Sponsor Thanks And Viking Bags

Ron 0:02

Before we get started today, a special thanks to Anne and the good folks over at Viking Bags for their kind feedback about this podcast and their sponsorship of today's episode. Vikings Motorcycle Storage Solutions are beautifully designed and built with quality materials designed to withstand the elements so that you can focus entirely on the freedom of the road. Hey, these are good people with great-looking quality storage products for your ride. Check them out at Vikingbags.com.

What The DGR Looks Like

Ron 0:42

On Sunday, May 17th, across the globe, more than 125,000 men and women dressed in their finest will participate in this year's Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, also known as the DGR. Gentlemen and gentle ladies looking their best in their partygoing outfits, like something out of the Great Gatsby. Imagine the roar of classic engines softened by the sight of tailored tweeds, bow ties, and perfectly waxed mustaches. It's an event to raise awareness and funds for men's mental and physical health through the Movember Foundation. The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride is more than just a parade of vintage motorcycles. It's a global masterclass in style for a cause. So today we're talking about the soul beneath the suit. And what is it that brings motorcycle riders from around the world together just like they're going to a party during the jazz age? Well, it's fun and it's worthwhile, and it's for a great cause. Let's talk about it. Stay tuned. Recorded in beautiful, lovely Colorado, welcome to Peace Love Moto, the podcast for motorcyclists seeking that peaceful, easy feeling as we cruise through this life together. Are you ready? Let's go!

Community Built On Compassion

Ron 2:31

But every year it happens on the same day, a Sunday, starting in Australia, then following the new day as it begins around the rest of the world. It's an event where you can walk up to a total stranger, give them a hug, and then introduce yourself. It's like this common bond, a community, a fellowship of motorcycle riders like none other I've ever seen. This is a public demonstration by motorcycle riders of compassion for others. It's a demonstration of, dare I say, love. Dare I said it. If you're a motorcycle rider and have spent any time on social media around this time of year, you've seen the images. Thousands of motorcycle riders across the globe, not fully wearing rider gear. No, it's not the all the gear all the time thing. Not this time. No, these are riders wearing tailored blazers, silk ties, and polished boots. It's this beautiful sight. Vintage bikes and a sea of dapper gentlemen and gentle ladies, each there for one thing. To show love for each other and show love for others. You see, it all started with a simple, slightly cheeky idea, I guess, to combat the often negative stereotype of men on motorcycles by dressing up and riding classic bikes. But the mission quickly evolved from a small group in Australia started by Mark Kawa, and it's just turned global.

Men’s Health And Breaking Silence

Ron 4:23

Through their partnership with the Moe Vember Foundation, the annual Distinguished Gentleman's Ride has raised tens of millions of dollars for two specific causes: prostate cancer research and suicide prevention. So let's talk about the weight of that for just a second. As men, we are notoriously bad at talking about how we feel. Sharing with someone about what's troubling us, that doesn't happen very often. We'll spend countless hours fine-tuning our bike, but we won't spend a couple of minutes just telling a friend that we're struggling. But the DGR is a way of breaking that silence. In a couple of weeks, the DGR rolls again. My wife and I will be ride leaders once again in Fort Collins for that event, and we have a chance again to see smiling faces and to have those more intimate conversations with returning riders and those new. When we put on that tie and ride through the streets of northern Colorado, we are making a public statement that men's health matters. Whether it's getting screened for prostate cancer or being brave enough to admit that the winter blues have turned into something heavier. This is the ride that is the bridge to that conversation.

Motorcycle Therapy And Mindfulness

Ron 5:51

There's a term we use in our motorcycling community: motorcycle therapy. And it's more than just a catchphrase, isn't it? Because there's actual science behind the mental clarity that comes with riding. When you're navigating a technical stretch of road, for example, like when I ride from here in Loveland up to Estes Park, carving through the Big Thompson Canyon, it's turn after turn after turn after turn. And I love it. But I can't be in the past and I can't be in the future in my mind when I'm riding that road. I've got to be right in the here and right in the now, planning for how I'm gonna hit the apex on the next corner, and around here being prepared to stop just in case there's a bighorn sheep right in the middle, right in the middle of the road. Yeah, it happens a lot just the other day, as a matter of fact. You know, for many of us, in the helmet is a place where the world goes quiet. And it does. The noise of the corporate world, the stress of the news, worries about finances, the pressures of expectations, it all gets drowned out by the sound of the bike and the feel of the wind, doesn't it? This forced presence is very much a form of mindfulness. Yeah, we're breathing and just taking it all in and relaxing, but we're just moving through the world. And for me, it allows my brain just to reset. And that's wonderful. So here's an additional truth to understand, and I think it maps really well to the cause of the DGR. While the bike can be a rescue, oh yeah, it certainly can, it shouldn't be a hiding place. Motorcycle therapy is just a tool to help us get our heads right so that we can show up again with our families and our friends and ourselves when we're off the bike. We can return from a great ride, hopefully as a better person going forward. We can carry that joy we felt on that bike back into our homes, back into our workplaces, carry it into conversations with friends, and carry that joy into an act of kindness for a stranger. Yeah, in addition to self-support, I think that many of us are well positioned to be a friend to others too. A kind voice to a stranger who may need to hear it. And sometimes someone may just need to hear you say hello.

The Gas Station Hello Story

Ron 9:13

I stopped my bike at a gas station, local gas station, right up the road, before I was gonna go ride through the hills. Sitting at a picnic table outside the gas station was a man in full riding gear sitting right next to this beautiful Ducati. It looked brand new. Seemed odd that he was just sitting there, but being the social butterfly that I am, as soon as I finished gassing up my bike, I rode over to say hello. I asked the man what his plans were for that day, and he said he didn't have any right then. I said, Well, I'm gonna go for a ride up into the hills and head over to one of my favorite coffee shops. Would you like to go along? And he said, sure. So we headed out through the twisty roads and over a small mountain pass until we reached the coffee shop I had in mind. It was there, at a table outside that coffee shop, that he told me the whole story. He told me that just two weeks ago his wife died. He said that it was her wish for him that after things had settled, he would go and buy the motorcycle that he had so wanted for so long. He told me he had just bought the bike that morning and rolled it off the showroom floor, and he had ridden it to that spot to top off with gas, and it was there. He said, he found himself a bit frozen, not really knowing what to do. And then he said, then you came by and said hello. You see, my friends, it doesn't take much at all just to say hello, and you never know what kind of impact that you may have on someone else.

Gratitude And The Hug Challenge

Ron 11:11

As we wrap up today's episode, here's one simple fact that I hope you will carry in your heart and in your head this week. The fact is, is life is very good, my friends. It's very good. If you have the physical and mental capabilities to ride a motorcycle, it's amazing. And that's something we can indeed be happy about. And using the distinguished gentleman's ride as just one example, you can know that there are people out there who care about you. People who have the courage to raise funds and to dress up and to go give a total stranger a big hug. A hug DGR people are really, really good at. Maybe you need a hug today. Well, go grab a stranger and give them a hug and see what happens. Or maybe just start with your own family and see how that goes. As for the DGR, a motorcycle to ride and good people in the world, we can be very grateful, my friends. So let's go ride.