Ben Poole especially loved riding his Harley when he had the road to himself.

It was early in the morning three days after Christmas when he lost control on Interstate 664 in Hampton.

Exactly what happened on the quiet highway will probably remain a mystery.

“It was just a slight distraction going down a dry road. He wasn’t speeding,” said Kenneth Poole Sr., his father. “He rode in the left-hand lane and he got onto the shoulder where the rough stuff is and lost control.”

On Tuesday, Kenneth Poole recalled the accident that claimed his son’s life standing beside his wife, Stephanie, and daughter-in-law, Angie Reichard, outside Suffolk’s Tidewater Motorcycles, where a group called Hampton Roads Biker Events held a “Biker Down Rally.”

Organizer Chris “Chaplain Barefoot” Moore, founder and president of HRBE and patched with Bikers for Christ, said the friendly, social gathering during what is Motorcycle Awareness Month sought to draw attention to the “absurd” numbers of area bikers needlessly dying doing what they love.

“Today, we are rallying together to bring awareness to all the dangers we encounter every day riding,” he said.

The past couple of months in Hampton Roads have seen upward of a dozen bikers join the ranks of the fallen, according to Moore. “It’s ridiculous, and we are upset about it,” he said.

Moore’s main advice to motorists: Always look twice when checking for traffic, because motorcycles can easily be missed.

“Every time I ride, if I ride the whole day, I have one close call,” Moore said, adding he’s been knocked off his bike and injured three times during 15 years of riding, once breaking a leg.

“We want motorists to watch out for us but also motorcyclists to watch out for other motorcyclists,” said John Bilotta Jr., region director with the National Coalition of Motorcyclists.

“It’s not just a one-way street — we expect to do our part.”

While Kenneth Poole doesn’t ride himself, “all three of my sons do or did,” he said.

Ben Poole was Virginia chapter president of the 4 Star Hooligans, one of about 15 different patches at Tuesday’s rally. His father said club members visited him daily during the two weeks he was in the hospital.

“They changed my attitude about bike clubs,” Kenneth Poole said. “I found out it can be a very tight-knit family.”

Another parent of a fallen biker, Cami Bumgart, had a similar story of support from the biker community after her son, Alex Camarillo, 34, was killed in a “freak accident” in Virginia Beach in October.

“I had people give me envelopes — all the different clubs,” Bumgart said. “We had a big turnout at the funeral.”

Her son’s “brothers” still call to check on her, she said, adding that when Moore asked her to attend the rally, she closed her business for the day so she could make it.

Suffolk seemed a long way from Waco, Texas, where nine bikers died Sunday when rivals met inside a restaurant clubs had gathered at to discuss common causes.

“This stuff going on in the news in Waco — that doesn’t go on around here,” Moore said.

Held as part of Tidewater Motorcycles’ Tuesday Chili Dog Social, where bikers gather regularly next to Route 10 during the warmer months to support a variety of causes, the rally also raised money for the Biker Down Relief Fund, assisting victims and families after motorcycle accidents.

The bikers prayed and observed a moment of silent reflection — but they also revved their engines in unison to honor the fallen.

Ben Poole, a welder who mentored a FIRST Robotics team and who served on the board of the Virginia Peninsula Sportsmen’s Association, died in the hospital on Jan. 11, a day after he turned 29.

“They were there every day at the hospital,” Kenneth Poole said of his son’s biker brothers, and the family now wants to do all it can to raise awareness about motorcycle safety.

Ben Poole’s minimalist helmet wasn’t Department of Transportation-approved. Angie Reichard said her brother-in-law’s head injuries were so traumatic no one expected him to live.

“A doctor said if he had just had a good, DOT-approved helmet, we would be looking at a totally different story,” Kenneth Poole said.

“Ben was my shadow. He meant a whole lot to all of us.”