There aren’t many locations on earth as inhospitable as Siberia, much less one where you can successfully – and safely – ride a motorcycle at speed.
However, just because you shouldn’t doesn’t mean there aren’t those that try, with the Baikal Mile Ice Speed Festival encouraging best and most foolhardy speed racers to burn some studded rubber on the region’s famous lake.
The premise of the event is to challenge competitors to reach maximum speed with their specially prepared vehicles over the frozen surface of the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal.
It’s a challenge that piqued the interest of Indian, who has come together again with the Workhorse Speed Shop to turn its Appaloosa scout bobber into lean, mean, ice racing machine.
The model was originally revealed last year to compete in the Sultan of Sprint, but ‘Version 2.0’ saw it take to the ice to really test both the limits of the machine and the minds of its riders.
“Racing on ice is hard, this is the most incredible thing I’ve tried to do. Coming here was a huge adventure for all of us and it was all about challenging ourselves, making new friends and having fun at the same time.” – Brice Hennebert, Appaloosa Creator
It’s not just motorcycles that venture to the minus temperature event, with the Russians putting on a full show of strength with helicopters and tanks too.
“At this event there are bikes, you’ve got cars, a helicopter, a tank with a Bentley body. I mean, the craziness of the machines is just at the top level,” added Sébastien Lorentz, Appaloosa v2.0 Rider.
It’s an event that has to be seen to be believed… so you’re in luck, Indian charted its experience. And it’s both as mad and as visually extreme as you can imagine!
