The bikers – four from the Thunder Riders Borneo Penampang of Kota Kinabalu, three from Pemoda Brunei of Brunei Darussalam, 10 from Harley Owners Group of Jakarta, Indonesia and Victoria Arms club president Azri Nor from Kuching Sarawak — will converge here November 8 in preparation for their trip to Sandakan on the 9th.
“The ride will cover a total of 3,252 kilometers from Kota Kinabalu to Mindanao and back,” The Borneo Post quoted ride coordinator Kamarul Bahrin as saying.
Thunder Riders president Datuk Douglas Primus told the Borneo Post they were invited by the On Any Sunday bikers’ club to participate in the 3rd Mindanao Ride for Peace (MR4P).
“We extended the invitation to the other groups,” he said.
The team will stay overnight in Sandakan, take the 13-hour boat ride to Zamboanga on the 10th, take another ferry to Cotabato on the 11th where they will be met by members of On Any Sunday bikers.
From Cotabato City, they will bike 240 kilometers to Davao City on November 12, where other participants will converge for the 3rd Mindanao Ride for Peace starting November 15. The ride ends in Cagayan de Oro City on November 19.
The group hopes to be back in Kota Kinabalu by November 22.
Primus said this was the first time the biking route will be taken from Malaysia “and it will be very exciting.”
“We are going to be pioneers paving the way for this route and once we establish the link, we are very sure a lot of Sabahans will follow suit,” he said.
He said it was “all the better for us” that the objective of the biking tour is for peace. “If we can assist them in promoting peace, then al the better for us. As the saying goes, prosper they neighbor.”
The Sabah Tourism Board, he said, has endorsed their group as the State’s
tourism ambassadors for the trip.
In June last year, the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) and On Any Sunday Riders Club signed a memorandum of cooperation to formalize the joint collaboration for the regular conduct of the Mindanao Ride for Peace (MR4P), a motorcycle-riding activity of professional and amateur motorcylists in Davao that visits key areas in Mindanao, including peace and development communities, in an effort to promote peace-building necessary to accelerate trade and investments in the island-region.
Last year’s 2nd Mindanao Ride for Peace was held from October 11 to 14. It drew participants from Luzon and Visayas as well.
This year, the riders include bikers from EAGA.