With the coronavirus pandemic forcing a new take on The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, this year’s version of the annual fundraiser for men’s health charity Movember was unlike any other in the event’s nine-year history.

Held on 27 September, the first-ever “solo edition” of The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) was made necessary by public gathering limits and social distancing rules under COVID-19. As such, this year’s DGR was always going to be compromised, but more than 56,000 riders from over 170 countries around the world still dressed dapper and rode their classic and classically-styled motorcycles – the only difference was that this this time around, they did it on their own.

“This year was a strange one. We took an event that was driven by community engagement and connectedness and reformed it to make it work in this crazy COVID world!” said DGR founder, Mark Hawwa.

“Not knowing what to expect, we gave it our all and brought the global DGR community together – at a distance – for DGR 2020.”

While this year’s entry numbers were less than half of 2019’s total, those who took part still managed to raise more than AU$3.8 million for Movember: a pretty impressive result given the circumstances.

Here in Australia, Shannons got involved with this year’s DGR, bringing riders together digitally under the ‘Team Shannons’ banner.

Team Shannons raised a combined $26,903 for the Movember Foundation, with Shannons gifting the team’s top 3 fundraisers a custom Shannons garage sign, while the top 10 Team Shannons fundraisers won a Bowden’s Own Motorbike Detailing Intro Pack. 

“The team did amazingly, ending up at 7th place globally,” Hawwa added. “With the huge support we’ve had this year, we have no doubt that 2021 will be our biggest year yet as we celebrate 10 years of DGR!”