Bike cavalcade

At the very beginning of the 1990s, a group of friends, who called themselves the “Harley Davidson Club of Cap d’Agde”, organised a barbecue on the other side of the Etang de Thau, a beautiful ride away from Cap d’Agde.

That first barbecue grew – first into a weekend, then a short week, until it ended up being a nine-day event three years ago.  It is now known as the “Brescoudos Bike Week“.  Each year, the event attracts a big crowd of bikers from all over France, who come to explore the Languedoc area during the organised rides.  The barbecue is still part of the agenda, but now upwards of 300 bikers are served, instead of the 15 or so who were there for the very first one.

This year, Saint-Chinian was on the itinerary of one of the days out – the bikers visited on the last Sunday in August, which was a beautifully warm and sunny day.  The event had been meticulously planned, and the market square had been given over to the bikers, with the Sunday market shifted onto the roads around the square.  I decided to watch the arrival of the convoy at the hairpin bend on the Route de Villespassans (D20) – the bikes would all have to slow down for the turn and I would get a good look 🙂

Seeing them all come down the hill was impressive and exciting!  There were hundreds of bikes, all polished to within an inch of their lives!!  I’ve never owned a motorbike, but I could tell that every one of the riders was mighty proud of his/her bike.  Forget any preconceived ideas you have about bikers – this was a very diverse group of people who were enjoying themselves and the ride.

The convoy did a tour of the village, so that by the time I had walked back to the market square, the bikes were just about starting to pull up to park.

There were motorbikes everywhere – hundreds of them!! 🙂

The bikes were all beautifully styled and most of them appeared to have been customised.  The attention to detail was amazing!

Nobody can ride on an empty stomach, so lunch had been organised for everyone.  Tables and chairs had been set up in the shade of the plane trees, and three huge pans of paella had been prepared to feed the hungry crowds.

In the afternoon, once everyone had eaten and had a little chance to rest, a competition was held for the best looking biker.  It looked as though all the participants had had great fun choosing their outfits!!

The prize for the best looking biker went to this lady:

Route 66 was her thing, she said, adding that it was also her age!!  Well done Stephanie!

The visit of the Brescoudos was a highly enjoyable event, which set the whole village buzzing.  To be repeated next year!!