Text and Photos : Inigo Abril
This Event organized by Irreducible Bikers of the Gironde (France) has become a European Reference for Biker Culture, with thousands of participants who come Faithfully Annually to enjoy their Magic Potion.
Asterix is a French comic character known throughout the world, whose adventures have gone beyond paper and have been taken to film. Their adventures on paper began with a text that said “a village populated by Irreducible Gauls still and as always resists the invader”, just as this event still maintains and as always its essence of enjoying the Biker Culture for three days. In a world where technology and so-called progress devours us every day, these Irreducible Girondins maintain the values of the time in which Outcasts MC Gironde was formed back in 1989. Throughout 28 editions of the Show Bike Aquitaine there has been a enormous evolution, knowing how to use technological advances for the benefit of the event in the right measure. The new participants who join each year are pleasantly surprised to meet Bikers Old School, who only need a tarp tied to their Shovelhead and nailed to the ground to sleep next to their motorcycle, what is strictly necessary after the long nights of concerts and partying until dawn. The adventures of Asterix have been translated into 107 languages, crossing the borders of France for many years, as in the case of the Show Bike Aquitaine, which in this edition was attended by Bikers from all over France who served as perfect hosts for those who arrived. from places as far away as Scandinavia or the U.S.A. The new weather prediction technologies, like an oracle, warned the previous weeks of storms during the event and this served as an excuse for some, but for the organization it was only a reason to redouble the preparations and more preventive measures were added to the usual tents in case of rain, even installing huge “Track Way” plates fixed to the ground at the entrances. The birds of bad omens that focused on these adverse weather predictions were scared away by the publications of Bikers from all over Europe about their group routes to the event, with more than 11 hours of continuous travel or several days with stops, so that other Bikers could join these groups, motivating the organization in its hard work. On Friday, the weather allowed the concerts to take place under clouds but without precipitation. However, starting at four in the morning, an impressive storm warned with its thunders that this would not be an edition under the sun of the French California as is usually the case. At dawn the roar of the engines indicated that thousands of Bikers continued to arrive, those who came for the first time arrived with excitement in their eyes to see how throughout hundreds of kilometers around the event all types of establishments proudly display their flags of “Support Show Bike Aquitaine” welcoming them. The regulars missed the sun, but enjoyed the numerous activities in the huge Official Enclosure such as the Wall of Death, Stunt or Freestyle under a sky covered by clouds. Some rain was foreseeable, but in no way could anyone foresee that around 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, while thousands of Bikers were walking through the streets of the venue's stands, it would start to rain non-stop like no one remembers for about four hours. Logically, whoever could took shelter from a rain of this magnitude, which temporarily flooded some areas of Vendays-Montalivet. Being on the edge of the ocean, its 13 kilometers of beach occasionally receives rains, but of little magnitude at this time of year. Those who were surprised by the great storm causing some setbacks on their motorcycles were even more surprised that the local bikers offered them warm or dry clothing and that even in some restaurants on the main street they were told not to park and to enter directly with their motorcycles. to shelter from the rain. These attitudes are what show that the Show Bike Aquitaine is not just an event but a large international family. Around 8:00 p.m. the rain finally stopped, giving way to a very unusual silence at the Aquitaine Bike Show since the roar of the engines is always incessant, but as if the Bikers of this edition had taken Asterix's Magic Potion thousands of Bikers roared their engines in the direction of the venue as if it were a parade, causing tears of emotion to well up in the eyes of some of the Bikers who remained covered in the tents of the venue throughout the storm, without certainty of what would happen that night and upon hearing the first roars of engines together with the sound of the bagpipes of the Scottish Bikers arrived from the Highlands, the excitement gave way to an epic night. The previous hard work of the Organization kept them safe during the storm and to the surprise of some with little faith after a storm of this magnitude, all the scheduled events were maintained. Not a single concert was cancelled, but even the Stunt and Freestyle specialists dried the exhibition floor for their nightly shows, as if it had never rained. The flood did not prevent the party from happening until dawn and the Impressive Fireworks were shot from behind the stage. The temperature rose as usual with the Sexy Shows and on Sunday the dawn once again surprised the Irreducible Bikers, this time very pleasantly when they saw a completely clear sky, to enjoy the parade under the sun, riding for kilometers along the roads parallel to the beaches feeling the sea breeze and collapsing the main street of the beach reserved for the Bikers during the event. The forecasts of the organization and the radiant sun on Sunday made it doubtful that the deluge on Saturday afternoon had occurred just a few hours before, becoming one more anecdote to accumulate, in the collection of indelible memories of the Show Bike Aquitaine. Asterix and his magic potion are fiction but the Organization and its Army of more than 300 Volunteers manage to turn the Show Bike Aquitaine into a European Reference for Biker Culture every year with their Magic Potion.
