Sunday, October 3rd, 2021 

Although this was not a HOG Prague event, Lucie and I were pleased to attend a charity ride organised as part of the so-called “Pink October” which was to support women with breast cancer. Numerous HOG people were involved and a key organiser was HOG member Martin Šrámek who works for Vintage Garage Motors, the local Royal Enfield importer. Royal Enfield was the the key sponsor of both the Prague event and of others taking place simultaneously all around Europe.

The charity event was billed as the R.A.R.E., or Ride and Roses Event and took place on the premises of the Staropramen Brewery, in the Smíchov district of Prague. Anyone could take part in the event / ride, regardless of the type or brand of their motorcycle. The gathering and subsequent ride around the city were dedicated primarily to breast cancer patients with the underlying theme of “back to the saddle“.

The Prague event was attended by almost 300 people. Various stalls had been set up in the yard of the Staropramen Brewery. There were stalls selling refreshments and an exhibition of Royal Enfield motorcycles.

The attendees were able to support the project by purchasing, food and drinks, calendars and other charitable items and, of course, by contributing to the collection boxes. A key item, purchased by most people, were pink scarves and the whole parade, when it took place, had a very pinkish hue.

The V.I.T. Band, which features a Prague HOG member on guitar, played some good rock numbers in the corner.

It was announced that all the proceeds of the event would go to the local Czech charity, Project Bellis – which specifically aims to help younger women with breast cancer within the overall Alliance of Women with Breast Cancer.

One “celebrity” present at the event was Zdenka Pohlreichová, a restaraunteuse and wife of a famous actor. In the process of recovering from breast cancer herself, she gave a short but moving speech about how riding her own motorcycle had proved therapeutic and assisted in her therapy.

The program of the event was focused primarily on women and there was a large number of lady riders, some on some VERY formidable machinery ! There was special provision made for ladies who did not have their own bike and helmets were provided for them to wear so they could grab a spare seat and take part in the ride.

At 13:00, accompanied by riders from Police of the Czech Republic, the parade set out to do a circuit of the centre of Prague. I am reliably informed that there were 114 motorcycles and one sidecar in the column. We wound our way through the city and, as always, attracted a lot of attention and photographic interest.

The proceeds from the stalls was over 36,000 Czech Crowns and this was “topped up” by Vintage Garage Motors, to 45,000 Czech Crowns. A further 7,500 Czech Crowns was put in the Bellis collection boxes.

Nikol Pazderová, the Bellis Project Manager, wrote this to Martin Šrámek “Thank you very much for a very beautiful event. We all really enjoyed it and the girls who rode motorcycles are absolutely thrilled. Thank you very much for your cooperation and for the amazing amount that was collected. You don’t even know how much it means to us. We will be very happy to continue our cooperation next year.“

It was pleasing that, despite the fact that this was the first year the event took place in the Czech Republic, the participation in Prague was the largest of all European cities. Our motorcycle community has shown how it can help and it is not just a “bunch of tattooed guys“, but kind-hearted people who help where they can!

Anyone can support the project financially at any time with any contribution to account Number 107-9424760207 / 0100 kept with Komerční Bank.

If making a contribution, please include RARE 2021 in the narrative.