Bike Shed A LOAD OF FUN!
Imagine a weekend filled with booze, bikes and some of the most chilled out (and craziest) racing you’ve ever witnessed. Well, The Bike Shed made it happen, and we sent Carlos and Boothy along for the ride…
Idon’t know about you lot, but I love racing bikes, no matter what they are. I also enjoy the odd tipple every now and again, and festivals. There’s not many better ways to spend a weekend. So, when an invite came through for all of those beautiful things in one neat package, I absolutely jumped at the opportunity – and even dragged Boothy (and both of our better halves) down for the pleasure. Now, I know what you lot are thinking; isn’t The Bike Shed that swanky place in London that’s inhabited only by the retro-riding elitists of the world? Well, that’s what I thought as well, but as it goes about most things, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Honestly, get your ass down to The Bike Shed for a cuppa, or some grub and a beer, and you’ll fall in love with the chilled-out, bikerfriendly atmosphere.
And that zest was exactly what they wanted to capture at The Bike Shed Fest. Run as a one-day event last year, the festival was designed for budding racers who’d never had the chance to race, alongside riders who wanted to razz some crazy creations, and classes that seemed crazier than Britney Spears back in her day. It was only £95 to enter the racing and it was made for a laugh, with no seriousness, no warmers, no race licences, no scrutineering, and no race bikes.
See, it wasn’t just going to be any old weekend. Situated at Lydden Hill (a littler track that’s down Saaaarf), the ladies and gents behind The Bike Shed decided to put together something utterly bonkers, fun, and damn right incredible. Before we even start talking about the racing, they’d brought in a load of food and drink bits, deckchairs and entertainment, but for me, the real gem was going to be on track. Have you ever seen a bundle of Harleys, Indians and monstrous choppers scrape their way round a track in anger? Or a load of top-box clad commuters bustling it out? No? Well neither had I, till now...
with these types of things, I never really know what to expect. I mean, it wasn’t quite summer, it was the first two-day event of its kind from the folk at The Bike Shed, and I’d never even ridden at Lydden before. Hell, would anyone even turn up? It’s always a gamble with these things. Loaded up with all the left-overs from last month’s ‘Booze Cruise’, a Suzuki Katana and a blow-up mattress, luckily, the first taste of The Bike Shed Fest was remarkably positive. We arrived on the Friday evening and it was like a proper race event – there were a load of security so I knew my bike would be safe with proper tickets needed to even get in, a packed paddock, and best of all, not a drop of rain in sight. With a few vinos down the hatch and an inflated bed for the night, it was almost time to get it on.
Opening up the van doors for the morning, my eyes were blessed with sunshine, the smell of two-stroke, and a shed load (excuse the pun) of mad sights. There were factoryspec flat tracking Harleys sitting next to bikes that looked like they’d come direct from WW2, Indian cruisers and even an Africa Twin, all in one line – and that’s without even talking about the butchered R6s that were on show. In between the machines, was an array of people strolling around with big smiles, and to my surprise, there were many dogs roaming as well. The vibe of the event felt awesome, and I hadn’t even stuck my boxers on yet. Alas, I had to get my ass into gear as it was a race day after all, and we had to sign on before being briefed for the big day. I couldn’t believe how easy going things were. I literally had a bike ready to go with no warmers, wets or even tyre gauges in sight, and after a quick sign on with no race licence needed, we got our race numbers in bibs and a headlight sticker – which was pretty damn cool, if I do say so myself. There were a load of riders there that hadn’t even seen a race track, let alone a race day, and they were absolutely buzzing. It was great.
The relaxed vibe continued throughout the briefing, as they went over all of the regular info you’d expect,from formation, to flags, and just about everything in between. Lots of the other riders had entered into a few classes, but as I was only doing the Journo Cup, it was one simple qualifying, and one race. Nice.
Having only had a few miles under my belt on the Katana, and no experience around Lydden, I was feeling a little nervy lining up in the collecting area earlier before our first session. I mean, surrounded by all the other journos, failure wassn’t an option – and blagging rights were an absolute must. Mind you, with the cold temp and lack of ’warmers in mind, I went out steady – the first five minutes of the session were untimed so people wouldn’t go mental, and it was a right laugh. There were all sorts of machines going round in our class – from a Harris-framed full-on race-spec Royal Enfield, to a tractor from about 100 years ago.
It was surprisingly long as well. I reckon I got in a good 23 laps, and managed to finish up P2 on the grid. Booyaa. The times were tight, and even though he was on something that was less than ideal, I put it way ahead of Boothy. Oh yeah.
Being the first race of the day, it wasn’t even long before we were back out. All it took was a snazzy (but damn tasty) hipster coffee and some grub, before we were back on track. They lined us all up in the collecting area in our little grid slots, which was cool, before one warm-up lap, and a pleasant ol’ 12-lap race – a proper race start with lights and everything. I got an absolutely epic launch, but going into turn one I had to have a word with myself; this wasn’t serious, I was on a road bike, and the tyres were going to be pretty damn cold. With this in mind I took the first couple of laps easier than I probably should have, and after having a little battle with first place, he managed to edge away – and I managed to