The Demon Drome

One of the highlights of my trip to the Le Mans Classic was finding a 'wall of death' operating on the infield below the Dunlop Bridge .I clearly remember going to a 'wall of death' with my father when I was about 6 years old .It was either in a fairground in Margate on the Kent coast or in Brighton on the south coast of England and I saw one at the Oktoberfest in Munich in1967.I loved them then and was really surprised when I found one at Le Mans.And there I was thinking that the fun police had closed them all .  Friend Patrick Wheeler has written a lyrical piece on our encounter with the 'wall of death' so let me hand you over to him and his breathless prose.... "So my traveling companion this trip is excited to see a ‘wall of death,’ apparently a feature of carnivals in his misspent youth in the UK before the emigration to Australia, no time is wasted getting a ticket to one of the first shows of the day …
Interestingly enough, it was apparently an American creation before the trial attorneys and insurance premiums and plane common sense drove them from those shores and they washed up on the wee island … http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_of_death_%28carnival_sideshow%29  “Derived directly from United States motorcycle boardtrack (motordrome) racing in the early 1900s, the very first carnival motordrome appeared at Coney Island amusement park (New York) in 1911. The following year portable tracks began to appear on travelling carnivals, and in 1915 the first "silodromes" with vertical walls appeared and were soon dubbed the "Wall of Death." The carnival attraction became a staple in the United States outdoor entertainment industry with the phenomenon reaching its zenith in the 1930s, with more than 100 motordromes on travelling shows and in amusement parks.”
Ages ago I used to help Levi Strauss and Co sell pants.We used to search out unique personages to put our pants on to show the free and easy lifestyle and to be ‘brand ambassadors.’  Man I hope these guys are on that list and are getting free pants, because this kind of brand association simply cannot be beat !!   there are so many lads photo blogs these days dedicated to the lost art of appearing manly, featuring old motorcycles, tattoos, tee-shirts and facial hair … but these guys have it totally sussed … don’t believe me? check these out … http://www.themotart-journal.com http://lecontainer.blogspot.be/ http://thevintagent.blogspot.be/ http://dropanchors.tumblr.com/
Of course these guys have their own web site …  http://www.demondrome.com/
An old Indian, braised floorboard where it is beat to shit, cast iron cylinder heads and heat discolouration on the gear shift along with oil patina and old heavy chrome … as they say, you cannot buy patina, and this Indian has it in spades …
But enough soaking up the atmosphere, there is a show to put on … basically think of a large, a _very_ large wine barrel with a semi ramped floor … and a hatchway that closes locking the players inside with their insane machines … as wiki says “The audience views from the top of the drum, looking down. The riders start at the bottom of the drum, in the centre, and ascend an initial ramped section until they gain enough speed to drive horizontally to the floor, usually in a counter-clockwise direction (the physical explanation behind this act is found at Banked turn and The turning car.)”
They warned up to keep our hands away from the lip as the rider would come _all_ the way up, and they do!  As he thunders by the entire barrel shakes and rattles and the smell of the gasoline and the reverberating sounds … well, trust me on this, you _need_ to experience this show … They warned up to keep our hands away from the lip as the rider would come _all_ the way up, and they do!  As he thunders by the entire barrel shakes and rattles and the smell of the gasoline and the reverberating sounds … well, trust me on this, you _need_ to experience this show …
The man is incredible … and scary, the tricks he does need to be seen and if you have not seen one of these, well, I see now why they made such a memorable impression on my traveling companion
No sooner has ‘the Duke’ finished than ‘the Duchess’ is off on her run, using a lightweight and more modern machine a single kick and she is rumbling around the track …
And speaking of updated, the safety is done and re-done and I see the team inspecting to be certain everything stays ship shape, if you rest your foot against the slats when the riders come by you can literally feel them drive over your toes, and watching the flex in the wood as they circle the track from the inside, well, the demon drome is a living breathing thing …
Ok, maybe I should not admit how many times I went through the Demon Drome, and how much I enjoyed the show.  The folks running the show gave the distinct impression they were having exactly as much fun.  I had a smile plastered on my face and from the genuine smiles on the rough and tough ‘carnie’ team, well, a good time was being had by _all_ … Thanks Patrick .I struggled to get good photos inside the Demon Drome. The autofocus on the Leica X1 was way too slow and the Canon G9's sensor was not sensitive enough.In the end I compromised by using the Leica on manual focus .I tried the photos in monochrome but they do not convey the colour of the show so it was back to the originals red cast and all .Photos by Patrick Wheeler and the Rolling Road -Leica X1 , Canon G9 and Canon S90. See Patrick's video from the Le Mans show on  Demon Dome video