JEDDAH, 27 June 2006 — Every weekend hundreds of motorbike enthusiasts gather to burn rubber, drag race and perform daredevil stunts at a popular back street that runs parallel to Corniche Road near the Al-Nawrus Square.
As soon as you turn off onto the street you can’t help but notice the overwhelming carnival-like atmosphere of motorbikes, ranging from fancy speed bikes to smaller four-wheel desert bikes — all revving up their engines to entertain crowds who have flocked to the street in their droves.
The weekly extravaganza attracts dedicated motorbike-buffs and day-trippers visiting the sea front. Enthusiastic crowds gather to watch the daring stunts performed by adventurous bikers.
The gathering also attracts the attention of the Jeddah police who regularly patrol the area to stop youths from performing dangerous stunts. While bikers zoom up and down the street on their noisy bikes, others stand guard at both ends of the street looking out for the police. If police cars come, the motorbikes simply scale the dividers and ride in the opposite direction leaving the police patrols stranded on the other side.
Motorbikes return shortly after the police cars move away, to be welcomed by the cheers and whistles of waving crowds.
A typical day involves bikers competing with each other in performing daredevil stunts. The activities are made even more dangerous on account of the fact that most of the riders don’t wear safety gear. Wheelies are common and riders who can continue for the longest distance without falling usually win. There are no bikini-clad biker babes handing trophies to the winners — the Jeddawis have to be satisfied with a round of applause from the spectators.
At some empty land close by, young boys ride rented quad-bikes and try copying their peers in practicing stunts. Although it is illegal to ride such bikes, the police generally seem less concerned with quad-bikes and prefer to target drag racers.
Probably the most notorious and daring biker in the underground Jeddah biker scene is a shadowy and mysterious person known as the Dark Rider.
The Dark Rider is usually dressed in black and even rides a black high-speed Suzuki motorbike. Enthusiasts from across the Hejaz converge especially to see the Dark Rider perform an array of stunts.
According to many enthusiasts, the Dark Rider is the only biker in the Kingdom able to perform a wheelie for a considerable distance at an extremely low speed without falling.
The crowds were getting anxious, it was 4 p.m. and the Dark Rider had still not arrived.
One rider who comes every week is Nazeeh. Nazeeh is dressed from head to toe in black leather and rides a Suzuki bike, which has the face of a demon painted at the front and images of flames on the sides. Nazeeh is a regular Saudi office-worker type who it seems transforms himself into a typical Hell’s Angels biker minus the beer, tattoos and flowing locks during the weekends.
While standing next to his bike and holding his multicolored helmet Nazeeh said, “I love speeding and doing wheelies.”
Nazeeh loves riding across Jeddah during the weekends after having spent a few hours in the Corniche area. He says he only speeds in long and empty roads.
Nazeeh wears a padded jacket, which gives him a futuristic look. “I do care for public safety and mine as well. I wear safety gear whenever I ride my bike,” he added.
Nazeeh says the police always stop and chase bikers even if they aren’t doing anything against the law. On many occasions he himself has been stopped and has had his bike confiscated for merely riding in Jeddah.
“Why do they bother giving us licenses when they just want to stop us from riding afterward,” he said, claiming that the behavior of the police causes him and many other bikers to break the law by performing stunts and participating in drag races. “If we are going to get caught, we might as well have fun,” he said sarcastically.
While seated on his quad-bike 14-year-old Majid Sibyani feels ecstatic by the excitement and noise. “It looks like an American movie,” he said.
Sibyani enjoys watching bikers and loves renting quad-bikes to try and copy what the bikers do. Sibyani comes to the area together with his friends at least once a month, especially when he has enough cash to rent a bike. Sibyani doesn’t seem to care about his safety. “One day, I’ll do my stunts on my own motorbike and impress everybody,” he added.
College student Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, 23, was cheering and blowing wolf-whistles. He said most of the young people come here on the weekend to watch the fancy-colored bikes and the dangerous stunts. “Everybody knows what happens here and this is the place to be,” he added.
Al-Ghamdi says that many accidents have happened in the area and also on Obhur Road, a place in northern Jeddah where bikers go when police come in big numbers. “I remember seeing a man falling off his motorbike while riding at high speed on Obhur Road,” he said, adding that the man was injured seriously and was taken by friends to hospital.
“Accidents do occur but the action and adrenalin rush blind most of the bikers from worrying about the consequences,” he said.
Al-Ghamdi doesn’t like riding bikes himself but loves watching bikers do fancy stunts.
It’s 5 p.m. and a lot of the bikers are tired from doing stunts, some have already gone home. The crowds are dispersing and the Dark Rider is nowhere to be seen. Nobody knows who he really is — he’s probably just a regular Jeddawi like Nazeeh, married with kids and has a regular office job. Maybe he’s not here because his wife has dragged him to a wedding or he’s on the beach enjoying the summer vacation with his kids.
Disappointed we left; maybe the Dark Rider will appear next week to entertain his fans.
