UAE bikers out to raise money for orphans
Four motorbike riders from the UAE are set to travel from Greece to Eastern Europe to help raise money for orphans.
To mark the Year of Zayed, the Dubai Riders team will sent their motorbikes to Athens by air next month before beginning the long ride west.
Close friends Sami Hassan, Saleh Al Sharif, Nasser Al Falasi and Saif bin Saifan plan to visit orphanages along their route to help raise money for the children and increase awareness of the work being done.
“The tour is dedicated to support orphans in line with the nationwide Year of Zayed,” said Mr bin Saifan, 38. “We will visit children across eastern Europe, including one orphanage in Bosnia.
“We will help to provide them with financial support in co-ordination with UAE embassies and consulates general. The children will also be introduced to UAE’s cultural heritage, history and will be given gifts.”
The European trip is the latest in a long line of adventures for the team. The men share the same goal – to ride around the world.
“Motorbike riders are stereotyped as reckless and careless,” said Mr Hassan, who works at the Erada rehabilitation centre in Dubai.
“But we want to change this misconception by using our bike rides to help humanitarian causes and raise awareness about the UAE.”
Mr Al Sharif, 38, who works in health care, said: “I started biking when I was at school and developed my skills by driving in the desert on quad bikes with friends.
“Living a life of adventure as well as a love for speed and engines inspired us to carry on and become professional riders.”
The first trip the Dubai Riders team organised was in 2012, when they attended the annual Fim Rally in Poland.
“The experience of being a motorcyclist is totally different from being a car driver,” Mr Al Sharif said. “The biker feels out in the open and part of the machine. You really feel in control.
“During our first 21-day tour we travelled right across Europe, starting from Germany. After returning, we gained quite a reputation and many people asked if they could join us on future trips.”
In 2013, the Dubai Riders team again rode through Europe, visiting eight countries in 21 days.
“On the way to Hamburg during our 2013 trip Al Falasi fell off and we initially thought it was just a minor injury,” Mr Al Sharif said. “But after returning to the hotel a German friend of ours advised us to take him to a hospital. When we got him there, he was admitted for two weeks with internal bleeding.”
The team embarked on another tour in 2015, when they travelled across Africa for 45 days. They began by shipping their motorbikes from the UAE to Cape Town in South Africa and from there they drove north to Zambia and then across to the east coast.
“We got to Ethiopia and then Sudan and after that we put the bikes on a ship to Saudi Arabia before driving on back to the UAE,” Mr Hassan said. “It was wonderful because we experienced new roads and mountains and explored new cultures and people.
“We used to travel between 300 and 500 kilometres a day and saw some very touching scenes along the way,” he said. “We saw people walking long distances bare foot to carry water to their homes, as well as lots of people wearing rags for clothes.”
We used to travel between 300 and 500 kilometres a day and saw some very touching scenes along the way SAMI HASSAN Biker