Omega Racer: The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride

September 30, 2014

The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride - Thailand

I'm back home.
My head is Ducati-red, because like every year I tell myself to bring a hat and like every year I forget. Maybe it's some sort of subconscious denial of the fact I'm bald,...I don't know. Fact is, I'm sitting here at my computer with a throbbing head, editing pictures and thinking what to write about what has been the biggest DGR in Thailand to date.

Sure, there have been only 3 so far, but if we look back at the past 2 editions, you'll have to agree with me.

2012 was the first time. A crazy guy called Mark Hawwa had the idea to organize a ride where like-minded people could congregate and share their passion of custom, vintage, classic and cafe motorcycles. And to give it that something special, he thought it would be a good idea to dress up as distinguished gentlemen. When I heard about it, I was immediately enthusiastic and tried to get things rolling here in Thailand. Unfortunately, after beating the drum for several weeks, nobody had joined, so I decided to do it on my own.

The second year (last year) was already a huge success for me, as I managed to get 30 riders for the ride. It should have been more, but torrential rain in Bangkok stopped several riders from coming. New was also that we combined the ride with a charity that researches a cure for prostate cancer.

So you see, that's quite an improvement going from 1 to 30. This year, 2014, we had around 100 riders! I was quite surprised actually.

Again, we had 2 groups: one starting from Bangkok and one from Pattaya. We all met at Bang Saen where we had lunch, took pictures, looked at some amazing bikes and where I got my sunburn.

After lunch we rode all together to a dam nearby, but just short of the arrival point we were greeted by a wall of black clouds and plenty of lightning. A true gentleman knows when to hold and when it's time to fold, so we decided to head back to the starting point.

There we proceeded to auction off 25 t-shirts donated by Ducati Thailand and 2 cool helmets, offered by Elders Helmets. I'm proud to say that this year we collected nearly 950$ for prostate cancer research.

I would hereby thank all Thai riders and expats for joining the ride and generously contributing for a worthy cause. See you again next year!