Huge turnout for ‘Ride for Respect’

On Saturday, April 22, motorbikes from Nelson/Tasman, and around the country descended upon the Tahunanui Bowling Club.
The carpark was packed out with bikes and people about to embark on a ‘Ride for Respect’, to raise funds for local Returned Services’ Associations (RSA).
Tribal Nations MC Te Tauihu Region hosted this year’s Nelson Ride of Respect event. Organiser Colin Agnew was stoked with the turnout, “it was awesome for the first time that we’ve done it, it was a great turnout. Made it a really good day. There were 95 bikes, and about a third of them were two-up, so around 150 people altogether.”
The event is a national ride with different cities and different clubs organising different rides, but all with the same goal in mind, to ride in remembrance of those that have served our country and to raise funds for the local RSAs and the Fallen Heroes Trust.
Participants took off from Nelson RSA, riding to Motueka RSA via the coastal highway. After lunch they returned through the Moutere Highway, stopping to pay their respects at the Ngatimoti Cenotaph, before finishing up at the Waimea RSA.
Rider Rod Barnes, who led the ANZAC dawn parade on his motorbike, says, “being a returned service person myself, I know why a lot of people are there, for lost loved ones. The thing that amazes me is a lot of young ones are turning up at the services now and learning about what happened 103 years ago.” This is his third ‘Ride for Respect’ and says there was a brilliant bunch of people at the event. “To stop off at Ngatimoti, and put a poppy there, was something special. The whole day was a very enjoyable experience.”
Waimea RSA president Ross Norgate wanted to thank Colin and the organisers for putting together such a fantastic event, “I would like to say a personal thanks to them for including us in this year’s ride and for their wonderful donation to the RSA Welfare Fund. This is the first time we have been included.”