Point Beach Memorial Ride Offers Awareness, Support To Survivors

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ – Despite a heavy fog that blanketed Point Pleasant Beach on Sunday morning, over 150 pink-clad cyclists took off down Broadway as part of the 2021 Young Survivor's Coalition (YSC) Tour de Pink Lisa J. Frank Memorial Ride.

The ride was started by Frank, a Red Bank resident who passed away in December 2020 from metastatic breast cancer, 17 years ago and has raised over $16 million for the YSC, an organization that helps women under the age of 40 who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

"This event, in particular, is really important because of the community," Jennifer Merschdorf, YSC's CEO and former young breast cancer survivor, said.

"There are a lot of young breast cancer survivors here and their co-survivors and people who love and support them and to come together to support them and celebrating the lives of those we've lost."

Point Pleasant Beach Councilman Doug Vitale spoke to the riders about how their stories inspired him before the ride started.

"A lot of these people are young, they are starting out a family and starting out their career and then had to deal with what was going on with them, and they persevered through all of that and kept moving on," Vitale said.

Leading out the pack of 35 survivor riders was professional rider and fellow young breast cancer survivor BrittLee Bowman, who said that events like Breast Cancer Awareness Month and rides like the Tour De Pink led her to discover that she had cancer.

"I think that the month, in general, and this type of event brings awareness to it in a really important way and that for me is really important because I actually found my own cancer in October of 2018," Bowman said.

"I had actually seen someone else posting on social media a breast cancer awareness post about a scare that she had which turned out not to be cancer, and it brought it more into the forefront of my consciousness at that moment in time, and I happened to feel my own breast cancer lump literally a week later."

While raising awareness and money are essential parts of this event, for many who ride, it's about the support of being around those who have been through what you have been through and being with those who have been there for you. This is especially true for younger breast cancer survivors, some of whom were diagnosed in their 20's and trying to raise a family and deal with a career while navigating the treatment process for their cancer.

It's that reason that Marcie Jannetti, a five-year breast cancer survivor from Wall, has been riding in the Tour De Pink for four years now.

"I first rose in the Tour De Pink in 2017 down in Florida, and the camaraderie and family and the support of this ride has gotten me through some really dark times, and I've met awesome really amazing people, and there a lot of bike rides that you can do but nothing like the Tour De Pink," Jannetti said.

"It's not about the ride; it's about the people, it's about the energy, it's about the good hearts."

To learn more about the YSC and the Tour De Pink, you can head over to the YSC's website.