A crew of motorcyclists are putting rubber on the road to pay their respects to fallen soldiers at sites around Otago.
Patriots Defence Force Motorcycle Club deep south chapter president Phil "Boot" Herriott said the 2022 Ride of Respect was an opportunity for members to commemorate the fallen and raise money for veterans.
He said about 100 riders were joining today’s ride, which left the Mosgiel RSA about 11am.
The procession planned to visit war memorials at Middlemarch, Dunback, Palmerston and Port Chalmers.
At the final stop they would have a wreath-laying ceremony and play the Last Post, before returning to Mosgiel for a beer.
The ride was expected to raise a couple of thousand dollars, through registration fees for the ride along with selling raffle tickets, badges and poppies.
Money raised will be donated to charities including the Montecillo veterans' residence fund and the Returned Services Association’s welfare fund.
The motorcycle community was pretty generous and would do rides for anything, from mental health to rescue helicopter fundraisers, he said.
While the patriots were comprised of former and currently serving members, members of about five different clubs had joined the ride along with some independent riders.
The Patriots group was ‘‘almost like an RSA on wheels,’’ Mr Herriott joked.
He himself served in the navy for 21 years.
Military service was something of a family tradition, as two of Mr Herriott’s brothers served in the navy.
His grandfather and father fought in the first and second world wars respectively.
The event was an annual one which about eight clubs across the country took part in.
As a concept, the commemoration started in the United Kingdom in 2010, and came to New Zealand in in 2014, he said.
