Madeira Drive was the petrolhead’s destination of choice this weekend, with not one, but two chances to floor the accelerator and increase your carbon footprint. Saturday’s event was the National Speed Trials, which might sound like a drugs-related court case, but is actually an annual contest organised by the Brighton & Hove Motor Club. Dating back to 1905 when Madeira Drive was coated for the first time with a newfangled invention called Tarmac, the event is reputed to be the oldest motoring competition in the country.
If you think the sight of hundreds of cars and motorbikes driving too fast along the seafront is just an everyday scene in Brighton, then it’s time to think again. From 10am until 6pm on Saturday, Madeira Drive was transformed into a straight piece of race track stretching a quarter of a mile from start to finish (with a further quarter of a mile to brake before you hit the marina), and numerous cars and motorcycles of all shapes and sizes took turns to blaze their way down the course in the fastest time possible.
I’ll admit I’m not the biggest car nut in the world. I drive a Skoda, so there’s not a lot to get excited about, and to me, the only reason for knowing how fast you can drive a quarter of a mile is if you live 400 yards from Asda and you need to get home for Hell's Kitchen. But even for someone like me, the sight of hundreds of supercharged cars and bikes zipping past at speeds in excess of 150mph was undeniably spectacular. You have to admire anyone who can get from the pier to Black Rock in less time than it takes to read this sentence.
If the Saturday speed freaks left you wanting more, however, you were in luck. Sunday morning at Madeira Drive saw the arrival of the Brighton Burn Up, a yearly drive down to the coast by bikers from the legendary Ace Café on the North Circular Road in London. As part of their yearly three-day reunion, motorbike enthusiasts from all over Europe and beyond meet at the café before embarking on a Ride With The Rockers down to Brighton. With numbers estimated at more than 40,000 it’s no wonder the North Circular’s always jammed.
This two-wheeled invasion results in one of the most startling sights you can ever witness on Brighton seafront without going near the naturist beach. Everywhere you look is a sea of motorbikes and their riders, stretching a mile along Madeira Drive, spilling out into Marine Parade and the Old Steine, and swamping the gardens around the Victoria Fountain. I haven’t seen so many men in leather since last month’s Pride.
I felt strangely at home amongst the Fatboys and Hogs (I can’t think why), and with live music on offer from The Jets and The Rhythm Aces, it was easy to get caught up in the atmosphere. Stalls offered everything from guided motorcycle tours of Arizona, to airbrush art for your petrol tank, and baby clothes featuring the slogan “My Dad’s a Biker”. I may not have been bitten by the biking bug quite enough to put down a deposit on a Harley, but by the end of the day I could definitely see the appeal. Or as one man’s t-shirt put it, “4 Wheels Good, 2 Wheels Better”.
