Words by Steve Marsh
There are enough problems in the world today, just turn on the news to see, there are always stories of war, terrorism and needless violence happening around the world. On the 7th July 2005 the capital London came under attack from a terrorist act which left millions in shock.
For Steve Marsh a biker who lost a colleague in the attack something needed to be done, he felt it important that their memories weren't forgotten and so the Unity ride was born. Below is a moving article in Steve's own words of how the biking community came together to make a positive difference after such a disaster.
Unity I: A ride at the right time.
It was almost a week after the London Bombings when we were informed that University College London had lost two members of staff who were on the Tavistock square bus. I didn't really recognise either of the names but then it was explained by a colleague that one of them was a Gladys Wundowa who had been cleaning my labs for years and that her daughter had also worked in my office the previous year, on work experience. Without me knowing it, these two people had been part of my daily routine, they had helped me do my job and ensured my day ran smoothly. One life was now devastated, the other ended. I never got to say thanks or goodbye.
The original Unity Ride was remarkably easy to put together. We were not going to negotiate with the local councils or the authorities, we were going to ride through London, visit each of the bomb sites, leave a wreath and then go back to the Ace Café. That was nobody's business but ours, my pals, my family and me.
As the news spread the number of registered riders started to rise rapidly, it was clear fairly soon that we could not marshal the ride ourselves. I'd been on the big ride-outs from the Ace for years and also organised a few myself and knew that once you entered central London and the numbers get much above 20 and having to stop at every junction, just broke the ride up and pandemonium often followed. I'd been on a BikeSafe day a couple of months earlier and I had Sgt Paul Mostyn as my instructor. I'd seen him a couple of times since then at Chelsea bridge and the Ace and he seemed to remember vaguely that he'd met me in the past, so I emailed him and asked for his help. We arranged a meeting at the Ace and were joined by Mark Wilsmore, the owner. I put forward my ideas for the 'Ride of Defiance ' (that was soon changed, as was my T-shirt design of an elevated middle finger). "I thought you wanted a ride of support for the victims, not a riot". It was explained that as it was so soon after the bombings that police resources were severely stretched and that there was no way Scotland Yard would condone this event but he would speak to his BikeSafe team and see if they would do it in their own time. They all agreed to help, so 'Game on'.
Things progressed rapidly over the next few weeks, numbers rising by the day. We were going to need marshals, a lot of them. I'd never heard of IAM or ROSPA which was my easiest route to getting qualified help, instead I phoned around my pals and went on to the internet groups to which I belong, to find anyone that was willing to pull on a T-shirt for the day. We got 24, which would be plenty enough, wouldn't it?
On the day I was one the first at Regents Park with my partner Pat and friends waiting for the bikers to arrive. We at this stage had no idea how many were going to attend. We then started to get phone calls in from the satellite ride-ins that we had setup outside the capital, telling us that hundreds if not thousands were on their way, so it wasn't to be a complete failure. My knowledge of the ride itself is limited, you would be better asking someone else that was there, or by borrowing a copy of the DVD that was made of the day. I was placed at the front of the ride next to the lead copper and simply rode through empty streets looking at the bewildered faces on peoples as I approached. I had no idea how supportive the general public were being to the rest of the ride (once they worked out what it was all about!) This mass act of support and defiance, at a time when London still believed that the bombing campaign was not yet over, was truly emotional to all those that attended. However, it was in the days after the ride that it became clear what the motorcycle community had achieved, we really had, in just six weeks arranged and undertaken the largest ever motorcycle ride through the capital and without incident. The official count was 3650 but the 'counters' admitted that on several occasions they had so many bikers passing that it was impossible to count them that quickly. The money raised on the day went to the Red Cross London Bombings relief fund and subsequent sales of the DVD's went to the 7th July support group.
Production of the DVD took far longer than any of us could believe, music rights, reproduction and editing, especially when you want it done for nothing, takes forever. So there we were, a year later with hundreds of out of date DVD's, when we were approached and asked if we wanted a freebie pitch at the Ally Pally bike show. It was here, where bikers were continuously asking when the next ride would happen, that the idea of running an annual event in honour of the victims was formulated. We went to the victims support group and sort there opinion, they immediately offered their support and thanks.
Unity II: Why bother?
When you keep getting asked the same question by lots and lots of people, you start to question yourself. What was I missing? Unity Ride was a one off event, I organised it, made a stand and let people know that we cared and moved on. But to create a Unity II, why would I do that? Things had changed in London, the immediate threat of terrorism had passed and I had done what I needed to do. The critics were right, the ride needed a clear focus. For Unity I it was obvious why we were riding but now what was the message for Unity II? We didn't have one. We wanted to remember the victims of the bombings raise money for charity and of course ride through London again. We expected criticism at our lack of a cause to ride and that many bikers were expecting us to pick up a political stance or to seek justices for something. We decided against this but instead tried to create something positive, something that reflected our sense of community and something that could have permanence.
We had a format that bikers seemed to enjoy, satellite rides to a central meeting point then an escorted ride around the capital. We were convinced that if we could create a biking festival of some description then bikers would attend and then use this as a stage for undertaking our ride. With this in mind we approached English Partnership, who own the land adjacent to the Dome (that's O2 arena in today's money) on the Greenwich peninsular. We wrote an extensive proposal to stage a bike festival on the undeveloped land, which happily, they agreed to. We invited the Police, press, MAG and the BMF to a meeting we organised at UCL, where we told them of our plans. Sgt Mostyn who was present explained that the laws since the bombings had changed and that such unauthorised rides may no longer be legal and that the use of Police riders for new charity rides would no longer be acceptable unless paid for and that even the Christmas toy run may be in jeopardy. The way forward was to try and get the Unity Ride an integral part of the London calendar like the Marathon, Lord Mayor show or the Notting hill carnival now are. We had to expand the ride, train a larger number of marshals, now called Unity Support Riders (USR's) and promote, so that the general public and the entire biking community were interested in attending.
Back at Greenwich we approached the local council for an entertainment license to put up a large screen, so that we might show the Moto GP after the ride. The licence request was copied to the head of Greenwich Council, Councillor Roberts, who replied to me with a single line email.
"I look forward to vigorously opposing this ridiculous concept"
What followed was a series of meeting within the local council where they plotted to prevent the ride going ahead. Fortunately bikers within the council were making us aware what was going on behind the scenes and guiding us. However after three months of 'negotiating' we received a letter from English Partnership sadly withdrawing the offer of the land, due to local council pressure and a phone call from the council telling me that the ride was contravening a local law relating to air pollution levels and that as the organiser I would be subject to an ASBO, £25,000 fine and or 3 months in prison. Although the thought of an ASBO I found quite appealing, the idea that I could end up totally skint or as someone's prison cell 'bitch' didn't. We dropped the plans for Unity II at Greenwich.
Fortunately within a couple of weeks we found that the people at the Excel conference centre, in east London, were far more biker friendly as they had just staged the bike show and offered us the east car parks to start the ride in,. Unity II went ahead. Unfortunately however, after all that grief, it rained the entire preceding week and the morning of the ride as well. Even so, 565 bikers turned up, had a great time and we managed to raise about £5400 for our charities. Unity was on its way.
The real triumph of Unity II was that we set ourselves on the road for an event much better than any festival. Anyone can organise a commercial festival but Unity Ride was adamant to remain unbranded, not sell out to a company but be something that was created by bikers for bikers and something we can all take pride in. Unity ride continues to find bikers willing to help in the most unlikely of places. People that because of our common interest in biking, were willing to give advice, design something, donate a skip, printing our posters, give time to train riders, provide a training facility or even give just a few kind words. When the organisation of the ride hit another dead end or we got lost along the way, another biker would come by give us a nod and ask us if we needed help, just like it is out on the road.
Unity III: A work in progress.
So we are back at Excel this year and we have been given an even larger area in which to stage the ride and provide catering and toilet facilities for the riders. We also have enough space to put up a series of stands for biker groups and charities. We have now trained 55 USR's, who have undertaken a biker specific first aid course, advanced riding techniques and attended a marshalling / group rider training day with London's BikeSafe team.
The USR’s are really the key to Unity Ride, without them volunteering their time, petrol and effort, there would be no ride. They support the police but are also available to all biker groups to benefit from.
The aim is to develop the ride over a number of years, gradually creating a festival atmosphere at Excel with the emphasis on safety and charity rather than a commercial enterprise. To do this we need the entire biking community to get involved and support the Unity Ride before this part of our biking culture is lost to us forever.
This year the Unity ride will again return to the memorial gardens to present a wreath to the London Bombings victim support group. We will also pay a visit to both Greenwich Peninsular and Chelsea Bridge….seems a shame not to.
Related Links:
unity2.unityride.co.uk
