Built-27-issue-sampler

wheels and waves Ø biarritz
“EL rollo was the
main event for us.
the day we were
waiting for”
another wave
Dropping the flag on
another round of Wheels
and Waves flat track
music on and cruise control it was a
pleasure getting caught in the rain.
I was sharing accommodation with the
folks behind the Dirt Track Riders
Association, as well as Indian
Motorcycles guest flat track rider Rob
Bush from California. Next door to us
was the Tokelove family; with Daughter
Leah over to race her new FTR1200 at
El Rollo. Needless to say, our trip had a
heavy focus on the flat track side of
things. El Rollo was the day we were
waiting for – although Anthony Brown
and Leah did enter the Swank Rally on
Anthony’s dad's BSA outfit, to great
applause from the crowd.
El Rollo was, for us, the main event.
Set within a beautiful valley with lush
green rolling hills ascending in the
distance, the short oval track sat under
the shadows of the imposing cast
concrete stands at the Hippodrome. The
pop-up pits and track sat in the baking
sun of the horse track in-field. The roar
of hooligan bikes, the rattle of vintage
two-strokes and everything in between
dominated the otherwise peaceful
landscape. The field of riders was huge
and varied; I spotted a ’45 Harley and a
2019 CRF450. There were some
beautifully put-together framers and
some intriguing ideas of what a flat track
bike is. One of the things that draws me
to this racing is the ingenuity on show in
the pits. There are all sorts of engines in
all sorts of frames; once the hassle of
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