First of 20,000 ‘Dave Day’ tribute bikers finish ride

Thousands of motorcyclists have begun to arrive at the end of a mammoth ride from London to Cumbria to celebrate the life of Hairy Biker Dave Myers.

The TV chef died in February, at the age of 66, after he was diagnosed with cancer.

“Dave Day” has seen a 25km (16-mile) long remembrance procession, made up of about 20,000 bikers, journeying from the capital to Myer’s coastal home town of Barrow-in-Furness.

As the riders set off on Saturday morning, fellow Hairy Biker Si King described it as “amazing” and a “celebration of the best friend that I’ve lost”.

The procession began to arrive in Barrow from about 16:00 GMT, waved on by thousands of people.

One on-looker, Marie, who watched the procession from a bridge near Burton services, around 40 miles from the finish point, said: “The atmosphere was lovely, warm and quite emotional to see so many bikers.

“We were pleased to wave them in and welcome them to our beautiful county of Cumbria.”

There were reports the service station was shut northbound due to the sheer number of travellers.

The procession organisers had planned to stop there for a break, but instead drove straight on towards Barrow.

Many of those gathered at the start point, the Ace Cafe in north London, on Saturday morning were wearing Hawaiian shirts.

Si King said of the crowd: “Everybody’s got that lovely Dave sartorial elegance about them, ie dodgy shirt.

“Some of them have had them specially printed, it’s remarkable.”

He added: “You never know how these things are going to impact you… it is a celebration of Dave’s life.

“That’s why we’re here, because he was so irritatingly positive all of the time. And we love him and that’s why we’re here.”

Myers’ widow, Lili, said: “We have people coming from all over the country. We have people coming from Texas, from Malaysia, from all over Europe.

“Oh, it’s endearing. It just helps me go through my process of grief because it just makes me feel that I’m not on my own with all this.

Jason Woodcock, who organised Dave Day, said the idea arose at Myers’ funeral, for which Lili had asked him to “get a couple of bikes together”.

“They got to the funeral, had a few beers as you would do, and then the idea came up during the conversation of let’s do a memorial ride.”

As the procession concludes later on Saturday, celebrations will centre around Barrow Town Hall with performances, stalls by local vendors who have worked with the Hairy Bikers on various projects and a service of remembrance.

The event will also raise money for NSPCC Childline and The Institute of Cancer Research, with donations being split evenly between the two charities, organisers said.

In the run-up to the day, staff and students from Greengate Junior School in Barrow dressed up as Myers.

Those who took part sported fake beards and moustaches, as wells as a waistcoat similar to the one the chef wore.

Dylan, 10, said the moustache felt itchy, while teacher Stephen Leigh said Myers was a Barrovian treasure.

“Any sort of focus on the positives of Barrow is really, really good. And it’s a marvellous place,” he added.

People have travelled from all over the world to take part in the event.

Dawn Mayers, who is originally from Fleetwood near Blackpool, lives in Malaysia for the most of the year.

She decided to come back to the UK especially for the celebration.

“Dave died when we were in Malaysia, so we decided to light a candle for him at a local Buddhist temple.

“We’ve watched every episode [of the Hairy Bikers], we have every cookbook,” she said.

Ms Mayers arrived in Barrow on Friday and said the atmosphere was electric.

Keni Carrington, 70, travelled from France on Friday and is riding the entire route to Barrow from the Ace Cafe.

Ms Carrington’s husband of 35 years, Chris, who was also a biker, died last June following a cancer diagnosis.

“Chris was my soulmate and he would love to have done this ride for Dave Myers,” she said.

Meanwhile, riders struggling for somewhere to stay were helped out by local residents offering their spare rooms, caravans, and even their backyards.

Tim Walker offered up his garden in Askam-in-Furness for people to camp out in.

“We thought, well, we’ve got plenty of room [in the garden]. Got some tents and some spare rooms,” he said.

Mr Walker and his wife are also planning to serve breakfast to their eight guests.

He did not want people to pay to stay on his property and asked people to “put a donation in the bucket” instead.

Barrow Town councillor Dani Petrova said of Myers: “He was just a normal guy from Barrow doing us all proud.

She added she was “absolutely gobsmacked” at the reaction to Dave Day.

“The people of Barrow are what makes Barrow beautiful and Dave was one of us.”