Between 500 and 600 bikes - that's about 1000 bikers, allowing for pillions - turned out for the second annual Bandana Run at Ysterplaat air force base at the weekend, hosted by the South African Air Force, the M.O.T.H. Motorcycle Association and the Sunflower Foundation.
After registration and the usual meet-and-greet (mainstream bikers are a surprisingly close-knit bunch) the Bandana Run left Ysterplaat at about 10am for a 60km-ride through the Swartland and back down the N7 to the base, escorted by traffic police all the way.
That was probably the high point of the event for many riders, as they completely took over the roads, if only for one day, where they are normally second-class citizens.
The object was to raise funds for the Sunflower Foundation, an organisation dedicated to increasing the number of stem cell donors in the South African Bone Marrow Registry.
LIFE-SAVING TREATMENT
A foundation spokeswoman explained: “Stem cell transfusion is a life-saving treatment for leukemia - but there is only a one in four chance of finding a perfect match in a family member.
“If that fails we go to the registry, where there is a one in 100 000 chance of finding a match - which us why we need to grow the registry from its current 65 500 donors to at least 100 000, across all ethnic groups.”
“The snag is that tissue typing the molecular DNA of each potential donor for the registry costs R2000, which is why we are dependent on fund-raising efforts such as the Bandana Run.”
At Ysterplaat there was live music from Off the Record, displays from a number of bike dealers, hot dogs, cold drinks and beers for sale, plus the opportunity to have your hair either shaved or dyed (for a donation, of course!) to show solidarity with leukemia patients, who often lose their hair as a side-effect of their treatment.
‘JUST A COUPLE OF BEERS’
Among those sacrificed their hair for a good cause was David Frost, deputy director for road safety management in the Western Cape department of community safety, who spent most of the day, Alcometer in hand, persuading bikers who thought they were still stone cold sober after “just a couple of beers” to blow into the tube and showing them how close they were to the limit - or in some cases, over it.
Many leukemia patients wear bandanas, which is how this fund-raiser got its name, and there were yellow bandanas on sale to add to the funds raised.
The bikers raised a superb R36 000 in half a day, which was presented to the foundation by Colonel 'Bill' Cowan, officer commanding Air Force Base Ysterplaat. It was a magnificent effort, and thankfully received by the foundation, but the warm, fuzzy feeling of having fun in a good cause fades a little when you figure out that's enough for 18 tissue typing tests, and there are still 34 482 to go.