T. E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, aka T. E. Shaw races a Bristol Fighter on his Brough Superior
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2024
- "One of England’s straightest and fastest roads"
I follow the route of one of the most famous motorcycle rides in history.
T. E. Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia aka T. E. Shaw left RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire to ride to his lodgings in Lincoln.
In the chapter entitled 'The Road' from his book The Mint, (published posthumously in 1955), Lawrence wrote of how one evening, on the A15 between Cranwell and Lincoln, he encountered a Bristol Fighter biplane whose pilot was up for a race.
In the video, despite being hampered by a host of speed restictions, I follow the exact route that was taken by Lawrence when he pitted the power of his Brough Superior against the latest in aircract technology at the time.
I read selected passages from Lawrence's book to give a flavour of how he captured the thrill of a short ride and turned it into a stirringly monumental and lasting epic.
© John Dunn.
Thanks for the video and excerpts from T.E. Lawrence's book. I always wondered where the famous race between Lawrence and the Bristol Fighter took place. I believe Lawrence felt the way we all feel the satisfaction and pleasure of riding our motorcycles hasn't changed in almost a century later. In my humble opinion the Brough Superior SS100 is one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever manufactured. Jay Leno has a fine rendering of the famous Lawrence motorcycle race painted by an artist on the wall of his garage. If you haven't seen it, he has a great Brough episode on his UA-cam channel.
I would love to ride one of those old Brough Superiors, a great beast of a machine. I will look at that painting in Leno’s garage. A few artists have had a go at representing the event. I’ll be interested to see how this compares. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
As a member of the GBMCC I feel an affinity with Lawrence. My sister used to live near Clouds Hill where he had a cottage. The locals said that he always went to bed with a lad and a bottle.
Who knows what went on in the book room!
Did I catch a glimpse of a Bif in your rear view mirror John? Looked as though it was struggling to keep up.😂
Wouldn’t take much to keep up!