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| Tell me - just how does he re-assume the vertical? |
I’ve always been fascinated by motorbike racing. But only recently have I asked myself am I morally entitled to this fascination? Should I, in fact, ‘fess up?
The first races, in the early fifties, were shocking in
retrospect. Racers roared down narrow lanes in a private park; I watched from
the lane side separated only by a single rope strung between short posts. No
protection whatsoever, only a warning I shouldn’t get too close.
Bikes got faster. On the Isle of Man, a 30-plus-mile circuit
follows conventional rural and suburban roads, defined by stone walls and house
corners. Eventually someone went round at an average 100 mph. The present record
is 135 mph. That’s average speed; to
achieve this, bikes travel at close to 200 mph in some parts. On two wheels!
Meanwhile better tyre technology means racers may lean over
even further to get through corners faster. In present international MotoGP
races, the angle between bike and road is less than 45 degrees. Now the racer’s
elbow scrapes the ground.
Cameras are so small a bike racer may carry several; not
just to record the rapidly changing view ahead but showing his foot changing
gear, and his right hand applying the brake. To the YouTube viewer the sensation
is thrilling.
Thrilling because of the danger. Deaths during practice and
races in the IoM are shocking. Riders wear one-piece leather suits and
expensive helmets. Offering only marginal protection when hitting a drystone
wall at 120 mph.
At other circuits large run-off areas make racing safer.
Rider deaths are down but I can remember the bad old days and the IoM races still happen. After all, bike racing is only bloody entertainment.
Racers do what they wish; my thrills are vicarious. Am I justified? Probably not. Should I stop watching? Hmmm.
My son W spent his working life as a motor bike racing mechanic for one of the top teams. Although W's team were not directly involved at IOM he had many trips there being on familiar terms with many of the top riders, team personnel, and sponsors, but he stopped going because the attrition rate amongst people he knew and others became too much.
ReplyDeleteI have similar feelings about professional boxing.
Sir Hugh: Does W even watch bike racing on telly, as I do? Boxing's different; it's only one stage down from attempting to kill the other competitor. From the crowd's reaction, it seems that's what they'd like to see. The immorality is self-evident.
ReplyDeleteAge 84 and a lifelong motorcyclist, actual motorcycle racing (and cars for that matter) has never really interested me. I prefer watching trials riders and stuff like the ISDT.
ReplyDeleteDeaths on the IOM course have been dreadful, but, in spite of the tremendous speeds they now accomplish, the survival rate from "offs" (as opposed to head ons) is now much improved by the scientific body armour and the helicopter ambulance which can get a crashed rider to hospital very quickly, within the "Golden Hour". Current surgery can also mend a broken body well.
As you say, all riders know the risks and must accept them to do it and seem to shrug off injuries sustained. Barry Sheene, I believe, broke every bone in his body over a racing career. He retired to Australia where the warmth (heat) was kind to his arthritic body. Ironically he died in bed there after a long illness with cancer. (he smoked incessantly)
I wonder if a sudden death whilst doing something you enjoy is better than his actual end?
Nothing to do with your subject but I have today sold my last motorcycle (no. 59) on Ebay. But still manage a powered two wheeler in the form of a "twist and go" scooter (but with larger, motorcycle type wheels.)
Avus: After a year or two as a tea-boy at the newspaper company’s head office in Bradford I was moved to the outlying town of Bingley where I kicked off my apprenticeship as a journalist, mainly writing for a weekly newspaper, Keighley News. Weeklies involve much routine, typically visiting contacts at remote villages like Eldwick and Harden. Also, speaking to men of the cloth from all denominations. Putting in the miles.
ReplyDeleteFather Michael O’Sullivan was a stereotypical Catholic priest, not surprisingly born in Ireland. His chubby face broke into a reminiscent smile. “So ye’ve bought yeself a new bike (A Tandon if you’re interested and have a long memory). That’s foine, yis foine. When I was younger I had a bike. Niver had a cold through all the winters. One thing, though. Ye’ve got to expect to fall off twice every three years. Yis, once every one-and-a-half years.”
I should add, parenthetically, Father O’Sullivan constantly greeted me with his intention to find me a wife, “a foine Catholic girl”. In those days – the fifties, now almost as distant as the Middle Ages – I was so desperate for female acquaintance I’d have welcomed his offering – Catholic or, failing that, a Wesleyan Reform girl from any old lay preacher.
But, do you know, Father O’Sullivan was right – not about foine Catholic girls but about the frequency of falling off motorbikes. Regularly and sometimes spectacularly. It seemed like fate – Oh,oh, here we go again! - which is no doubt the way present-day MotoGP racers think. Hence my sympathy with those who fall off bikes and thus the above post. The bikes themselves are much less important.
One doesn't hear much about Tandons, which were the only motorcycles to be built in Wales. They did not last long and are only remembered by the cognoscenti (or the very old).
ReplyDeleteAvus: One of several - opportunist - makes fashioned round the ubiquitous Villiers engine (Francis Barnett, James, Sun and - for all I know - Moon). Its only mildly distinguishing feature was leading link forks. I bought it new and was horribly disappointed to find it offered no more power than the BSA Bantam I'd just discarded. This, the dealer said, was due "to a rough bearing".
DeleteBut, look, I try to write something different about bikes (ie, the frequency of falling off) and you ignore it. Ownership of bikes is a limited subject and possibly a matter of hope over expectation, putting them to use has far more potential.