I rode to Red Marley this year with my old friends Andy and Karl. We also met up with Matt and his girlfriend Emma who had driven there.
Pitching a bike against the topography
The event pits pre 1970 classic dirt bikes against a monster hill in the wilds of Worcestershire. Always a popular event locally and this year (2011) the very reasonable £7 gate entry went at least in part to the Help for Heroes charity.
The bikes race in a variety of categories and engine sizes in groups of four. The fastest two making it through to the next round. Riders ageing from 16 to 75(!) take part. The roar of ‘Brit-bikes’ on open pipes and the crackling of Czech two-strokes feels the air. All this as the sweet smell of Castrol hangs in the air: Brilliant.
The official website can be found here…
https://www.redmarleyhillclimb.co.uk/
A few pics from another grand day out:
My Thundercat, Karl’s Fireblade and Andy’s Tiger. Sometimes I feel like I am typing in code!
The event is set in stunning Worcestershire and was blessed with bright sunshine this year
The bike park threw up some nice bikes too:
A proper off-road bike, before BMW spoilt everything with huge bikes saddled down with more kit than an average army
Rare Laverda twin, pretty bike…
Ice cool
Traditional trike shot
Andy has dreams about Monkey bikes…
Blimey! A GT750…how rare
A sublime way to get to physio…
Loving the wicker top box…more British than a huge royal wedding costing millions!
We also had a wonder around the trade stands and pits
Inventive use of an old beer barrel!
This electric off road bike was also on show and four of them attacked the hill with some gusto. However the run was performed in silence: This electric power is all very clever, but is dubious environmentally and lacks any kind of drama in competition
This Enfield Fury really caught my eye, but £6000 is proper money
But this what the day was about…
The mighty hill itself…
Waiting for their turn for a crack at the hill…
State of the art riding gear was not exactly the order of the day!
Out of the gate!
You have got to keep it wound on
Not everybody makes it!
Recovery can be tricky
We made it to the top on foot…that’s Andy and Karl up there
This the view from the top
The races came thick and fast all afternoon
We even managed to spot Matt in the throng
No day out is complete without a ‘light salad’!
Cracking day out!
Words and Pictures: Tony Donnelly