‘That H-D kudos still means a lot’
Creator of the Cymru Knievels rideouts who’s raised over £121,000 for charity
These two are not for the fainthearted. The look, power delivery, ride, handling, stance and even shifting around a garage forecourt all feel strange next to a ‘normal’ bike. This isn’t to say they’re better or worse, just different. There couldn’t be a better name than Challenger for the Indian, a bike clearly designed to steal Road Glide buyers. Looks, equipment, engine, dynamic and riding position all ape the H-D. But it has a more contemporary feel, a little more fizz in its engine and handling, a splash more tech. It’s amazingly close, but I think the Indian’s riding position is a tad more comfortable for my 6ft 2in frame as well. Bruce and I would go for the Harley, though. Sure, it’s not as fast or as agile at low speed. But its engine is lazier and more luxurious (and sounds better). It’s more sure-footed at speed, has a better fairing and does more to the gallon. And crucially it’s a Harley, with the kudos, stature and amazing residuals this brings.
‘I wanted to do a ride but it had to be something different’
‘Evel’s daughter got in touch to say how proud he’d have been’
Every year (pandemics aside) thousands take part in charity rides, raising huge amounts for good causes One of the most successful has been Ride Cymru, a unique event whose running total of £121,000 has been achieved under the leadership of caped crusader Jason Lewis.
It all began back in 2010 when Jason, from Coedpoeth, felt duty bound to give something back for the support his younger brother Dylan had received while going through a kidney and liver transplant. “I wanted to do a charity ride, but it had to be something different,” he tells MCN. “I’m all about Wales, so after studying various maps I decided to plot a route that traced the entire perimeter of the country as closely as possible, a journey of 1070 miles.” The inaugural Ride Cymru took place over the August bank holiday weekend in 2012 and involved a complement of eight riders, four of whom went the full distance. Despite relying on handwritten notes and, Jason adds, “making more U-turns than Boris Johnson”, the event raised £3600 for the British Kidney Patient Association,
Crohn’s and Colitis UK and Macmillan Cancer Support. Thirteen riders joined up for 2013 and even more money was raised, but a meeting with adventurer Nick Sanders prompted Jason to attempt riding the route solo non-stop. “I asked Nick what his advice would be and he said ‘Get an early night, then just go for it!’ So that’s pretty much what I did, completing the 1070-mile circuit in 35 hours and 20 minutes - it was the most tiring experience I’ve ever had in my life!” Despite the event continuing to grow, it was still lacking something in Jason’s mind. “I wanted to stamp an identity on it,” he says. “I discovered that you could get Evel Knievel suits big enough to stretch over your bike gear and that was it - from then on we were going to be the Cymru Knievels.”
All 20 riders that took part in 2015 wore caped Knievel costumes and the response was incredible. “In the past, dressed in normal bike gear, we’d stand around with our collection tins and people would wonder if we were genuine or not,” says Jason. “But in our Evel outfits we suddenly had them coming up and sticking notes, not just coins, in. From our tins alone, the collection jumped from £300 to £1000.” A total of £7000 was raised for Macmillan that year, but the icing on the cake was the email Jason received from Evel’s daughter, Alicia, saying how proud her dad
would’ve been to see his image being used to do so much good and effectively endorsing the event. For 2018 Jason took the ride beyond the Welsh border for Ride Capital Knievels, a madcap dash between Edinburgh, London and Cardiff. “John McGuinness and Steve Parrish met us en route, plus we did laps of Knockhill, Oliver’s Mount and even got to ride the banking at Brooklands,” he says. “There were 34 of us and we raised £18,000.” The following year was the biggest yet and Ride Cymru exceeded all expectations, potting a total of £40k and an unofficial world record for the greatest number of Evel Knievels gathered in one place – a total of 68. Jason undertook another solo challenge in August 2019, riding to the Russian border to raise funds on behalf of an old school friend in a hospice with cancer, but just a week after his safe return disaster struck. “An oncoming car turned right across the front me and we collided,” he says. “I ended up with one finger pinned and another amputated, my wrist plated and pinned, a broken ankle, severe damage to my right knee and broken ribs. Given the injuries, you could say that I’ve taken this Knievel thing too far!”
If you want to tag along in 2021, look up Ride Cymru on Facebook