Easy Rider

Dubai has had a real "buzz" over the last couple of weekends. Though the Easter break is not observed as a whole in the country there appears to be plenty of holidaymakers taking the opportunity to come and visit the UAE. So it is without coincidence that this weekend there were at least two major events happening.

The first of which was the Red Bull Air Race held at Abu Dhabi which a fellow UAE blogger has a nice write up here. I had made an arrangement to meet friends later that evening so chose to spend the evening at Dubai Bike Week being held just down the road from me at Media City.

Whilst I am not a motor bike rider I was intrigued to see what this was all about - also I had received an invitation from Hummer so I took the 10AED cab ride over. There I met up with a colleague from the office who is a Ducati owner and he told me about the "ride out" that morning. The count was some 86 bikes going on a three hour ride out of the city and into the desert. Seemed to me that they re-enacted part of the Canonball Run with the police deploying mobile radars, forming roadblock, asking for license and registrations and even sending up the helicopter to ensure the ride out was run safely. I was entertained by these stories all day.

Dubai Bike Week is predominantly about the Harley Davidson marque and oddly the best place to see them was in the car park outside the entrance. Here are some gentlemen from the UAE "chapter" :



I am a secret viewer of the Discovery Channel program American Chopper and was pleased to see a number of fine examples. This was my favourite which sported Qatar number plates:



Inside the show were a number of others:



I really like looking at these choppers and see them more as works of art as opposed to something one would ride around looking cool on.

Though I did not see stay into the evening when the bands Firebrand and Puddle of Mud played the highlight for me was seeing Craig Jones perform amazing bike stunts, which he provides commentary whilst doing them. I was particularly impressed by the wheelie he pulls on a 2.6m Harley. Below is a two minute montage of a few of the stunts he performed. It was also nice to see Eddie the Kid there.


Unlike the other large events that have recently happened in Dubai i.e. Shakira and the Dubai World cup here there were no huge queues for toilets, taxis, food, beverages or even to get in. But then there was hardly anyone there...shame really as Craig Jones was excellent.