Biking Heroes: Eddie Kidd

With him currently doing his own London Marathon in aid of a children's cancer charity, it seems you can't go very far without tripping over stories about Eddie Kidd lately. But it wasn't always like that - for the last 15 years or so he has been largely hidden from public view. A footnote in history as someone who might have been famous once. However, those of us of a certain age know better - for Eddie Kidd was, and remains, the real deal.

Motorcycle racing and stunt riding exploded in popularity during the 1970s. The dominant personalities of the era were Barry Sheene, Kenny Roberts and a certain brash American named Evel Knieval. Addicted to glare of publicity and the glamour and glitz of a superstar lifestyle, in his career heyday Knievel's motorcycle jumps were televised across America. He was making big money and had a huge film and merchandising operation behind him. I still recall, as a 10-year old boy, queuing outside the ABC in Wimbledon to see Evel Knieval the movie - I also had the toy stunt figure and bike. Such simple pleasures in those days....

But then, along came Eddie Kidd. Brave, fit, good looking, he had all the chat and was more at home in jeans and a leather jacket than stars and stripes-studded cape and boots - so in lots of ways, Eddie was the complete antithesis to Knieval. A very British hero. He was also one of those very rare people who, while being adored by legions of female admirers, was equally popular amongst blokes - and he appealed to all age-groups. He was a huge hero of mine. 

Eddie made over 10,000 jumps between his debut in 1974 as a fourteen year old and that fateful day in 1996. In doing so he surpassed Knieval and set numerous jumping records. Then it all came to a crashing end. He suffered serious head and pelvic injuries in a crash at the Bulldog Bash at Long Marston Airfield, when a landing went wrong. In comparison to many of his previous jumps, this stunt was relatively minor - a jump of fifty feet or so across a drag strip. Though he landed the bike upright and on two wheels, Eddie was knocked unconscious and was unable to prevent the bike from continuing up and over a thirty foot drop beyond the end of the run off area. He was in a coma for six weeks afterwards - his career over.

Much of the time since has been spent dealing with his disabilities, which are significant. Without the support of anything like the Knieval Corporation, when he crashed Eddie, somewhat unbelievably, was uninsured and all the money he had made during his career has since gone on medical bills and adaptations. He now lives in Sussex, dependent on state benefits. 

But does he let all this misfortune get him down? Not a bit. With the aid of an adapted walking frame, he has re-emerged into public view with his heroic marathon round London's streets and so far has raised nearly £53,000 for his chosen charity. Eddie is currently at the 20-mile mark and is due to finish at Buckingham Palace on Monday 6 June. He describes it as his greatest stunt yet.

I hope he gets a huge crowd when he finally walks across the finishing line.

Mrs CC and I were lucky enough to get to meet Eddie and his lovely wife Sami at the recent I, Superbiker premiere in Leicester Square. He's a terrific bloke and judging by the way he played around with the missus, still has that little glint in his eye! In a world that worships minor celebrity, X-Factor wannabees and the bloated millionaires that pass as Premiership footballers, Eddie Kidd stands tall as a REAL hero. All power to him.

Eddie's fundraising page is here

Nonsense in Normandy

In 1066, the Normans invaded and changed the course of English history. By that one event, the English language, culture and way of life were utterly transformed and, whether we like it or not, from that day forward our country was forever linked with continental Europe. But times change - these days the invading hoardes are English, with France being the second most popular tourist destination for us Brits. And here's an interesting little snippet for you: in 2008, France was the most visited country in the entire world. Magnifique!

And so it was that four intrepid bikers set forth for a weekend riding the roads of Normandy. Easily accessible by ferry via Dieppe (and also Caen and Cherbourg), Normandy (in my view) boasts some of the best roads in Northern Europe. It's also very picturesque, has lots of quaint villages and towns, the food and wine is excellent and, perhaps most importantly for a biking trip, there is very little traffic. Is it any wonder that so many Brits visit and settle there? Personally, I love the place and it's in my top three places to settle when we eventually set free from this overcrowded island of ours.

France is roughly five times the size of the UK so there will always be some necessity to use the motorways but my rule of thumb for biking in France is to plan routes based around the local "D" roads. And rather than stay in impersonal hotels, we booked a couple of nights at a biker-friendly B&B in the mid-Normandy countryside ("La Motte" at Viray - run by the excellent Bill & Carol Smith) so we were well placed for all that Normandy has to offer. Staying there was also interesting for me given my ambition to own and run a biker-friendly guest house in either France or Spain in the future - more of which in a future piece....

This was just a quick jaunt over the Channel and we only had one full day either side of the toing and froing to Dieppe for the ferry. Nevertheless, we had a great route planned for the Saturday, taking us down to the south of Brittany at Saint-Nazaire. Unfortunately, on the ride down to Viray, one of our number (Hutch) picked up a puncture just to the east of Caen. This was still some 90-odd miles short of our destination and, being 7.30pm on a Friday evening, there was no way of getting it repaired until the morning. So the stricken bike was left where it was and Brittany was out of the window. The best laid plans and all that....but at least it gives us an excuse to go back.
 
This is where the more personal touch of private B&Bs and guest houses offers an advantage over hotels. Being a former bike mechanic as well as a keen biker himself, Bill (the B&B owner) is pretty handy with the spanners and, above and beyond the call of duty, even put himself out to run Hutch back up to Caen in the car (with the rest of us following on the bikes) in order to get the wheel sorted. By 1pm we were back on the road. A hastily revised route saw us take in Flers, Cagny, Aunay sur Obon, Granville, Avranches, then round to view Mont St. Michel and finishing with a dinner stop at St. Hilaire du Harcourt (and the biggest bowl of chips - sorry, frites - I've ever been served!). A twisty route was then plotted for the ride back to Dieppe on the Sunday - though this was delayed a little by Hutch's bike developing a battery charging problem. Bloody KTMs.....just take a match to it Hutch!   

Among the highlights of a brilliant weekend's riding were the magnificent Pont de Normandie which spans the Seine estuary at Honfleur and a 100mph sweeping right-hander on the approach to Caen, which was billiard table smooth and had me "woop-wooping" inside the helmet! It just had to be attacked. That said, we were taking the majority of bends at 80-90mph, such is the quality of Normandy's roads. 

So, all in all - and despite the reliability problems from Hutch's bike - a very enjoyable trip in my favourite part of France. Some more photos of the weekend can be found on the Box Hill or Bust Facebook page.

And now we plan our next trip, for September or thereabouts, in either Northern Spain or the Loire region of France. Should be a cracker..... 

Whingeing Bikers

Overall I'd describe myself as a keen biker and generally I'm proud to be a part of the biking community. However, there are some occasions where I think biking representative groups do themselves (and us as a movement) no favours at all - which is probably why I don't belong to any. I'm going to have to be a bit careful with the wording of this piece because there are a lot of polarised opinions on this particular subject, which at the moment is particular to London and those that live and work here.

Westminster Council now runs a Motorcycle Parking Scheme which sees users of motorcycles, scooters and mopeds pay for the use of on-street solo motorcycle parking bays. The scheme, which became permanent in 2009, requires users to pay £1.00 a day to use parking bays across Westminster (with payment only possible via automated Pay-by-Phone systems). This has quickly been dubbed the "Bike Parking Tax" by those opposed to it and opposition to the plan has been fierce. Camden seems set to follow Westminster's lead.

A non-political group ‘No To the Bike Parking Tax’, along with the support of several organisations, action groups and thousands of motorcyclists, have held various organised protest rides, lobbied councillors and submitted formal objections as well as launching a full legal challenge to try to have the decision overturned before the scheme is copied by other councils across the UK. Throughout, Westminster has upheld its decision to introduce the scheme citing an increase in demand for motorcycle parking bays and the need to ‘balance the requirements of all road users and the finite amount of kerbside space.’

So why do I find myself on the opposite side of the biking representative groups' arguments? The argument goes that bikes alleviate congestion and are greener than cars, therefore their use should be encouraged rather than penalised by, for example, parking charges. That's fine, and it's true that the majority of car journeys are still single occupancy - hence, if these solo drivers switched to two wheels, congestion would fall and journey times drop dramatically. Plus, in terms of parking, you can fit around 3-5 bikes in the space allocated for one car.

Does all of this mean that parking for bikes should be free in what is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe? And do the green credentials really stack up? There is a lot of argumentation around this - one can find studies that set out to "prove" things either way. To me, "green" is just a label - most vehicles pollute, it's simply a question of degree. Bikes are fundamentally still about burning petrol and so are not "green" like walking, cycling or mass transit (buses, trains etc) - especially where standard exhausts are replaced with Cat-less aftermarket jobbies. So is it reasonable for bikers to seek to occupy the moral high ground in this way?

To be absolutely fair to the NTBPT group and others, they have achieved a parking fee reduction from the planned £1.50 a day, which is obviously welcome. However, my concerns are more about the tactics employed by these biking groups and their inability to see the wider picture. I work in Westminster so I've seen plenty of evidence of the form this opposition takes. On many occasions, I and thousands of others have been inconvenienced by the NTBPT group, who at various times have conducted go-slows and blockades through some of the main thoroughfares of Central London (Whitehall, Park Lane, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus etc). Indeed, the group's stated aim is to cause "massive disruption, chaos, congestion and misery in Westminster". Charming....

My view is that biking organisations should concentrate on fighting the battles they can win. They can't (and won't) win this one. As bikers in London, we generally get a pretty good deal. We get free use of most bus lanes, we are not subject to the Congestion Charge and while free parking in the future might come under threat, it is still only Westminster that has adopted the policy of charging. Overall, that's not bad. The risk is that continued opposition will wind Boris up even more and the end result could be the Congestion Charge being levied on bikes and scooters and the bus lane red route exemption removed. There is more to be lost here than can be won.

There is simply no logical reason to exempt motorcycles from parking charges. A better strategy, I suggest, would be to work with Westminster Council and Transport for London, build relationships and then lobby (positively) for more parking bays and better security at the bay locations - CCTV, ground anchors etc. If the NTBPT feel the need to campaign about something, that would be my starting point. Let's get something in return for the money we pay.

Sammy Miller's Museum

A couple of weeks ago, a small group of us went for a bit of a ride through Sussex and Hampshire. After pit-stops in Worthing and Southsea for a drink and some chips, we decided to head to Sammy Miller's Museum deep in the New Forest.

This is a place I've long wanted to visit but for one reason or another had never got around to. It's a museum which houses one of the finest collection of restored motorcycles in Europe - many of them extremely rare. Sammy Miller himself was a championship winning bike racer back in the day, winning numerous titles and competing regularly in the North West 200 and at the TTs in the Isle of Man. When he was finished with racing he decided to set up his own motorcycle parts business and he put a few of his old racing motorcycles in the corner - and this later became the museum that exists today.

Anyone interested in the origins of motorcycling and bike development through the years will find this place an absolute treasure trove. It is very much a step back in time and a reminder of a by-gone age and the museum also houses a good collection of biking memorabilia and artifacts. I'm not sure how many bikes are on display - probably 600 or so at a guess - but many are still capable of being run in classic bike events. Name any make of bike and there's probably a rare early example on display - BSA, Ariel, Sunbeam, Triumph, Velocette, Excelsior, Norton, Royal Enfield, Ducati, Laverda, Western Star, Indian....etc etc....

There were also plenty of pre-WWI bikes to marvel at - indeed, the oldest bike that I was able to find was a "Quadrant" which dated from 1898 and was little more than a small engine strapped onto a bicycle. The chain looked more like a necklace! Take a look....

Goodness only knows what the collection is worth or what it all costs to insure but for me, this is an important part of motorcycling's heritage. British companies were some of the earliest pioneers in motorcycling and this museum preserves the link with the past. At £6 entry, it's well worth a visit. 

Have a look at the photo album on the Box Hill or Bust Facebook page - you could even "like" or get involved, should you feel so disposed.... :-)

Box Hill or Bust on Facebook

That's how accidents happen!

It's been unseasonably warm and dry in Olde Londinium over April and May so far and riding to and from work has been quite a pleasurable experience lately (that's the kiss of death for the weather now....). Some of my spring/summer kit has even started to make an appearance - the balaclava has been placed in a drawer until winter, summer gloves and dark visor are in use, though I haven't quite got around to the mesh jacket as yet. But overall, it's been a very nice turn of meteorological events following a(nother) harsh winter and I intend enjoying it while it lasts.

However, we have also entered one of the most dangerous and precarious times of the year on England's roads. The spring and summer months will test road users to the absolute limit and bikers in particular will have to be increasingly vigilant in order to avoid the unintended consequences of the most treacherous and perilous of yearly occurrances on our nation's highways. I know what you're thinking: what could be the cause of this clear and present danger? What is it that could be so hazardous and injurious to the health and well-being of those of us on two wheels? And is there anything we can do to mitigate its effects?

Sadly, for those of us of a red-blooded disposition, I fear not. For the danger that I refer to is everywhere around us. There is no avoiding it. I talk of course about the attractive, well-endowed, lithe and (in nice weather) skimpily dressed young ladies that inhabit our cities, towns, villages and suburbs and who, unbeknown to them, encourage us to avert our eyes from the road and imagine journeys of an altogether different kind. We are weak!

Thankfully, the repulsive messes brought to us by the likes of the Jeremy Kyle show are not representative of all women in this country and in London, we are particularly well served for such delights - in particular at rush hour when all the young professionals are travelling to work/the gym/coffee bars etc. Then, later on, the "ladies wot lunch" are out and about.  

And let me tell you, none of us is immune. Just the other day in fact I was following three of our boys in blue on police bikes up through Clapham. Realising that my exhaust was, shall we say, of questionable legality and that my number plate may, strictly speaking have been slightly smaller than the law permits I was content to keep a low profile and stay behind them. Then suddenly, into our view came this utterly gorgeous young woman, just walking down the street minding her own business but crucially, boasting all of the aforementioned attributes - long brunette hair, short skirt, nicely shaped legs, immaculate in every way. The inevitable happened.

Police bike number one went into the back of the bus in front - his mate on bike number two ploughed into the back of the first bike. Both went over. The third took avoiding action, as did I. Fortunately, neither rider was hurt and because they were on some huge, indistinguishable BMW-manufactured old crate (looking like the two-wheeled equivalent of a Panzer tank), very little damage was done to the bikes. Red faces and hurt pride were more the order of the day for our brave law enforcers. Now, you might think of these as the inane witterings of a sad old man and maybe you are right(!), but it just goes to show what a moment's distraction can do - and like I say, even the best riders (and the police are the best) are not immune.

In a week or so, a small group of us have a biking weekend in Normandy and Brittany arranged for a bit of Frenchy action. If the weather is nice then we will have the twin hazards of riding on the other side of the road and trying to concentrate amidst the various distractions of the frolicsome, frisky and fantastique young "Filles Francaise". Let's hope they are up to the standards of their London-based counterparts, that we don't attract the attention of the local Gendarmes by keeping eyes front and centre and that we are at some point able to spread a bit of the old Cock-er-nay entente cordiale. Some hope....


As a great man once said: "Mange tout Rodders, mange tout...."

“So you ride a motorbike then?”

I've had countless conversations over the years that have started in this way. The question is often followed by “But aren’t motorbikes dangerous?” - at which point I often feel like head-butting the nearest wall. Do you ever get the feeling that non-bikers simply don't "get" us?

Most of the time these are the lazy questions you get in chit-chat at parties or other social situations. My response is mixed. Usually, I’ll try to gauge their level of interest, consider my mood, and then determine whether I want to have the conversation at all. Very often I'll bat a few easy answers back on the assumption that they're really not that interested - though sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised that the conversation is taken further and there is genuine interest aside from branding us a menace or some kind of social outcast incapable of uttering anything other than "Uggg". I'm exaggerating of course but it seems to me that a real difficulty does exist here - it’s really not easy to describe to non-riders why us bikers do what we do.

So why do we do it? I could come out with all the usual cliches about the sense of freedom, the closeness to nature, exposure to the elements - the sense of being IN the world, rather than just passing through it inside a metal cage. And you know what, it's all true. I was able to buy and ride a bike much sooner than I could have ever afforded a car but that doesn't detract from the fact that I ride primarily for the sheer enjoyment of it - always have done and always will. Very few will understand the therapeutic benefit of just heading off into the distance with nowhere to be other than the right here, right now.

Naturally, I accept that it comes with its downsides - I could be killed tomorrow by a school run mum in a people carrier who is yelling at her kids, talking on the phone, applying make-up, while trying not to spill her coffee. But that's part of the deal - and, if I'm honest, part of the attraction. Bikers who have been riding for years inherently know they had better be more aware of what’s going on around them than anyone else they are sharing the road with. It's part of the challenge.

People who point to the danger of motorbikes know nothing about them or the attraction of riding. Why does an F1 driver or aerial stunt pilot do what he does? Because he loves it. He doesn’t need some risk-averse snail telling him it’s dangerous, he already knows that. The good news is that the risk element will very likely keep the ranks of bikers at reasonable levels.

My favourite riding season is late-autumn, when you start to see less bikes around. You get the sense that when you give a nod or wave to someone riding in the off-season, that they’ve been riding a while, and this isn’t just a weekend hobby for them. So, although I welcome with open arms anyone who wishes to join the biking clan, I’m not one to actively encourage anyone to do so. People need to find their own way and their own motivation.

The truth is, motorbikes are not for everyone. And I like it that way.