Cape Town – More than 100 riders on machines ranging from 250cc commuters to plus-sized beetle crushers turned out on Friday evening for the city’s first Night Run in aid of CancerVive.
Hosted by Tyger Valley Harley-Davidson’s HOG chapter at the dealership, it was open to anybody on any type of street-legal motorcycle but, surprisingly, attracted more attention from marque clubs than mainstream riders.
Nevertheless, donations and pledges from the riders, and from a light-hearted auction of original paintings, as well as a unique leather bike jacket, donated by a founder member of CancerVive, raised tens of thousands of rand to fund the awareness campaigns for which the movement is best known, as well as its support – both emotional and practical – for people living with cancer.
Several members of the CancerVive committee flew from Johannesburg for the event, and told their stories before the ride – not, in most cases, of their own fight against cancer, but how other cancer sufferers they had met through the movement had impacted their lives.
The overriding impression was of eagerness to live life to the full, to make the most of every day and to help others in the same situation to do the same, with laughter and understanding but without pity.
For all that the cause was a serious one – cancer is the world’s number one killer disease – there was a lot of laughter to be heard as the riders kitted up for the mass ride to Spiro’s in Hout Bay; more than a fund-raising effort, it was a celebration of the human spirit, the one thing cancer cannot kill.