One of the best experiences of my life has got to be being one of the ride leaders for the Tring Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride.
It’s an event which deeply appeals to my well dressed soul where riders dabble in a vintage look, with an abundance of tweed, ties and bowties as they bring out some beautiful old machines in aid of charity.
The DGR happens around the world on the same day, and this year was 17 May. It aims to raise funds for mens mental health and prostate cancer research. This year I was delighted to be asked by DGR Tring to co-lead the ride with one of the key organisers Biker Kaz. We’d be leading 175 riders from The Red Lion in Marsworth, past the reservoir, through Tring, into Berkhamsted High Street, past Ashridge House and over the Ivinghoe Beacon.
As I usually ride an MT09 Tracer, I knew I needed to find something else as that was just too modern. I initially settled on my husband’s beloved GSX1400. A monster of a bike that ten years ago I couldn’t even get off the side stand! But time, patience and experience have taught me much and I no longer baulk at riding it. Although I will say that whilst he can sit in third gear all day long and tackle anything, a sluggish front brake makes for some interesting moments!
However, ultimately I switched to another bike after the key organiser, Steve Hamilton, offered me his Yamaha RD250 complete with kickstarter. Considering he’s had this bike for 50 years I was astounded to be trusted with it and was initially super nervous. Mind you, I wasn’t entirely sure I could cope with a kick starter either! Let’s just say it’s given me a healthy respect for motorcycle development and I’m now fully aware of and extremely grateful for the joys of the invention of a switch button!
The RD250 is a two stroke complete with smoke and an aggressive hand needed on that throttle – both of which are alien to me. Yet I loved him because he was just so plucky, and a perfect example of how far bikes have come.
Kaz has led the Tring ride for all of the three years it’s been going so I felt in extremely safe hands with her being the main lead. Both Kaz and I tend to err on the side of caution, so we are both wearing our Summer Knox pro armour under our white shirts.
My bosses at White Dalton Motorcycle Solicitors had sponsored the ride for the second year running and have been extremely supportive to both myself and the ride. As sponsors they also made a wonderful commitment to helping raise the profile of the ride through plenty of social media so we could all raise as much funds as possible.
The day of the ride was one that will be a key memory in my old age, indeed my face hurt so much from smiling the whole day through. Lots of lovely folk lined the streets in Berko and other areas of the route to wave and cheer us on. With 175 beautiful bikes, the majority of which were true vintage or modern classics, going no faster than 35mph was something to behold. Half way through we stopped off at the Berko train station car park to give all bikes a chance to gather together after getting strung out along its high street.
The whole day was amazing with great community spirit – and the team at The Swan did a fantastic job keeping us fed and watered. They’re currently undergoing repair work after a fire devastated their kitchen. But they soldiered on and cracked open the barbecue grill to provide breakfast and lunch to the hungry bikers and their supporters.
After such a fantastic day the DGR Tring raised an astonishing amount – over £32.6k and was the 7th best fundraising venue out of 80 cities, despite being one of the smallest.
I was extremely grateful to everyone who sponsored me and managed to raise £715 towards this brilliant effort by the Tring ride.
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