You may have seen the Afghan Heroes charity ride in the news today. I thought I'd give it a quick mention from my perspective and share what it was like.
It was essentially a load of bikers raising money in honour of our fallen troops in Afghanistan. It started off as a few hundred, then once it was published on facebook, it rapidly grew. I went with 3 mates and it was quite immense. We all collected on an airstrip and then rode through the town of Wootton Bassett. The whole run (including A LOT of queuing and waiting took around 8 hours.
The town of Wootton Bassett host the air base where the dead troops are repatriated to the UK, so for the locals this was a special day. Most of them turned out, cheering us on all day. I personally saw lots of tears from people, young and old, at the side of the road. These are almost certainly people who have lost sons, fathers and brothers to war. I particularly remember one lone little girl sitting with her mum, holding a little flag, watching us and crying as we rode past.
The news is reporting 15000 bikers + pillions, but these are just the official figures based on those who registered to attend. I have it on good authority it was over 40,000, making it the largest ever motorcycle ride in the UK. We will of raised around £200,000.
The attached photo doesn't really do the numbers justice, but it gives you an idea of what it was like to be there. Bikers as far as the eye can see in both directions.
Radical hamsters skipping furiously into the blue ether, questioning their very existence while breathing out the bitter fog of smoked haddock.
