The man with razor in hand, his moustache perfectly curled and that big smile on his face has lost four of his best mates to suicide in the last three years.
The 83-year-old legend that everyone knows here rides a red 1939 Ariel and he has a manic bipolar disorder after watching some of his competitors die in the race he won.
Last month, these people and over 200 others took part in the third annual Hamilton Distinguished Gentleman’s ride (DGR).
Rough weather didn’t stop them and together they all rode through city streets on their classic and vintage motorcycles to raise awareness for mens’ health.
The motorcycles turned heads and so did the riders, most of them had come dressed up in dapper clothes. There wasn’t a bow tie out of place, a scuff mark to be seen and cheese cutter hats were popular.
Hamilton DGR manager, Scott Wilson, who was wearing a vivid suit with money bills plastered all over it, said on the day that the ride was simply about two things.
“It’s firstly about the celebration of the funds that have been raised and secondly it’s about parading awareness of mens’ health for the Movember foundation. It will be hard for people to not notice us.”
It all kicked off at the Hamilton Garden’s Pavilion with riders from all around the Waikato and Bay of Plenty rolling in one by one before heading off to the streets.
The final pit stop for the day was Hood Street, which had been closed down for a street party that came alive with the roar of bikes arriving. Riders quickly parked up and headed straight for the nearest bars for a drink while members of the public drooled over the bikes.
For the afternoon, Hood Street went back to the vintage 60’s era with dapper riders floating around, a harmonica player performing, a shoe shiner tending to loafers and special guest, Sam Dowdall, also known as the Barter Barber, on site making sure everyone received a fresh fade.
Dowdall isn’t your ordinary barber. He travels the country in a van, or sometimes on his motorcycle, bartering haircuts for necessities he needs such as fuel or food. The purpose of it, though, is to start a conversation about mens’ mental health and to support those battling.
He has depression himself and in just three years he lost four of his best mates to suicide, incidents that made him frustrated at the inaction towards mens’ mental health. This is why he became the Barter Barber and this is why he rolls with the DGR.
“The DGR is an event where we can support our guys and start a conversation around mental health that they may not have had before,” said Dowdall.
One of New Zealand’s most successful motorcycle racers, Hugh Anderson, was also in the mix and has been since the start of the Hamilton DGR in 2016.
Perched on his bike at the halfway point of the ride, the 83-year-old talked about how he is a four-time Grand Prix motorcycle road race champion and a 19-time New Zealand national champion; he went on to joke about how he doesn’t like to be told anymore where he is ranked.
To most people here at the DGR, this is all they will know about Anderson, but in reality there is a darker side behind all his victories.
He always wondered why his drive to succeed and work was much stronger than all his mates around him until he found out he had been living for many years with a manic bipolar and depression disorder.
“These other guys around me were so lazy and I was going to work as hard as anybody else to achieve what I needed to and so I did.”
“Virtually I was out of control but I didn’t know I was bipolar, I just thought I was normal,” he said.
In his younger days, he was a little boy on an Ohinewai farm who had a burning passion to race motorcycles since riding his mothers when he was nine. The same energy followed him into his peak racing days and drove him to work days and days without any sleep or food.
“Child hood dreams are terribly strong and with me being bipolar, which I didn’t know, and when you’re stimulated you don’t need to eat, you don’t need to sleep,” said Anderson.
He’s not entirely sure when the depression came on and said that his mental health was rather private still. He did suggest it could have something to do with winning races that a lot of other competitors and even some of his mates died in.
While other riders at the DGR started to gather around him, he talked about how in just one practice race, 10 people crashed which sent seven people to hospital. One of them died. In an actual race, he says he lost two of his friends.
Many years later , the answer to managing his mental illness and advice for others is to have a project to direct the energy into.
Anderson did this by restoring his half acre garden and setting up the New Zealand Classic Motorcycle Racing Register. He also has another project that is strictly under wraps at the moment.
“So long as it’s a project that excites you and gets you out of bed,” he said. “I would love to be successful in normal life, do the 8-5 and be a normal person, but that would probably bore me to tears, because I thrive on stimulation.”
Just like Dowdall does, Anderson rolls in the DGR to support people battling through darks holes just like he is.
HUGH ANDERSON: THE CHAMPION
My need to achieve is much stronger because of the bipolar problem. Back then it was a matter of I couldn’t stop until I achieved what I wanted and I cant even remember what that was now.
SAM DOWELL: THE BARTER BARBER
I started the mission because I had enough of inaction. I lost a few friends to suicide and after experiencing the rigmarole of trying to get help for someone I vowed to try and make a change at a community level.
RENEE MCKEANY: THE NURSE WHO HAS SEEN IT ALL
Me and my husband are both nurses and we know that men in particular don’t tend to look after their health so well, wether it’s their mental health or getting checked for prostate cancer or cardiovascular disease.
KC CROW: WHO RIDES ALOT
For me its freedom and helps with escaping life in general.
BRIAN BARRETT: THE FUNDRAISING EXTRODINAIRE
I don’t really know exactly what drives me to be so involved, I guess I just really see the importance of raising awareness for mens' health.
