QX Gay London Magazine - N 1073 (1 October 2015).pdf

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No 1073 1 October 2015
London's Gay Bikers
RIDE
18
Suitable only for persons
of 18 years and over
Photos: Stephen Blurton
On The
Road with
The Gay
Bikers
QX magazine got all greasy and oiled up with
The Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club.
It’s something about the smell of petroleum
and burning rubber. The sound of revving
exhaust pipes and squeaking leather
jackets. The sight of burly bandana-headed
men. The prospect of illicit encounters in
dusky motels.
So it’s no surprise that some of us have
thrown cars and commitments to the winds,
and taken up biking for ourselves. There’s
nothing more liberating than two wheels,
the roar of an engine and that old whiskey-
stained, Lana Del Rey-lauded cliché: the
open road.
“I’ve always loved it; there’s just
something freeing and joyous about you
and a good well-matched motorbike,”
says Chris Townsend, a 48-year-old from
South London. “Plus let’s face it, there’s just
something sexy about a bike, and they can
give you massive grins. Big kid, I know, but
I’m a petrol head. What can I say?”
Townsend has been whizzing around
since he was 17 (over 30 years), with his
current bike of choice a Triumph Tiger.
While most of this was functional riding
around London and along motorways, he’s
also had experience riding for pleasure
We love a biker.
in large groups. Though he enjoyed these
trips, it wasn’t until he realised that he
wanted somewhere that he could truly
fit in that he discovered the Gay Bikers
Motorcycle Club (GBMCC).
“I’ve ridden before with straight guys
and it can be a different atmosphere,”
says Townsend. “I’d been looking for a
good biking organisation for a while and
then found GBMCC through a couple of
mates. I was delighted and after looking
into it further I joined straightaway. My first
event was pride and everyone was very
welcoming and friendly so I knew I was
into a winner.”
GBMCC began in 1977 as a club for
gay men and women bikers. With its current
membership of around 350, the UK-based
group are now the biggest gay biking club
in Europe. And even though many of its
members are at an advanced riding ability,
many join as complete novices.
“I’ve always had an interest in bikes, but
never thought about getting one seriously,”
says 37-year-old Craig Shavez, an IT
consultant in South London. “I guess I must
have had a mid life crisis, as I woke up one
morning last summer and decided to bite
the bullet and learn to ride.
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“Now I find being on two wheels is
exhilarating. I use the bike to commute and
de-stress most days. My friends say I’m
slightly bike obsessed at the moment, as
I seem to eat, sleep and breath riding. It
helps keep me focused. Being up at 7am
on a Sunday morning is different for me,
as that the time I would normally be getting
home from a night out.”
Shavez, who describes himself as the ‘fresh
meat’ of the group, came across GBMCC
when he was browsing the gay social media
app (‘the orange one’ apparently) and got
talking to one of their current members. After
a bit of persuasion, he popped into the Prince
of Wales for the monthly social.
“With the overwhelmingly warm welcome
on the club night in the pub, I signed up to
the bike run on the weekend,” he says. “I was
instantly hooked. We stopped off for lunch
by a lake and I started to hear about previous
club trips, as well as ones pending. I knew
the club would be my thing. I’ve actually just
come back from my first trip, which was our
birthday bash. 56 men dressed in leather
riding around Northamptonshire for a
weekend was good fun.”
The trips aren’t just confined to the UK
either. Oded Shomroni, the club secretary, had
been riding for seven years before coming
across GBMCC. This year alone he’s travelled
with friends from the group on a ten-day trip
in Spain, as well as six days motoring through
France to reach the hills above Nice.
“Almost every year since I joined
GBMCC I have travelled with them twice
a year to Europe and to weekends for our
whole club and day rides throughout the
summer,” says Shomroni. “To share the
personal experiences that happened during
that part of the ride and the riding itself is
fun, but also intense when you choose an
interesting route as you work in your mind
to make the ride as safe, smooth but at the
same time progressive.”
While some joined for the camaraderie
and chance to take the journey with those
with shared experiences, others joined for
the opportunity to travel internationally and
complete runs all over Europe, whether
they’re in North Wales or the Netherlands,
France or Italy. For some, just the sense of
liberation is enough.
“I love the sense of freedom and - when
I’m riding well - the feeling of being at one
with the bike,” says David Jennings, who
rides a Yamaha Fazer. “It’s been compared
to the closest you can get to flying. It’s
incredibly relaxing too, you have to really
concentrate and let go of other thoughts.”
Scott Walker
42, East London
Drives a Yamaha YZF600R
My partner Mark and I found out about the club through our Friend
Craig who was going to the Prince of Wales pub social. Upon arrival
we were made to feel so welcome by the charming Stephen Blurton.
The camaraderie and also the social events were spoken about at the
meeting in the pub, we came home that evening feeling we belonged
already and signed up that night. The highlight this year was riding along
with Oded who is a massive character who also looks out for you, we
rode along to Dave’s summer social BBQ and met a great group of bikers
and spent the afternoon exchanging tales. Riding a motorcycle bring the
roads alive and we have explored more of the English countryside and
tea rooms than ever before, I just love the routes chosen and before long
would like to take the lead on my own run someday.
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The Gay Biker Starter Course
Getting
around
London is
getting a
bit much
these days;
cramped
buses, sweaty
tubes, people
rubbing
against you in
the carriages.
QX’s very own
Steve Gregory
decided
enough was
enough; the
only way
forward
was on two
wheels.
the basics of observations, signals, manoeuvres and road
But even though my dad used to collect classic bikes and positioning in the morning. Real life road practice comes in
my brother-in-law races them, I always remember going the afternoon, all the while paired up with an instructor who
to events and never being that bothered. I was a car man provides instructions as you go. There is no pass or fail with
and although as kid I had a bike, one with my initials
your CBT, but you have to be seen as capable enough to
proudly inscribed on its frame, I was never really into it.
ride and control your bike to make it through the full day.
But back in January I
I wasn’t prepared for the
realised I’d had enough of
effect it would have on me. I felt
commuting to London on
Joyful, on the back of this little
the tube. It’s too damn busy.
scooter. I couldn’t believe how
Standing on a crowded tube
something so easy and simple
with your armpit slowly melting
to ride could give me so much
into the side of the next
pleasure. I loved it. I’d started my
person’s face is not how I want
engines and I was ready to go!
to start my days. Not anymore.
Spring turned into summer
I needed a new way of getting
and as the headlines filled with
around London Town, one
‘Tube Strike Torture’, I was
that’s more pleasurable and
able to sail past the queues
possibly more economical.
and crowds on my scooter into
I began browsing online,
central London. I was door to
looking at things like auction
door in around 25 minutes.
sites and pedal power. I
From Zone 3!
started looking at Scooters; I
I loved my Scooter and
already have my car license,
loved how easy it was to ride.
so legally I could already ride
But I already I’d grown bigger
up to a 125cc bike, so long as I
ambitions. I’d set my sights on a
completed a CBT (Compulsory
‘Big Bike’. The thought of getting
Basic Training). Looking at offers, I saw you could grab a
all the gear and having the convenience of a scooter but the
brand new scooter for less than £1500, or second hand
look of something to turn heads was becoming more and
one for a few hundred pounds, so I decided to go for it
more attractive. I had the bug.
and booked my CBT, a one day course.
I booked my course over at Metropolis Motorcycles in
The day came and I had my chance to take to the
Vauxhall. I’d had enough of driving past there everyday,
road on two wheels for the first time. The course teaches
dreaming of a more powerful bike - I wanted one.
As a lad I grew up
with motorbikes.
“Standing on a
crowded tube with
your armpit slowly
melting into the side of
the next person’s face
is not how I want to
start my days.”
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