By Patrick Elward
If Mid-Ohio’s Vintage Days is Woodstock, featuring a wild ‘magical’ abandon where anything goes, then Barber Motorsports Vintage Festival is Disneyland, where strict rules are in place for your safety and to keep things family friendly.
But let’s run down a quick cage match comparison:
Barber
The Event: world class motorcycle museum, higher end swap meet with high priced motorcycles of ALL makes and conditions and very well run vintage races (on road and off road), very few food vendors and even less beer vendors. Helmets required of anyone on motorcycle and no bicycles allowed on ‘ring road’ around track. GREAT tram system to move people, but it only goes in one direction. Temperatures: if it rains, its not fun as there’s VERY LITTLE Shade provided unless you go deep into the trees. The heat and humidity in Alabama is overwhelming if you’re not ready for it, and this weekend felt like Summer.
Motorcycles: gorgeous machines from all over the USA come to this event. You’ll see motorcycles that you’ve only read about, and often so clean you can eat off them. Track marshals are everywhere to enforce the 15MPH speed limit AND to ensure you stay on the pavement and off the well-manicured grass.
Hotels, dining and entertainment: Birmingham is 10 miles away and offers everything you need for food, etc. But its an early to bed town and VERY few places are open late, so check first!
Mid-Ohio
The Event: Centralized location that makes it easy for visitors to get to, and offers something for EVERYONE. Family-friendly camping, ‘zoo’ camping, motocross racing, trials racing, road racing, demo rides, flat track racing (nearby), everyone riding motorcycles, bicycles, and no helmets needed. Beer vendors offer LOCAL beer as well as the majors. Tram system is not really used much here because everyone has two wheels of some sort to get around. Temperatures: if it rains, it turns into Mud-Ohio, and the party continues as if nothing had changed. Even the heat is tolerable. Just bring sunscreen.
Motorcycles: you’ll see a wild mix of gorgeous bikes and rat/project bikes. Many many home builders here and bikes are meant to be ridden, not shown off; the Mid-Ohio dirt is a very real thing, and you can ride all over the place; Barber forces you to stay OFF the grass unless parking your bike.
Hotels, dining and entertainment: Mid Ohio is in the middle of nowhere, calling for a 20-minute commute to get any supplies. Mansfield is closest town and it offers a very limited selection of dining, drinking establishments. Air Bnb or Camping might actually offer the most bang for the buck here.
