A week straight of rain did nothing to dampen the spirits and passion for stupidity of the almighty Sydney Cafe Racer crew. Aftershock is a backyard Australian based event that takes inspiration from Dirt Quake and the Australian Flat Track scene. I could go down the path of saying "it’s an event where the bike and dirt become one within the human soul as we eat free range organic poached egg and tofu wraps while listening to the Eco friendly sounds of cultural drums from some country I’ve never heard of." But I wont. In some ways it is about getting back to mother nature, but let’s be realistic. It is about turning grass into mud and ruining the land. Yeah it will regrow let’s not get all emo, but this event is about the STUPID fun you can have when you bring together adults that appreciate the enjoyment of immaturity and danger. Aftershock is about taking and modifying bikes that where not built for the use we put them to. It’s about the trackers with incorrect tyres, the CB125’s with knobblies, the CX500’s with street suspension and the Postie bikes with modified frames to accept twin cylinder engines. There are categories for the proper bikes but that’s a bit boring and will probably be banned next year. Thanks to Mark Hawwa at Sydney Cafe Racers for putting this feature article together for the Bike Shed. This is what biking is all about. Photos by Pete Cagnacci. Video by My Media Sydney