A big group of motorcyclists dressed in dapper attire turned more than a few heads in Kelowna, B.C. Sunday morning.
As nearly 100 riders revved up their engines to bring awareness to men’s health issues.
“You have to do your part, you have to spread awareness it’s such a huge thing. This is just a real fun way of doing it in my opinion. It’s a fun way, you get to get all dressed up dapper. We get to ride motorcycles,” said Nick Langelaan owner of M&M Performance.
The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride in Kelowna was one of many across the world Sunday.
Although rain was coming down throughout the valley, it didn’t stop riders from heading out on two wheels.
“It was pouring down rain, I actually changed outfits three times. I was going no matter what, we were all going to go no matter what. But the goal of the event has been achieved and overachieved,” said Michel Tremblay, host of Kelowna’s Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride.
That goal was to raise $10,000 and this group went above and beyond, raising over $18,000 for the cause.
One of the other goals for the annual event is to spark a conversation about prostate cancer.
“It’s these constant voices that I think make a huge difference that it’s okay. Especially with prostate awareness, it’s OK to talk about it, it’s OK to go get checked. There doesn’t have to be a stigma around it, it’s very important,” said Langelaan.
The other topic of discussion was men’s mental health. Riders were encouraging each other to be open to those difficult conversations.
“You don’t hear them talking about it as much, especially in the motorcycle community. It’s not the strongest thing but it doesn’t matter about that,” said Langelaan.
The fundraising goal worldwide was $5 million between the hundreds of cities involved. Donations can still be made on the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride website.