ELBRIDGE - There are few places where Aurelius resident Regina Bellnier Foster feels more comfortable than on the back of her husband Jeff's motorcycle.

“It's just a free ride,” Foster said. “You go for a ride and it's totally relaxing.”

Friends, family and co-workers gathered Saturday afternoon with their motorcycles to show their love and support for Foster at a benefit held at Millstone Restaurant and Golf Club in Elbridge, to help offset medical expenses from Foster's treatment for breast cancer.

Foster said she was fortunate.

“I was diagnosed in March,” she said. “I had a partial mastectomy and eight and a half weeks of radiation, and I haven't felt this good in a long time.”

Foster said the support of her friends and family and early detection were key in her getting through her battle with breast cancer.

“I knew something was wrong,” she said. “I was feeling tired and run down all the time. Awareness and early detection are so important and I have had so many people support me through all of this. It has been amazing.”

As the gleaming motorcycles roared into the parking lot of Millstone, which restaurant owner Julie Bilinski donated use of for the benefit, the ride for breast cancer theme of the day became very apparent.

Foster said that both she and her husband work for the Onondaga County Department of Corrections and that among those riding were many of her friends and co-workers.

“They are terrific,” Foster said. “It is really unbelievable to me. I don't know how to describe this feeling with all the support they have given me.”

Among those riding was friend, co-worker and co-organizer of the benefit, Chris Pierce.

“It's great,” Pierce said. “We really are like a family down there (at work). We all get together and do what we can for each other when something like this comes up.”

Others like Foster's brother and sister-in-law, Chip and Marybeth Bellnier, also helped get the benefit together, as well as hit the road for a ride.

Foster said her husband had been riding for most of his life by the time they met, but it was about three years ago when he came home with a new motorcycle, saying that it was a gift for his wife.

That's when she began to take a real interest in riding.

“I've been riding with him for about two years now,” Foster said. “He says I need to learn how to drive, and I will go out with him behind me while I shift and steer and everything, but really I'm most happy on the back of a motorcycle with him.”

It was a place that in many ways helped Foster get through her battle.

“After treatment it is really nerve-wracking,” Foster said. “It takes a lot out of you. I would go for a ride with my husband and it would be total relaxation. It was just calm and we were together.”

The outpouring of support was clearly a moving gesture to Foster, who walked through Millstone hugging friends and well-wishers with tears in her eyes.

“I just have to say how grateful I am - so thankful,” Foster said.

“I can't say that enough and I can't really think of the words to describe how grateful I truly am to all of these people.”