Just surviving breast cancer wasn't enough for Linnea Johnston.

The 36-year-old Cedar Ridge woman continues to raise money for breast cancer support groups and will blend it with her love of motorcycle riding in late September. That's when Johnston will join 27 other breast cancer survivors in a ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco to raise money for the Amazon Heart support group.

The money they gather and Nevada County pledges she gets prior to the Changing Gears ride will help finance a breast cancer Internet peer support program. It will also help meet the needs of women living with the disease.

"I feel it is important to let other young women know that they are not alone when confronted with huge obstacles," Johnston said. "I've always wanted to go on a long road trip but never had. This is a chance of a lifetime."

Last summer, Johnston put on a punk rock concert to get donations for the Internet program and for the local Barbara Schmidt Millar Memorial Fund, which benefits the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital's breast imaging center. Johnston feels it is the least she can do.

Three years ago, she found a pea-sized tumor in her breast when she folded her arms while watching TV. Her husband insisted she get it checked, and it was soon diagnosed as breast cancer.

To make a pledge for Linnea Johnston's cancer benefit motorcycle ride, call her at 273-7021, or visit www.changinggears.org on the Web.

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To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.