You would think that a frozen lake would be one of the last places you’d see hosting a motorcycle race, but some people are just wired a different way. Robert Nightingale, the founder of Malle London, found this out first-hand when he managed to capture the incredible sight of a race->ke2345 being held at the Great Sacandaga Lake, not too far away from the Canadian border.

As he narrates it in this short documentary called “The Kings of Winter,” Nightingale describes the scene as a wintry abode for motorcycle enthusiasts. It’s the kind of gathering that only spreads around by word-of-mouth, often in hushed whispers. When the ice is think enough on the lake - 18 inches, as Nightingale describes it - a group of motorcycle riders converge in the middle of the lake to have a race. Yep. A motorcycle race in the middle of an icy lake. You don’t see these things too often, do you?

Armed with a camera and, apparently, a gift for narration, Nightingale describes the gathering in vivid detail. As soon as they arrived in the scene, he saw a group of motorcycle riders tuning their machines amid a backdrop of trailers, trucks, and motorcycles. There were also a mix of modified dirt bikes, quads, and 3-wheeled side cars. You’d think that this was some kind of sanctioned-race held at warmer temperatures. That is until you’re tipped off by the sight of three snow-plow trucks crafting the track from all the ice and snow. Then you’ll know you came to probably the last place on earth where motorcycle races should be held.

Yet there they were, as Nightingale describes, racing “wheel-to-wheel and shoulder-to-shoulder” like winning the race was a matter of life or death. Ultimately, someone is declared a winner, although no trophies are given, no wreaths hung on necks, and certainly no celebratory milk-chugging.

As Nightingale eloquently says, “it’s just a group of gentlemen in the middle of a lake, trying to win.”

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