I’ve shared drome riding before, but on deeper investigation, this thing is a bit of a sub-culture that has incredibly deep roots to the early days of motorsport and traveling carnivals in America.
Now with amateurs getting into the act, it may be a fad ready to break (again)… Viral video, anyone ?
(Homemade!)
Learn more about Motordromes at Wikipedia.
The Wall of Death (AKA Motordrome) is a carnival sideshow featuring a drum- or barrel-shaped wooden cylinder, ranging from 20 to 36-feet in diameter, in which stunt motorcyclists ride and carry out tricks. Derived directly from US motorcycle boardtrack (motordrome) racing in the early 1900s, the very first carnival motordrome appeared at Coney Island amusement park (New York) in 1911. The following year portable tracks began to appear on traveling carnivals and in 1915, the first “silodromes” with perpendicular walls were seen. These motordromes with perfectly straight walls were soon dubbed the “Wall of Death.” This carnival attraction became a staple in the US outdoor entertainment industry with the phenomenon reaching its zenith in the 1930s with more than 100 motordromes on traveling shows and in amusement parks. The first known Wall of Death in the UK appeared in 1929 at Southend.
(What Wiki fails to mention is that you weren’t really serious unless you also rode with a LION in your sidecar…
Further reading:
