DGR 2015. The 1st Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride helps raise funds and awareness of prostate cancer and men’s mental health (via the Movember Foundation).
The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride 2015
About DGR
The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride is the brainchild of Australian motorcyclist Mark Hawwa, who was inspired by a photo of Mad Men’s Don Draper astride a classic bike and wearing his finest suit. Mark decided a themed ride would be a great way to combat the often-negative stereotype of men on motorcycles, whilst connecting niche motorcycle communities.
The first ever Distinguished Gentleman’s ride took place in 2012 across 64 cities, with around 2500 riders suiting up and riding for the cause. Since then the annual event has raised over $10,000,000 (£7,394,482) for men’s health charities across the globe since 2012.
Early Detection
I urge you to take the time to inform yourself and your loved ones about prostate cancer and to read up on the signs and symptoms. Cancer Research UK has a list of symptoms: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/prostate-cancer/symptoms.
My Ride: Kawasaki Dtracker
I confess that I felt a bit of a fraud that day because I couldn’t get hold of a traditional classic bike. Somehow my Kawasaki Dtracker had been accepted on the Gentleman’s Ride signup page. I believe this was due to my bike being considered a Tracker, rather than a Dtracker.
In the hope of making my bike look more suitable for the event, I removed my original stickers and adapted my bike superficially. Not exactly the best job in the world, but I was determined to take part in the event.
Bike Meet at Thapae Gate
In downtown central Chiang Mai, hundreds of classic bikes gathered in the morning, to participate in the first Chiang Mai Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride event.
In recent years, Chiang Mai has seen an explosion of Big Bikes and it was impressive to see so many classic and modern classic bikes, with Triumphs dominating the scene.
Thapae Gate, the meet point, began to quickly fill up with ride participants wearing smart suits in line with the event style. Riders greeted each other, checked out the bikes and took some time for photos before setting off on a police-escorted lap around the city.
I had never ridden with a large group of riders and found the energy indescribable.
A Ride Around Chiang Mai City
This DGR 2015 video by 8080 Cafe and Basman encapsulates some of the great vibes at the meet point and the ride around Chiang Mai City.
Lunch at The Goodview Village
As we finished the lap of the city, we pulled into The Goodview Village Restaurant to participate in fun games, listen to speakers and enjoy lunch. The games also included a charity auction in which one t-shirt fetched over 10,000 baht!
Two friends and myself, were lucky winners that day, also.
After lunch at The Good View riders left to return home with the plan of meeting again for an evening event.
The Evening Event at Tha Chang Cafe’
The evening event included some snacks and an open bar, with most riders wearing ride DGR 2015 t-shirts which were included in a gift pack.
During the event, we were shown some videos of the DGR 2015 ride.
Summary
To sum it up, all I can say is that the DGR 2015 was a truly great day, with great bikes, great people and expertly organised.
Oh, I also sat on the same bike I was on for the Triumph Bike shoot. It was great to see the bike again. A beautiful Triumph Scrambler!
Have you ever participated in a Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride or any other big organised ride?
I hope you enjoyed this report on DGR 2015
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Thanks for posting the DGR videos from CNX. Great footage 🙂 Looks like there is a classic bike culture there I have not yet seen.
I rode in the Sydney DGR last year and plan to do same again 2016.. Wish I was in Chiang Mai but will not be back there until November.
Hi Michael, thanks for the comment!
It was really great fun. I was surprised myself at the amount of classic bikes.
Very nice atmosphere and great looking bikes.
Good luck with your next DGR in Sydney 😀