An estimated 20,000 bikers have taken part in “Dave Day” in honour of the late Hairy Bikers star Dave Meyers who died in February at the age of 66 after suffering from cancer.
Former Hairy Bikers co-star, TV chef Si King said an estimated 20,000 people were set to take part in the memorial ride which involved a motorcycle procession from London to Meyers’s home town of Barrow-in-Furness.
Dave Day will raise funds for the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and children’s charity the NSPCC. King, speaking to BBC Breakfast on Saturday (June 8), said the event would be a “celebration of my best friend that we’ve lost” and that it would be “very emotional”.
Myers’s widow Lili Myers told BBC Breakfast: “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.”
She added: “He always cooked, that was his territory. I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen, just to clean the kitchen and, I tell you, he would cook for an hour, I will clean for two. He knew how to create a moment. That was his forte.”
Dave Day organiser, Jason Woodcock told BBC Breakfast: “I went to see him the day before he passed. Lili asked me for a couple of bikes together for his funeral, which I did. Some of the guys that are here today were there as well. 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.” He added the people in Barrow have been “amazing”, offering spare rooms and gardens for people to camp in as there is no accommodation left.
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1. People wave as motorcyclists make their journey from London to Barrow
Thousands of bikers ride from London to Barrow ahead of Dave Day | Jacob King/PA Wire
2. Hairy Biker Si King at Dave Day
Hairy Biker Si King at Dave Day | Jacob King/PA Wire
3. Motorcyclists at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull
Motorcyclists as they ride from London to Barrow ahead of Dave Day to celebrate the life of Hairy Biker, Dave Myers. (Photo: Jacob King/PA Wire) | Jacob King/PA Wire
4. Motorcyclists wear Hawaiian shirts and display Dave Day tributes
Motorcyclists at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull, as they ride from London to Barrow. (Photo: Jacob King/PA Wire) | Jacob King/PA Wire