I only recently(perhaps a year ago) found out that Rømø beach race even existed. It surprised me that I somehow had missed such an awesome event completely. I was a little less disappointed when I found out that it had only existed for a few years, but still surprised that I had not heard about it before.
So when it was finally confirmed that it would not be cancelled in 2021 I was determined to visit Rømø motorfestival.
Getting there
The drive there would be the longest trip I had ever taken on my old motorcycle, but as it had proven to be very reliable I was not too worried. The closest thing to a break-down was actually the old piece of meat sitting on top of it.
As the drive there would be somewhere around 330km and realistically take 3,5-4 hours with stops I had to leave Copenhagen very early. The weather looked to be very nice during the day, so I was afraid to have too warm clothes for walking around on the beach. This turned out to be somewhat right. I left Copenhagen early morning with single layer jeans on the legs and a few more layers on the top.
After a little more than an hour I crossed the bridge to Fyn and my legs were so cold that they were shaking uncontrollably. I could not make them stop. Luckily it somewhat coincided with a gas stop so I pulled over, got some gas and tried to have my legs back under control. A large coffee and a lot of gymnastics later I was only cold, but at least not shaking uncontrollably.
Luckily as the sun rose a little further it brought some long needed heat with it and I was more comfortable for the rest of the journey.
Soon after hitting Jutland the motorway ended as far as my direction was concerned and I had to make due with regular roads instead. That was actually a relief as motorways isn’t exactly the preferred habitat for vintage motorcycles.
A clear sign that I was now deep in Jutland territory was the fact that outside of churches there was a great line-up of tractors to pick up young people after their confirmation. Around Copenhagen that would have been Ferraries and Porsches but in Jutland is was more John Deere and Massey Ferguson. I love Jutland!
Arriving
The trip across Jutland went without any issues at all and was quite scenic. But the calm serenity of wide fields and low population density came to a sudden stop on the dam that leads from Jutland to Rømø. Under a kilometer onto it there was a complete stop in traffic and one long queue of cars 10 kilometers all the way onto the beach where the race was held. At that point in time I had driven for over 3 hours and praised myself happy to be on 2 wheels instead of 4. If I had taken the car then I think I would have turned around and driven home again. I have no idea how many hours the people in that line would have to wait until the arrived at the beach – my god a traffic jam!
But slowly traversing the traffic jam on two wheels was quite the sight to behold. There was no doubt that this was a very special place to be. The amount of old classic cars and motorcycles was just breathtaking and there was no doubt that all of these people was going to Rømø beach race.
Arriving on Rømø itself and driving onto the beach makes you wonder whether the year is actually 2021 or 1940. It just takes your breath away. Apart from all the special cars and bikes people are dressed in period-correct clothes and everything is just pure time-travel.
Rømø beach race
Finally we get to the pictures. I had packed my bag with the Olympus Hi-matic 7s (which you will not see any pictures from) and then I had my Nikon FE loaded with Fujifilm C200. I also brought some Ektar 100 which I shot afterwards, but to be honest I really do not like a single one of those. The Ektar is way to saturated for an event like this. The C200 on the other hand is just the perfect film stock to my eyes. The colors look perfectly vintage and the grain adds exactly the right amount of atmosphere.
I love, love, love the colors of Fujifilm C200! I thought I loved the colors and finer grain of Ektar 100 even more. But shooting this event has reignited my love for C200.
Next year I think I will try to see if I can get hold of a press-card and gain access to the inner circle. Regular visitors are not allowed in the inner circle. That is reserved for drivers and invited photographers. Everyone in there is then also required to wear clothes that looks like it could be worn in the 1940’s or 50’s.
This is not where you show up in the latest metal and expect people to be impressed or interested at all. It celebrates a time where everything was a lot simpler. If anything apart from your ignition or lights require electricity, then this is not the place for your vehicle.
Walking around the beach and looking at the car park is just as impressive as the inner circle and main arena itself. Everywhere you look there are the most amazing vintage cars, trucks and bikes.
Finally I come to a conclusion. Of course I will do all in my might to try and return next year. Better prepared. Planning to stay longer and trying to get myself into the inner circle.
But I will also end this photography post by selecting what I think was my best image from the day. When I first looked through the images my mind had this image below as the clear favorite. I like the composition. I like the colors, grain and feel of the image.
But looking through the images once again for this blog-post I think I might have to say the one below here is actually even better. The one above is a great single artistic image. But it does not capture the spirit of the event itself as well as the one below here. That is why I also ended up selecting that as the featured image on top of the blog post. I am extremely pleased with how well it turned out.
Now I just need to buy some more Fujifilm C200 as I am running really low on those at the moment.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures. And if you haven’t been at Rømø beach race, then I can thoroughly recommend going. Do plan on arriving really early or on two wheels to avoid the traffic though. If you end up lusting for more classic car photography do look at either Roll of film 005 – Porsche 356 or Roll of film 006 – Classic car photography
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