Gangs by Tony Thompson

Author:Tony Thompson [Thompson, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: True Crime, Organized crime, General
ISBN: 9781848940543
Google: sUZdmDmu_78C
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2009-06-08T08:28:32.039000+00:00

It soon occurs to me that if I want to find out more about the dark side of the world of biking, I’m going to have to go to rallies, runs, biker pubs and do my best to blend in, something I won’t be able to manage in my fifteen-year-old Vauxhall Astra. I briefly toy with the idea of buying a helmet and a set of leathers but quickly come to the conclusion that I’m going to have to get myself a bike.

I spend four days on a Direct Access course in north London, which allows you to go from novice to Easy Rider in a matter of days. I spend the first day on a Honda CG125 before moving on to a 500cc Kawasaki ER-5, driving around for hours on end practising my turns, manoeuvres and road craft in readiness for my test. Almost as soon as I begin the training I’m hooked. The sense of freedom, the element of danger and the whole Steve McQueen thing are there right from the start. Even at such a rudimentary level the appeal of the biker lifestyle is clear.

The day of the test comes all too soon and, though convinced I had messed it up, I’m surprised to find the examiner passing me (my first words when he told me were ‘Good grief,’ and I only just managed to stop myself adding, ‘Are you mad? Have you lost your mind?’) But although I am now legally able to ride a bike of any size, I’m still a long way from becoming a Hells Angel.

Joining the gang is out of the question. Even the God’s Squad Motorcycle Club say that gaining membership to their organisation, which does nothing more sinister than extol the virtues of Christianity to bikers the length and breadth of the UK, takes on average around three years.

But there is no difficulty in obtaining a ticket to the Angels’ most celebrated annual event: the Bulldog Bash.

From its humble beginnings in the mid-1980s when a couple of thousand bikers gathered in a field to drink and show off their customised machines, the Bulldog Bash has grown into Europe’s premier biking event, attracting around forty thousand bikers from all over the world for a non-stop, four-day party. It all takes place at the Shakespeare County Raceway, one of Britain’s premier drag-racing tracks, just south of Stratford-upon-Avon. Inside the grounds there is a massive beer tent, open twenty-four hours a day, of course, hundreds of food stalls, a shopping village, bungee-jumping, mini-motorbike tracks and tattoo parlours.

For those who find the heat too much one way to cool down is to submit to the topless bike wash where four young women, cropped T-shirts pushed up over their breasts, use sponges, buckets of soapy water and their bodies to put a smile on the face of the lads who have paid five pounds for five minutes of mammary delight.

In the evening there is a giant musical stage with top rock and heavy-metal bands – the Fun Lovin’ Criminals were the headline act – as well as an all-night trance and dance tent.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.