Wheels & Waves is Classic Motorcycles and Surfboards

Photography and story by Laurent Nivalle

There are six of them altogether. Most of the time, they can be spotted in the south-west of France or in their garage in Toulouse, where they spend time customizing their own bikes. They are Vincent Prat, Jerôme Allé, Frédéric Antoine, Benoit Guerry, Thierry de Miras, and Julien Azé; together, they are the SOUTHSIDERS MC. With a common passion, they decided to document their adventures digitally with a blog. The platform gave them the opportunity to share varied, interesting content–photos and stories about their builds and the custom scene–but also their travels and the people they meet. It also affords them the chance to talk about all the things that inspire them: fashion, design, and surfing.

As they love the ocean, the crew also often gathers on the sunny Basque coast where they go surfing. Which lead them to choose Biarritz, for their first gathering outside of their hometown. In June 2009, they organized their first official event, which saw about twenty participants joining them for two beautiful rides across the Basque countryside.

Over time, they divulged details about their annual gathering in Biarritz: a local and informal event at the time, which is now known as Wheels and Waves. Since they started, the number of followers has grown quickly, with people from all over the world asking for more. The event has grown over the years, and is now internationally recognized. Without knowing it, Wheels and Waves was born.

Excitement was high as the Southsiders crew announced the return of the event in Biarritz, from Thursday, June 12, 2014 to Sunday the 15th! And the big news this year was that the event, which had grown to three days previously, was now adding a fourth. Participants felt that it was precisely what was needed to fully enjoy the broad program, packed with quality, fun, and diversity.

With its fine blend of mechanics, vintage culture, surfing, art, and music, Wheels and Waves has become one of the most anticipated events in the custom European motocycling scene in only a few years. A place where today’s top builders and manufacturers, along with other major players in this new wave scene converge to meet and share their common passion. But moreover, a festival where the public gets to discover the inside-outs of this new “RIDE” culture that we see growing internationally.

Oh, and we haven’t forgotten the surfing! You’ll just have to wait patiently for that feature.