A tribute to Wheels & Waves: the world’s coolest custom bike festival
Large-scale motorcycle gatherings like we've experienced in the 'good old days' are firmly off the cards for now, so let’s celebrate the coolest festival of metal on the planet
Despite its reputation for year-round waves and an abundant surf culture, Biarritz is the jewel of France’s Basque coast. Home to numerous eye-wateringly expensive hotels, haute cuisine and plenty of polo shirt-wearing investment bankers, the quaint seaside town is the last place on earth you’d expect to see hordes of greasy-fingered bikers.
But for one week every year (since 2009, anyway), the ritzy coastal resort opens its doors to Europe’s (and the world’s) greatest motorcycles and their makers for several days of booze, music, surf and a celebration of custom culture – where standard bikes are frowned upon but shed-built works of art are honoured.
The first time I stumbled across this achingly cool gathering was back in 2015, when the crowds were thinner and the organisation slightly more ramshackle. It followed a tip-off from Harley-Davidson, which had decided to use this gathering of customised metal to reveal its own Battle of the Kings winner – a competition for European Harley-Davidson dealers to flex their creative muscle. As soon as the invite landed, I knew I had to go.
Rain never stops the party at Wheels & Waves
So, myself and a photographer chum hastily boarded a Ryanair flight, only to immediately regret not having a motorcycle greet us at the airport. Just a few moments after touching down on French soil and the roar of straight-through pipes could be heard bouncing off the nearby hills. It was any bike fan's fantasy.
Bourgeoise beachside bike brigade
Biarritz was overrun with all manner of two-wheeled machines, all zipping up and down the smooth tarmac, blasting from local campsite to the main hub of activity at the beautiful Cité de l'Océan et du Surf – an imposing architectural giant that sits on a bluff overlooking some of the area’s most powerful surf.
Just a few ramshackle tents were set up on a patch of grass, some selling coffee and beers, while others hosting art competitions and little impromptu gigs. The number of bikes lining the area around City Ocean massively outnumbered the festival area itself, while a few brave surfers attempted to compete in an old-school longboard competition in the sea below.
This is just a small proportion of two-wheeled transport that descends on Biarritz
The weather flitted from torrential rain to beautiful sunshine, with bikers fleeing to nearby cafes and bars whenever the heavens looked like they were about to open. The atmosphere was electric, with no real schedule of events. If you didn’t have a motorcycle, it was almost impossible to keep up with the action.
By the time you hailed a cab or hitched a lift with someone, the party had already moved on, with locations shifting from the centre of Biarritz, to Ocean City, to some random bar on the outskirts of town, to a disused warehouse in San Sebastian across the Spanish border. It was beautiful chaos and I immediately vowed to return with my own motorcycle.
In the years that followed, Wheels & Waves just got bigger, with well-known sponsors jumping onboard and the attendees figure exploding with the resulting editorial and social media coverage. It became tough to find a pitch on one of the many nearby campsites, let alone a room in a hotel, yet the gathering retained its slightly frenetic and underground feel.
Beautiful chaos
After all, it is almost impossible to marshal thousands of bikers, most of whom are dotted all over the Basque coastline, pitching up with tents of merely sleeping next to their bikes on a patch of sand. The event remains under the watchful eye of its original founders: a group of French bikers that called themselves The Southsiders. Essentially a gang of chums that liked to surf, ride, create art and play music, this motley crew of hipsters knew how to throw a party but organisation wasn’t their strong point.
The second time I graced the glitzy French coast was in 2017, when I loaded a Volkswagen Transporter LWB with surfboards, my own custom Honda CX500 that I had spent a few years building and a group of friends that included a surfer, a fellow photographer and a street artist pal who fancied some inspiration. We all flaked out of the long ride through France and opted instead to power through in the van, swapping shifts behind the wheel and smashing it in a day or so.
Having a motorcycle in Biarritz completely changed my experience of the gathering and for the first time, I felt like I was part of this secret, albeit massive, crowd of enthusiasts. Granted, there was a loose schedule, but the only real way of finding out where the next party, gathering, race or gig was occurring was to talk to another helmet-clad rider.
It felt good to return with my own bike (RIP little Honda)
The crowd moved in one ear-splitting swarm, saddling up to catch the Punk’s Peak race: a classic sprint series taking place on a twisting stretch of mountain road that rises high above the Bay of Biscay somewhere outside the beautiful (and excellently named) town of Hondarribia.
Here, on closed roads, all manner of souped-up machines, custom cafe racers, mopeds and classic bikes raced two-by-two in a traditional knock-out format. The noise was terrific, the smell and the smoke filling the air. It went on for hours under a baking sun, before things seemingly wrapped up and the crowd dispersed to another event.
Officially, there’s flat-track racing, a halfpipe skate competition (hosted by Steve Caballero, no less), competitive surfing, live music, barbecues, art exhibitions, a Wall of Death, live tattooing and free coffee. But trying to cram all of it in – or even working out where any of this takes place – is a challenge in itself.
Instead, it’s all about cruising the beautiful streets of Biarritz, lazing on the beaches or dashing into one of the nearby bars when the rain starts. Everywhere you turn there are bikes and riders swapping stories, laughing or tinkering with engines.
By night, the muggy summer air is punctuated by the sound of a motorcycle at full chat, a group heading for the hills to enjoy the empty roads or just a straggler returning from an impromptu late night rave atop his or her custom machine. It’s madness, several days of beautiful motorcycling madness and we miss it.
Will it go ahead in 2020?
The organisers at Wheels & Waves have said that they plan to go ahead with proceedings in September this year, but with bars still largely closed, restrictions in place regarding international travel and social distancing measures to adhere to, it feels like it might not be same. But let's hope the good times roll once more.
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Comments (1)
I feel a little sorry for Biarritzian holiday makers, but this looks a blast