The 2nd Urban Bikefest took place outside Millwall football ground in deepest Deptford, South London. Organised by DJ Supreme, the event was linked to his bike shop, Supreme Riders, which is in the compound that was used as the venue for the event proper. To get there, you first had to brave the most chaotic stunt show I have ever seen. The road outside had been shut with the permission of both Lewisham and Southwark Borough Councils, and a Police Chief Inspector had been invited along, although there were no boys in blue in sight.

"The Supreme Riders" are an organised crew of young black guys who perform all the standard stunts with varying degrees of proficiency. Once they had finished, the stunt event seemed to degenerate into a free for all, with people doing high speed rolling burnouts, stoppies, wheelies and doughnuts in opposite directions and with no apparent organisation at all. With nothing but the kerb separating a huge crowd from the bikes, my heart was in my mouth as I looked on, especially as people tended to fall off with alarming frequency. Supreme is on a learning curve; a safety fence would be my recommendation for next year, although the large majority of young spectators clearly loved the reckless abandon of it all. It must also be said that t here were a few seriously impressive riders on display, a young guy on a R1 did a jump from standard wheelie to sitting on the bars wheelie that defied belief. He then fell off when doing a burn out next to a BMW, thankfully just stopping it from scratching the paintwork, and narrowly avoiding an ugly set to with the owner.

The event proper (which the organiser Supreme told me cost a fiver to get in, but wasn't sure !) featured a mixture of pounding music from DJs (DJ Supreme modestly billing himself last), comedy acts, live PA s, a caribbean barbeque and the charming girls from Miss Africa Caribbean Queen Culture Pageant, who were circulating with the goal of awarding someone from each sex with the prize of best looking biker. They were having some trouble finding anyone who came up to scratch when I was there, but matters may have improved, as the event officially went on until midnight, and it was only 6pm when I was following in their wake. Urbanbikefest was a great idea well executed, the atmosphere was lively and good natured, and it deserves to become a regular event in the Capital's biking calendar, although there is plenty of room for improvement before next year.



For more info check out

www.supremeriders.com

www.urbanbikefest.com

www.alphabikers.com


Pete Morrison

pix - Tony@ Black Ink Photographic