19th Old School Swap Meet Mecrin/France

Have a burnin' time! Mecrin 2016

Full throttle into Old School madness:
May 1st 2016, 19th Old School Swap Meet Mecrin/France

You don't have to be crazy to ride along the Meuse river in almost zero degrees temperatures, but it sure helps! April weather and December temperatures made the weekend at Mecrin 2016 a frosty weekend – until sunday afternoon when the sun came out. Snow in the Black Forest and on top of the Vosges mountains made the trip interesting, to say the least. But the Party went on nevertheless! And for the 19th anniversary event, "School Bar Atelier" customizer Jean Claude Passetemps and the Boozefighters came up with some very special guest from the French Music scene!

The towns of the Wöevre and the shores of the Meuse have been polished up for the big anniversaries: 2014 - 2018 will see the centennials of what was caled "The Great War" in France – and little did the people know that it would not be the last. The little town of Mecrin was in plain sight of the German trenchline for almost four years and the then President of France, Pointcare, had his house in near Samigny with a big window to look down onto Mecrin and the Meuse valley. 2016 is a very special year for visits, because it marks the 100th Anniversary of the battle of Verdun, just about 40 km down the Meuse river.

As during the last few years, weather was not living up to the usual charme of the first weekend in May, the first sunday traditionally the date for the Mecrin Swap Meet. After being pleagued by bad weather on April 29th and the Saturday, which is the traditional "arrival day" for the clubs and time to party into, if not through the night. Only for the hard-core bikers that night, as the continuous downpour soaked everybody to the bone. Sunday mornings swap meet started slowly, but it would be 'till the noon for visitors to arrive – and not all came for the motorcycles. This years "special guest" attracted a crowd much different than usual, because in France, the singer and chansonist Renaud is "Cult". Present all day, the famous singer gave handshakes and autographes for his fans, even luring French national television to Mecrin, recording the event for the upcoming 20th anniversary in 2017.

The team of School Bar Atelier and the Boozefighter Chapter had again organised a great meet, with the weather drying at noon and the sun out in force in the afternoon, local visitors arrived in great numbers and some Boozefighters started the "burnout time" to give the visitors at least a "taste of Hollister" at this years Mecrin Swap meet. Relaxed atmosphere, cool bikes and hard metal music on stage granted a solid 19th edition "Old School" swap meet. By the time Jean Claude Passetemps handed out the handcrafted trophys, the sun was up and smiling! The final Stripshow – also an bike tradition at Mecrin – attracted the final crownd and Renaud handed over the "Best of Show" award and waved a last "au revoir" to his fans...

For the Boozefighters, living up to their name, the party stopped sometimes Monday morning, when attending chapters mounted their rides and rode home. Now in glorious sunshine! The 20th is coming up soon, mark it – in green, of course – on your calendar!

Text and Fotos: Horst Rösler

www.school-bar-atelier.com