Last weekend I checked out a piece of Richmond's subculture called Slaughterrama. I'd heard about this event for a few years and couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it when my brother-in- law called and said he was going. Local bike clubs and their national 'chapters' compete for bragging rights in the steel skeleton of an abandoned factory along the James River. The favorite bicycle competition I saw had to be the bike jousting, where competitors holding PVC poles with stuffed animals attached to the 'business end' of them are pulled into combat on metal chariots.The various club 'coat of arms' displayed on banners and the back of denim vests, along with the 'unrehearsed' organization of the event gave it the feel of something you might see in Mad Max or some renegade biker gang movie. There were also some incredible modified bikes being peddled around. I got to take a short spin on the chopper bike above, which was just there for viewing purposes. Being 6'3" it wasn't exactly smooth peddling, but still fun (fortunately no pics of that).
