There was a Well-Dressed Motorcycle Gang Riding Around Your City Yesterday

Metro Manila, Davao, and Cebu joined the 2018 Distinguished Gentleman's Ride on Sunday, September 30.

By Esquire Philippines | Oct 1, 2018

IMAGE Gabby Jimenez

If you were out and about extra early on the streets on Sunday, September 30—having recovered fast from your regular Saturday bacchanalia with the boys, or perhaps from, idk, that all-nighter analyzing the red carpet from the ABS CBN Ball?—you might have run into a large group of very well-dressed men and women riding around on their very handome classic and vintage-styled motorcycles. We're talking café racers, classic scooters, trackers, scramblers, choppers, classics, sidecars and brat-styled motorcyles, carrying people dressed in crisp shirts, polished brogues, and tailored suits and waistcoats.

The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride is coordinated all over the world, and it's been happening since 2012. This year, the Ride attracted 120,000 motorcyclists in over 650 countries, all venturing out to raise funds and awareness for men's health—specifically, for prostate cancer and depression. This is the fourth year that the Philippines has participated, and the first time that riders from Davao joined the groups from Manila and Cebu.

The DGR added mental health to its advocacies in 2016, following the tragic loss of one of their ride hosts to depression. "I've taken up this advocacy in organizing DGR because the sicknesses are close to home," says Mark Laccay, the ride host for Metro Manila. "I want to be part of the solution in growing a movement that creats awareness and campaigs for research to address these illnesses. We help Movember Foundation raise funds for prostate cancer research, and through DGR we campaign to form support groups for riders and their families who suffer from these illnesses of cancer and depression.”

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This year's Distinguished Gentleman's Ride in the Philippines attracted the biggest crowds so far: 1,009 riders in Manila, 179 in Cebu, and 134 in Davao. So far, the DGR has received about US$5.7M towards a goal of US$6M, and it's not too late to donate.

The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride in Manila began at the Quezon City Hall, and took the 1000+ riders down to CCP, and then back to Ortigas. IMAGE: Gabby Jimenez

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