Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride Inverness
This May there were countless Distinguished Gentleman's Rides all over the world and much as we would like to bring you coverage of each and every one of these worthy and entertaining events, sadly that would be impossible. So we plumped for one of the Scottish rides in which the ever-dapper Dode Fraser took part.
Many of you will have heard of the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, even if you have never taken part.
For those people who are rather uncertain what it’s all about, here’s a little bit of history. It was started in Sydney, Australia in 2012 by a gentleman called Mark Hawwa who was then a relative newcomer to motorcycles. Not having anyone to ride with, he set up a café racer club and then wondered whether he could organise an event which would bring as many people together as possible.
Inspired by seeing a photo of Don Draper in the television series Mad Men, he thought it would be cool if everyone adopted a dapper and stylish form of attire for the event. The idea spread like wildfire. That first year some 2500 people in 64 cities in 16 countries took part. Suddenly it was a movement.
So the second year, it was decided to do something positive with this movement and that was when the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride partnered with various prostate cancer foundations to not only raise money for research but, just as importantly, to raise awareness of prostate cancer. Now gentlemen, we all know that it’s not the sort of thing we like to talk about or even think about, but some 300,000 men will die from prostate cancer each year and if they all had got over their reticence to talk about bum matters with their doctor, then so many of those chaps would still be with us.
In 2016 Movember became
DGR’s official charity partner and it invests the funds raised by the DGR community into prostate cancer and mental health and suicide prevention, another area which us gentlemen often try to avoid discussing. Millions of pounds have been raised by the DGR rides across the world – even during the two lockdown years when the runs were much changed, almost £6 million was raised worldwide.
Despite the name, you don’t have to don a tweed suit to participate – but that is part of the fun of the event – nor do you have to be a gentleman or even ride a classic bike. This year, the Inverness DGR attracted some 97 riders, with the bikes spanning almost a century of history – from the first built in 1919 to the newest which was a mere 20 years old.
Fittingly, as Triumph Motorcycles has been the main sponsor since 2013, there were a number of Triumphs of both Meriden and Hinckley vintage on the run which took the riders into Inverness where refreshments and beverages were taken and both motorcycles and clothing were admired by the public. More than £4000 was raised by the Inverness gentlefolk for the cause and a fine time was had by all.