elrectanguloenlamano: FIRST CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES RESTORATION CONTEST IN ESGUEVILLAS DE ESGUEVA (VALLADOLID, SPAIN): AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENT

Text : José Manuel Serrano Esparza

Pictures : José Manuel Serrano Esparza / Paco Villaverde

On Sunday May 16, 2021 and organized by the Motorcycle Museum of Esguevillas de Esgueva (Valladolid) and the Les Gualnights Moto Club was held the First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest, which was highly successful, greatly exceeding the starting expectations, because nothing less than rougly 800 people and 350 bikes of every capacity, brand, period and technology travelled to the village coming from all provinces of Spain.

Queue of people waiting to go into the Classic Motorcycle Museum in Esguevillas de Esgueva (Valladolid) and see the competing bikes in the First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest in Esguevillas de Esguevas (Valladolid) (scheduled for 12:00 a.m) along with the rest of models. © José Manuel Serrano Esparza

A probably unprecedented record for such a small recently created museum (July 25, 2020, with the classic bikes champion Alejandro Cundo as a godfather), opening only on Saturdays from 10:00 h to 18:30 h, built by dint of strenuous effort, passion and love for motorcycles, with very few means and thanks to the sacrifice, sweating buckets, piecework and illusion of Santiago Vargas(a great expert on classic bikes and main driving force in the creation and fulfilment of this dream), Enrique Guzmán (owner of the 34 motorcycles in pristine condition making up the museum hitherto, some of them true historical jewels) and José Luis Coloma (who has made a praiseworthy labour inside and outside the museum for its birth and evolution), without forgetting the support provided by the Esguevillas de Esgueva Town Hall and the Valladolid Council, together with different firms that relied on the project from scratch, even in the most difficult stages, having also been a key factor the integration within the Esguevillas de Esguevas Motorcycle Museum of Paco Villaverde, whose superb images of these wonderful classic bikes and the many hours spent capturing their most hidden details, have likewise been very important to make known this place brimming with magic and pervaded by genuine motorcycling spirit.

Therefore, the uncommon previous context didn´t make foreseeable in advance

such a massive influx of attendance as happened, reinforced by a great quantity of riders coming from every corner of Spain, who as wells as relishing the First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest in Esguevillas de Esgueva (Valladolid), wanted first and foremost to bolster the organization managers of the event (also riders featuring a lot of experience), expressing them their affection and gratitude, both with their presence and with the bikes they rode (many of them being dream machines), which literally filled the village streets from approximately 11:00 h in the morning.

THE STREETS OF ESGUEVILLAS DE ESGUEVA BECOME A TOP-NOTCH MOTORCYCLING SHOW

From around 10:45 h in the morning, the main streets of the village were overcrowded with visitors from all provinces of Spain, who advanced through them with their beloved motorcycles, in an explosion of beauty, mechanical almost philharmonic sound and a myriad of designs, which spawned the enjoyment of every attendee.

This was already something unexpected, since there was still an hour left for the beginning of the First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest, slated for 12:00 h at midday inside the Centro Cívico San José premises.

Hundreds of people went on making long queues to get into the Classic Motorcycle Museum of Esguevillas de Esguevas (access was only allowed in reduced groups) and so be able to see the display of the bikes taking part in the restoration contest.

Meanwhile, scads of riders kept on arriving at the village, in an unutterable flow,

each one riding on its two-wheeled machine, in such a way that all the village streets, accesses to the Museum of the Classic Motorcycle, shops and bars were full of people at 11:00 h.

There was still an hour left for the scheduled beginning of the contest and the streets of Esguevillas de Esgueva

resembled a kind of high couture runway of bikes, both the ones already parked and the ones continuing their march across different areas of the village.

Thereupon, in a mostly unexpected way, a melting pot of very strong emotions increasingly grew up in Esguevillas de Esgueva,

Riveting sights were unabated in Esguevillas de Esgueva on May 16, 2002. © Paco Villaverde

being hugely underpinned by the presence of fabulous bikes, both classical and modern ones, which were a treat for sight and ears and of course for any enthusiast of mechanics and variety of designs.

An outstanding sensorial and motorcycling collective elation, with attendees of every age : mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, children, grandfathers, grandmothers and so forth.

All of them being brought together and linked in a binding way by the motorcycle as a built-in entity in their lives.

And this was by far the most important aspect of the day : the human warmth, fondness and support expressed to the event organization by the umpteen attendees, who against all odds, after a pandemic having wreaked big economical havoc, made an effort, wished to stay, and gathered in Esguevillas de Esgueva (Valladolid) this historical May 16, 2021.

With his huge toil and groundwork throughout many years (including May 16, 2021 in which he didn´t stop at any moment and finished worn out, though always trying not to reveal it and that everybody felt like at home), Santriago Vargas ( with his back towards the camera, about to go through the main door of the Classic Motorcycling Museum that is being opened by José Luis Coloma) has been by far the key person in the implementation of this dream come true called Classic Motorcycles Museum in Esguevillas de Esgueva (Valladolid). © José Manuel Serrano Esparza

fully cognizant of the raft of hardships, sufferings, thousands of hours of commitment, managing to find time to do things, many nights of sleeplessness, etc, prior to the creation of the Classic Motorcycles Museum in Esguevillas de Esgueva (Valladolid).

A FIRST-RATE CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES RESTORATION CONTEST

Inside the Assembly Hall of the San José Civic and Cultural Center of Esguevillas de Esgueva one hour before the beginning of the Awards Ceremony of the First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest, organized by the Classic Motorcycles Museum of the village and the Les Gualnights Moto Club of Valladolid. © Paco Villaverde.

Table with the prizes that had to be bestowed to the winners of the First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest, organized by the Classic Motorcycles Museum of the village and the Les Gualnights Moto Club. © Paco Villaverde

Approximately 20 minutes prior to the start of the Awards Ceremony of the First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest in Esguevillas de Esgueva. © José Manuel Serrano Esparza

Roughly 5 minutes before the beginning of the Award Ceremony of the First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest in Esguevillas de Esgueva, with presence of some radio stations and TV channels, among them Castilla and León TV, in addition to prestigious newspapers like El Norte de Castilla and others. © José Manuel Serrano Esparza

Due to the great experience, prowess and passion exhibited by the nine restorators with their eleven participating bikes (José Luis Álvarez San José with a Lube 125 from 1958, a Terrot Cyclorette from 1953 and a Torrot VL3 from 1963; Manuel García-Cifo Fernández with a Lambretta three-wheeled car from 1962; Santiago Vargas Valdueza and Carlos Gaitán with a Lube Renn from 1961; Vicente Pérez Castilla with a Lube Renn 150 from 1962; Santiago Vargas Valdueza with a Peugeot Movesa 1967; Alberto Escudero Sáez with a Lube 99 from 1955; Abel Lozano Suárez with a Montesa Brio 82 from 1959; Javier Baquerín Martínez with a Montesa Impala Sport from 1967; José Luis Coloma with a GAC AV63 from 1953), the awards of this First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest were very disputed.

Hence, the jury made up by Juan Pedro Olivares Cristóbal (specialist in classic motorcycles), Juan Pablo Carrasco Pérez (independent restorator), Olga Izquierdo (journalist), Paco Villaverde (photographer) and Lucas Gallego Macías (member of the organization and a highly experienced rider) had to deliberate for some hours throughout the previous days and even live during some moments before bestowing the awards :

Prize to the Most Elegant Bike :

Lube 99 from 1955, Alberto Escudero Sáez.

The photographer Paco Villaverde awarding the prize of Most Elegant Motorcycle to Alberto Escudero Sáez. © José Manuel Serrano Esparza

First Prize :

Lambretta three-wheeled car from 1962, Manuel García-Cifo Fernández.

Santiago Vargas, great artificer of the creation and development of the Classic Motorcycles Museum in Esguevillas de Esgueva, receiving the First Prize bestowed to Manuel García-Cifo Fernández (who couldn´t attend the event) from Conrado Íscar (President of the Valladolid Council). On the right are María Nieves Sagredo (Deputy Mayor of Esguevillas de Esguevas Town Hall) and Rosana Alba (Mayor of the village). © José Manuel Serrano Esparza

Second Prize :

Montesa Impala Sport from 1967, Javier Baquerín Martínez

Javier Baquerín Martínez receiving the Second Prize from Juan Pablo Carrasco Pérez. © José Manuel Serrano Esparza

Third Prize :

Lube Renn 150 from 1962, Vicente Pérez Castilla

Vicente Pérez Castilla being granted the Third Prize by Lucas Gallego in the presence of María Nieves Sagrado (Deputy Mayor of Esguevillas de Esguevas Town Hall). © José Manuel Serrano Esparza

A DAY TO REMEMBER

In hindsight, it seems apparent that the event on Sunday May 16, 2021 in Esguevillas de Esgueva (Valladolid) went far beyond the Award Ceremony of the First Classic Motorcycles Restoration Contest organized by the Classic Motorcycle Museum of the village and the Les Gualnights Moto Club, to such an extent that in addition to the winners and their snazzy two-wheeled machines restored with remarkable skill, professionalism and endearment,

the main and most important persons of the day were the many people who coming from every corner of Spain

arrived with fervor at this small but lovely and welcoming village of Castilla and León to back the event organizers and spend a fantastic day

bristling with spectacular bikes,

many of them real jewels in gorgeous condition and working flawlessly, which were beholded once and again with unbridled enthusiasm by all attendees,

both when they were parked in the village streets

and in full swing.

This way, throughout roughly six hours (between 10:00 a.m and 16:00 h in the afternoon),

Esguevillas de Esgueva became strongly soaked in a genuine motorcycling spirit of comradeship,

steadily prevailing that so special atmosphere generated by the bike, which often results in meeting very interesting people,

with tons of experience and insight, having a lot of stories to tell and listening to them enables anybody having a penchant for motorcycles to learn very much, as well as begetting sincere friendships lasting a whole lifetime and preserve values like respect and solidarity as a united and caring group irrespective of the ideology, flags and beliefs of its members, since bikes are often a subject of approach and understanding.

As a matter of act, it was also highly significant the attendance to the event of a number of well-known personalities of the motorcycle world in Spain, who joined to this authetic party of two-wheeled machines that greatly exceeded the scheduled program and reached a truly impressive level.

Whatever it may be, the key persons in the management of this event are all of them bikers boasting long-term experience, humbleness and incredible passion for motorcycles, together with the wise criterion given by years, so they will not rest on their laurels or let success go to their heads at any moment.

Because they know that there´s always somebody better, and that if it is difficult to arrive, even more difficult is to keep on,

Large wooden mural inside the Classic Motorcycles Museum in Esguevilla de Esguevas with logos of the most important brands in the History of Motorcycling. © José Manuel Serrano Esparza

that they will have to do their best if they want to go on offering

The long queues of attendants to go into the Classic Motorcycling Museum in Esguevilla de Esguevas (Valladolid) were a constant during the whole May 16, 2021 day. © Paco Villaverde

this really commendable level in a lot of different sides, behind which there´s always a strenuous work and effort.

But in spite of the difficult plights they have had to endure, the very few means available with which they had to build the Classic Motorcycles Museum in Esguevillas de Esgueva, the lacking energies at certain ages, the year of pandemic that spoiled more than one project and significantly delayed other ones, the exhaustion during a lot of stages of the museum creation trying to supervise manifold tasks for its evolution the best they could, etc, bikers like Santiago Vargas, José Luis Coloma, Enrique Guzmán, Paco Villaverde and others who have likewise helped consolidate this magical shrine of bikes, though fell to the ground many times, they didn´t surrender and stood up once and again.

It doesn´t seem easy that they can get out of that working dynamics based on indefatigable struggle, slog, constant discomfort and not to give in to be able to go ahead with this little but wonderful Classic Motorcycles Museum in Esguevillas de Esgueva, if they continue setting their hearts on offering the same level as until now or going beyond themselves, something that has been their hallmark hitherto.

But undoubtedly, in the midst of an ocean with all kinds of difficulties, the attendance to the event of bikers coming from different provinces of Spain (even some complete families) to encourage and show them their affection, as well as relishing a memorable day, has been hugely important for them and will have boosted their morale to unflinchingly go on fighting for what they most love, so they are very grateful to them.

martes, 25 de mayo de 2021

FIRST CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES RESTORATION CONTEST IN ESGUEVILLAS DE ESGUEVA (VALLADOLID, SPAIN): AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENT

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