So, they thought, “Cool! Fantastic adventure! Mission accomplished; made our parents proud; now life goes on.”

Not so, two things happened resulting from WMF’s Arctic Tour-Ride for Research efforts. Their tour garnered a lot of good press. In those days, not that many females took on the Dempster and the other dirt roads they had tackled, especially with no support vehicle. Were there cell phones back then? Not that they had. Seems that a lot of people thought they had done something extraordinary. The good press prompted BMW Motorrad of North America to ask, “What are you doing next?”

Of course, Sue Slate had already percolated a plan; jump-started by a stay at a Motel 6 ion the route home from the North Country. The key fobs, holding their room keys, showed dots around the country where other Motel 6 Motels were located.

“Eureka! That’s it, we need to host a motorcycle relay around the country to get more riders involved. If four people can raise $25,000.00 what could 100+ riders raise?”

Thus, with support for expenses and the use of BMW motorcycles, five North American relay rides, ranging in length from 14,000 to 18,000 miles traveled throughout the United States and Canada. Hundreds upon hundreds of riders participated between 1996 and 2007. Billed as the Pony Express Tours, these epic events raised an additional $2,066,000; every penny of the total was donated to Komen for a Cure and targeted to research.

Additionally, through donations sought for Pony Express T-Shirts, pins, patches, and stickers brought in another $465,246 which went to local breast cancer agencies in the communities through which the Pony Express Tours traveled.