Off-Road Giants Book
Added on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Off-Road Giants Book
Another title from Veloce Books UK, who specialise in motorsport literature, with Andy Westlake taking a look back to the glory days of scrambling and trials in Britain.
Off-Road Giants profiles some of the top names from the sport back in the 60s, when scrambles could attract a crowd of 40,000, and were a staple feature on BBC’s Grandstand Saturday sport broadcast. Bryan Goss, Gordon Jackson and Bud Ekins - who did the famous wire jump in the `Great Escape’ movie, standing in for Steve McQueen, are all featured here.
Most are interviewed in-depth and it’s interesting to learn that even top level competitiors like Gordon Jackson had to work on a farm to earn a living wage, because big sponsorship deals were almost unheard of back then. Many good riders had to race on mainland Europe to earn proper prize, or start money. Sleeping in vans, taking sandwiches to races yourself and spannering your `works’ bike was all part of every big weekend race back then.
Apart from famous names like Vic Eastwood, Dave Bickers, the Rickman brothers, Jeff Smith and others not being profiled, this is a detailed look back at some of the great names from 60s Moto Cross and Trials competition from the swinging 60s.
The photographs bring the era to life, with mud-caked riders, dressed in basic Belstaff jackets, overalls and the like, plugging away for the sheer fun of it all. It’s what bike sport used to be like before the `Nimby’ brigade and snooping jobsworths made it almost impossible to kick-start an engine on Sundays in Britain.
Off-Road Giants costs £19.99 in hardback and is available at; www.veloce.co.uk
