A big sun illuminates the traffic jams that accumulate at the entrance to Cap d’Agde where this week, until Sunday, the 4,500 spectators of the Brescoudos Bike Week, one of the biggest bikers in Europe organized since 1989! Yann, present at the event with his Bandidos club, is particularly enthusiastic about the idea of making his friends and his passion discover. This pilot – quarantine, beard carefully cut and tattoos on the entire length of the arms – is one of the 500 bikes listed at the party. He invites to settle in place rear … without specifying that we do not go on a Harley-Davidson by relying on the caliper … unless you want to overthrow the 300-kilo machine. Incident narrowly avoided! The machine starts in a rush.
The avenues are swallowed in the blink of an eye. With roundabouts, passers-by and motorists throw meditative looks, in which the dream or the memory read. A biker arrives in the other direction … he too, it’s a bandido! The latter are recognizable among a thousand, with their black jacket with red and yellow patches. “Where are we going?” »» he asks. “Jungle Beach!” Follow me “answers Yann. A scene worthy of West Side Story.
On arrival, fifteen large chrome displacements camp on the burning sand. Direction the beach restaurant where the “Brothers” – This is how the bandidos are called between them. There is Rico, Nicolas, Hervé, Jean-Michel, Paco … and even the actor Philippe Lellouche, a member for several years. Some evolve, like him, in the artistic universe. Others are entrepreneurs or civil servants. From the millionaire to the RSA beneficiary, all left wife and children for a week to live under a common banner.
The veterans’ journey
Hervé is the leader of the group. President of the Bandidos for Europe – there are 300 in France and 4,000 on the old continent -, it plants the decor: “We are the biggest biker club in the world! Bandidos were born in 1966 in the United States. Two decades later, the movement extended to Europe. We operate with local chapters. In France alone, there are twenty-three. »» The complete biker: “Everything comes from American soldiers. Back in the country, Vietnam veterans have had great difficulties in regaining a normal life. They have rebuilt through these clubs in which military values and counter-culture coexist. There is a hippie side, but with the army codes! »»
Indeed: joining the bandidos implies a very strict course, starting with a year of observation during which the prospect does not participate in the group’s decisions and remains confined to subordinate tasks. A lesson in humility: “I kept motorcycles like everyone else”has one of them, at the head of several hundred employees in his other life! The testimony recalls some memories to Hervé … He had met a prospect, in Italy, it’s been years, who cleaned the equipment in stifling heat … “Over the discussion, I realized that it was one of the richest shipowners on the planet! »»
“When you are Bandido, nothing can happen to you”
“When you are Bandido, nothing can happen to youhe assures. The links that unite us resist all the trials. If one of us has a problem, he always finds a brother to help him. »» Solidarity which sometimes has earned trouble to their counterparts in America or Australia, when some members have personally experienced untangled with justice. Their business tainted the image of the entire organization, which has since wanted to turn the page. “We have never defended ourselves publicly”Analysis that everyone calls the “President”. “Besides, we hadn’t welcomed any journalist for thirty years. »» And yet, all are happy to finally be able to discover the reality of their club.
In fact, it contrasts with caricatures. On the side of the roads, their fans are not fooled: “They are really adorable, very respectful guys”Assène Sandra, a Toulouse who came for the occasion.
“Love, Loyalty and Respect”
It is true that these crazy motorcycles do not hesitate to show generosity and humanity, both in the club house where “brothers” around the world and their individual attitudes house. At Christmas, several chapters in the south of France, for example, organized a collection of toys for children victims of violence. This distribution, with small shattered by life, had the effect of therapy. A bandido confides: “At first, they were frightened. They have known a daily life where nothing ever belongs to them. So when they are offered a gift, they are first taken aback. Then their face lights up. They were shown the bikes, they were amazed. »» The memories are moved.
An emotion shared by the public, who came to attend one of their runs en masse. These rides in formation say the deep nature of these men, who never speak for themselves in the singular. They jostle the time a little, necessarily. These bandidos have made words “Love, Loyalty and Respect” for them. They prefer gross life to the sanitized existence, and the “What will we say” is not ready to make them give up the stools of leather or the road trips among the sumptuous landscapes. Just meet them for a few hours to leave them with a tight heart.
