda, but stay tuned as we will be getting more and more in the swing for this year's ride.
Also, check out the route page. The 2011 Route is up!

Thank you everyone, Daniel Palazzolo

2011 Preliminary Route....

This is the route as of right now. Its not finished but the road will continue all the way to Deadhorse. Once in Alaska there is only one road to focus on. The Dalton Hwy....
We are still going over this and are willing to change it if there are interested folks who would like to ride any portion of it with us. Please chime in as to the locations and if you are interested in helping the riders with a place to stop and rest we would love to hear from you. This year we are going to set the route up and keep to it. Hoping folks will come out and ride with Curt for any leg they desire. Stay tuned for the next gathering. We are still waiting on the GOPRO gear to show up. We are going to raffle off a GoPro HD HERO. This is the same awesome camera that shot the amazing photos from last years ride. It can mount to anything and shoots 1080 HD video and photos as well. If you have a motorbike please ride it to the next event. The more bikes the better!

First event til departure was a huge success...

More than 70 supporters came out to Eclipse Di Luna at Miami Circle last night to kick off the 2011 ATLtotheArctic trip. The great folks at Eclipse donated food, and we raised more than $1,000 for the Komen Foundation. We are looking forward to quite a few events in the months to come and will post them to this site. Hope you can join us . . .

While my sister, Kris, is recovering well, there are many more women that will benefit from the work of the Komen Foundation. We hope the awareness and funds that we raise will make a difference for some of these people.

Our lead rider this year will be Curt Coulombe, a friend of mine from the Adventure Riders meetup group. Curt is an experienced rider and is really enthusiastic about the challenge. Let's all give Curt lots of support.

Yes his bike is in fact Pink.
Stay tuned . . .

2011 ATLtotheArctic ride is happening!!

So, to get the ball rolling for the 2011 ride, we will host a meet and greet.

Our gathering will be at Eclipse Di Luna on Sunday, March 13th ( one week away!). Event begins at 6:30 p.m. and music and dancing starts at 7:30...

Located on Miami Circle, Eclipse di Luna has generoulsy offered up appetizers for our first fundraising evening! http://www.eclipsediluna.com/mc/index_mc.php
Come out for a good time and to help us raise money for a great cause! We plan to leave in August and will have monthly gatherings until we depart.

A donation at the door would be greatly appreciated. Or, you can make a donation right here; just click the DONATE link to go to our Komen Passionately Pink for the Cure site. It's easy; takes just a few moments, and is completely secure. [Last year's donations are still represented on the "dollar thermometer" on the site but will be deleted at the end of March. The thermometer will resest to Zero for our 2011 effort; your donations will appear there beginning April 1.]

This year, we would love to expand our efforts and accept help from everyone out there. If you know of a passionate motorcyclist or just a passionate person who has a story to tell or a personal reason to ride with us, please contact me and help us share all our stories to help find a cure for breast cancer.

2010 ride stats:
> Money raised - $9,100
> Miles ridden, in the thousands - more than 11,000
> Lives helped and inspired - countless

Please help us make the 2011 ride bigger and better, and let's help all our loved ones who are currently fighting breast cancer or are new and old servivors.

Thanks for your support!!

Daniel

Nashville Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

As I have mentioned before, the Greater Nashville Susan G. Komen affiliate was completely awesome throughout my trip - totally supportive and interested in what I was accomplishing.  I was fortunate enough to stop in to their office on my way home from the Arctic, and met the awesome girls working there -- Kaleigh, Stacey, Kathy, and Tina are so cool!  Needless to say, I was completely honored when they asked me to motorcycle marshal their 19th annual Race for the Cure on October 9, 2010. 

BK and I loaded up on Friday and headed to Nashville, where we attended the pre-race pasta dinner on Friday night and were extremely excited and grateful to be a part of the race on Saturday.  There were over 15,000 registered runners.... It was incredible!  The Tennessean interviewed me before the race and wrote a great article - check it out here.

Here are a few pics of the festivities from the race - pics from Brentwood Photography Group:

Kaleigh helped me marshal:

Getting ready to go:

 And we're off!

 See the guy in the pink on the left side? 

Yep, he won.

We had to "pink" up the bike a bit:

BK ran in honor of my sis:

Can you spy BK?

It was an incredible weekend and a true honor to be a part of this great group's biggest fund raiser.  It was amazing to see how much work went into each detail of the planning to pull off such a huge event.  A special thanks again to Kaleigh, Stacey, Tina, and Kathy for taking such good care of us. 

You can check out the Greater Nashville Susan G. Komen site here, or become a fan on their Facebook Page.