Denim, leather and a lot of shiny chrome will line the parking lot of the Loews Metroplex Theater on Trotters Way, Freehold Township, on the morning of Oct. 5 as motorcycle riders prepare for the ninth annual Western Monmouth Habitat for Humanity Ride for Affordable Housing.

The riders will be cruising the roads of Monmouth and Ocean counties with a special mission in mind — to raise funds that will be used to build a home for a disabled veteran.

"This year we are taking 100 percent of the profit from the event to build a Habitat house for a disabled veteran," said James Wishbow, who founded the ride nine years ago. "The event has been very successful all along and for the past two years our profit for the one-day event has been over $45,000. This means that if all goes well, we will come very close in one day to raising enough funds to pay for the building materials for the house."

Habitat for Humanity builds affordable housing for working families.

Wishbow said the idea for this year's mission grew out of a motorcycle ride that escorted a soldier who had been wounded in Iraq from Delaware to his home in New Jersey.

Bill Philcox and George Donker, both members of the Jersey Shore Harley Owners Group (HOG) and friends of Wishbow, participated in the ride from Delaware to New Jersey and were moved by the experience of meeting the young man who lost both his legs and four fingers on his left hand and had undergone 15 surgeries.

The riders were part of the Patriot Guard which was formed in 2005. This national motorcycle organization was created to attend funerals of fallen soldiers, to show respect to the soldier's family and to protect the family from interruptions or protesters at the funeral.

Wishbow said the Patriot Guard's mission has been expanded and now includes escorting injured soldiers who are returning home from the war. Wishbow was part of the Patriot Guard unit that escorted injured U.S. Army 1st Lt. Brian Brennan home from Newark Liberty International Airport to Howell on Sept. 19.

Anyone who is interested in the Habitat ride may check in and register between 9- 10:45 a.m. Oct. 5 at the Loews Metroplex Theaters, 101 Trotters Way, at the Freehold Raceway Mall, off Route 537. The 90- minute ride will start at 11 a.m. sharp. For more information, call Tom, 732-528-7590, or James, 609-259-6459. If the weather is inclement on Oct. 5 call or check the Web site at www.westmonhabitat.org.