Motorcycling for the refugee, a solidarity project led by Carlos Lameiro with the help of Francisco de la Cruz Cidrás. Supported by Machete Company, La Urbana Bike, 5special, Novalbos, and many others who, on an individual level, have supported the initiative by contributing their grain of sand. Here we leave you the first-person account of the Great Lameiro on how "Motorcycling for the refugee" came about and how it developed: At the end of March, on a random Sunday, I'm lying in bed, I turn on the TV, and there are those people who seem to live in another world, almost science fiction... The refugees. The images and the data I'm seeing are so brutal that it doesn't take long for me to get angry and perform an exercise in empathy. At this point, I'm totally poisoned and have the need to do something to help; normally I would have been outraged, turned off the TV, and moved on to something else the next day... But this time it wasn't like that. Okay, I was clear that I wanted to help, but if possible, I wanted to enjoy doing it, and if there is one place where I enjoy myself like a kid, it's sitting down, gripping handlebars, shifting gears up and down, winding through a river of asphalt... So, naming the project was not difficult at all. "Motorcycling for the refugee" – that's what I titled this project, and the objectives were clear: to help financially by raising funds for PROEM-AID (an NGO of firefighters who were carrying out thousands of rescues on the island of Lesbos in a completely altruistic manner) and to collaborate with my own hands wherever needed. Once I developed the idea on a simple digital presentation, I started showing it to my family and friends. I had no idea how they were going to react, if they were going to think it was as good an idea as I did, but to my surprise, they thought it was great and joined the project, giving me all their support, although my parents weren't thrilled about the fact that it was by motorcycle... Now we had all the tools, so my colleagues and I got to work. The months of April, May, and June were an absolute madness, between organizing concerts, the motorcycle rally, surf days, a popular race... The excitement for the project to succeed and to bring all the help possible left no room for fatigue. Little by little, the project kept getting bigger, while the funds raised also increased through the events and the sale of t-shirts and bracelets we designed for that purpose. With so much to organize, we left the trip planning for the end, and the truth is that I don't like planning at all; a general idea is enough. We prefer improvisation; this way, unforgettable experiences always happen. Until a few days before starting the trip, I didn't know which of my friends would accompany me on this adventure. Finally, only Don Francisco de la Cruz Cidrás, a friend from school and from the lifelong gang, was available. A tough guy, a 4x4; I was glad to know he would come with his indestructible Honda CB 250. We left home on July 20th headed for Asturias (Motorbeach); we were there for 3 days, during which we managed to raise a large amount of money through the sale of t-shirts. From Asturias, we headed to Salamanca, where our friend Jorge was waiting for us, the organizer of the event in that city, which consisted of a motorcycle route, concerts, and continuing with the fundraising. It was a success, great participation from people, and once again, a good amount of funds raised for the cause. The next day, and with our bodies quite tired from so much organization and going to sleep in the early hours of the morning, the 200 km that separated us from Madrid were not easy; besides, the hellish heat didn't help, but the enthusiasm and the desire to move forward always win. The Madrid event was the last one we had on the agenda, so we gave it our all, and it gave a very good result—music and motorcycles in a great atmosphere of supportive people. We did Madrid-Barcelona in two stages, spending the night halfway at Joan's, a biker we met in Asturias who wanted to help us and hosted us in his house in Calanda. A pleasure to meet him, very good people... Around five in the afternoon the next day, we arrived in Barcelona. We didn't spend much time in this beautiful city, but we enjoyed it by walking through the center. In Barna, we said goodbye to Spain, and 21 hours of ferry separated us from Italy; both Fran and I were excited to tour abroad with our motorcycles. The outbound trip went normally; we were headed straight to our destination, so we didn't stop too much to go sightseeing. We wanted to arrive and help; that was the main objective. On August 8th, we arrived at the Vasilika refugee camp near Thessaloniki in northern Greece. The first contact with the refugees was very shocking; it is not the same to hear and see it on TV as it is to arrive and see it in person. It is a refugee camp in an old abandoned factory where 1,200 people live together in tents in very harsh conditions. Near the refugee camp, a group of independent Catalan volunteers have created EKO Project 2; they have rented a plot of land where they have built a space for children to play, a school, a kitchen, a library, a space for women... In short, a place that helps them escape their reality and helps them keep hope. Fran and I spent two weeks collaborating on this project with construction tasks, playing, and entertaining the children. It has been a hard and rewarding experience in which we have met spectacular people, and it makes us very angry that such good, simple, and humble people are going through this... We will continue fighting for them in one way or another until this ends; they deserve something much better. At the end of the two weeks, we started the journey back home; we were very far away, but the desire to tell our friends and family what we had seen gave us the strength to return. We passed through some spectacular landscapes in both Greece and Italy; Fran was conquered more by Greece, I by Italy, but both of us would repeat both destinations without hesitation. Regarding the motorcycles, hats off: the BMW R45 from 5special held up with everything that was thrown at it, and the Honda CB was the same; people were amazed when we told them what our trip was. Six days after leaving the refugee camp, we were home with our own. It has been an experience that I will surely repeat.
