The Inappropriate Road Bike Club
New race group in Lincolnshire
It's formed by Jon Lawson, who's from the workshop Bikes and Bits. After racing in the annual DirtQuake, at Kings Lynn Stadium, he decided he wanted to race more. Monthly, even. So the
Scunthorpe Speedway club and its practice coordinator, Richard Hollingsworth, came in to help.
What's different about this club is the type of racing it does. Not only do these guys race road bikes on a speedway track, they also take part in grass track, grass hill climbs and motocross. Events where you normally wouldn't find a road bike, chopper, or big adventure bike. Sounds crazy, and it is a bit.
The club is perfect for those who want to race but don't have much of a budget. You can use any road bike from 125cc up, as long as it's near to what it looked like when it left the factory. Little or few modifications is acceptable. The club will welcome you, however, if you have a chopper or bobber which is based on a road bike, or anything just really interesting.
Jon's done a Grass hill climb on a Triumph Bonneville, not what most folks would think of as a competition machine. And he's used his Honda in speedway, grass track, motocross , and has ridden it to London and back to raise money for charity. It's a bit 'race on Sunday, ride to work on Monday'.
Anyone should be able to buy a cheap bike and compete with little funds. The entry fee is £30 per race. Insurance is included, with the rest of the money going towards supporting the speedway club.
The main series runs inside, along with speedway and flat track bikes at
Eddie Wright Stadium. This season is the club's first, with six races over the summer months. The club will then do six more throughout the winter, weather permitting.
Each racer gets six races in the day and the three riders who come first at each event win a trophy. Spectators can attend for free, but are encouraged to support the food outlets.