No matter what kinds of riding we do, most of us ride motorcycles because we love it. They’ve changed our lives in significant ways. What if you could help make someone’s life better with a motorcycle? In fact, what if you could take it a step further, and help make the world better with a motorcycle? A tall order to be sure, but that’s what the Rally for Rangers organization has been working toward for the past few years. 

It all started when a former U.S. National Park Ranger was volunteering in 2013 with the Mongol Ecology Center in Mongolia. While he was there, Robert “Mac” McIntosh realized how few resources the park rangers at Lake Hovsgol National Park had to combat poachers, illegal miners, and other very human threats to the country’s rich wildlife and unspoiled wilderness areas. Rangers, who are already spread thin and required to cover huge areas of ground, must either do so on foot, on horseback—or, if they’re lucky, on old, unreliable motorcycles that break down all the time. 

McIntosh co-founded the Rally For Rangers Foundation shortly afterward. Part of the cost of participation is the purchase of a new bike. In this film, and for both 2020 expeditions, the bikes in use are Yamaha AG200s, which are plenty sturdy and suitable for the tough terrain they’ll face. 

If you participate, you’ll ride that AG200 across the wilderness, and have one of the most unique adventures of your life. At the end, you’ll give that nearly-new bike to a park ranger who can use it to better protect their local wild areas. It’s good for rangers, good for local communities, good for humanity, good for the environment—and it all starts with a motorcycle. 

The Foundation has been riding to donate bikes to park rangers around the globe since 2014. Two runs are scheduled for 2020, with the Mongolia rally taking place from September 11 through 23, 2020, and the Bhutan rally taking place from October 28 through November 9, 2020. These are pretty amazing adventures, but for any number of reasons, they might not be for everyone.

If you love this idea and want to help in a different way, Rally For Rangers is currently funding a documentary via Kickstarter about the work the Foundation is doing. Currently, it’s met just over 50 percent of its $25,000 goal, and the deadline is March 22, 2020. This documentary will not only be an amazing project to see once it’s completed, but it will also get the word out about what Rally For Rangers is doing. Hopefully, it can help keep the organization growing and bringing bikes to park rangers all over the world for years to come. 

Sources: Adventure Motorcycle, Rally For Rangers, YouTube

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