When asked if Malle London is a luggage company, apparel brand, or event organizer, founders Robert Nightingale and Jonny Cazzola simply answer “Yes.” The British outfit not only manufactures some of the most handsome bike gear on the planet, but they’re also famous for events like the Malle Mile and the Great Malle Rally.
They’ve just added the Malle Canyon to their repertoire—a four-day romp in and around the White Sand Mountains, a stone’s throw from Lisbon, Portugal. Surrounded by the limestone walls of the canyon, scores of motorcycle enthusiasts pitched up for Malle’s first event outside of the UK.
Choosing Portugal as the destination for their first out-of-country festival was a calculated move by Malle. Jonny’s been living in Lisbon for the past five years, and was brimming with excitement for the Canyon when we ran into him at the Lisbon Motorcycle Film Festival.
We couldn’t make it to the Malle Canyon ourselves, but these images by our good friend and Portuguese scene regular, Manuel Portugal, tell the story. As is customary with Malle events, the aim of the game was the most fun as possible with the most inappropriate machinery possible. As Robert and Jonny are fond of saying, “This is the motorcycle race we all lose together.”
The festival grounds hosted traditional Malle fare; riding, racing, rallying, live music, DJs, merch, custom motorcycles, and local food. Accommodation options included camping and glamping, plus a host of nearby options outside the venue.
Proceedings kicked off on Thursday night, with a 100-person feast put on by the team from DA NOI—a cozy restaurant in Lisbon’s historic Madragoa district. Traditional Portuguese Port wine offered suitable lubrication.
On Friday morning, a fleet of motorcycles, rare classic race cars, and Portuguese-made UMM 4x4s set off on a picturesque 100-kilometer [62-mile] tour of the Arrabida National Park and its surrounds. The ride stopped off at the Santuario de Nossa Senhora do Cabo Espichel—a three-centuries-old monastery perched above the Atlantic Ocean.
In an unprecedented move, Malle managed to arrange permission to park the smorgasbord of participating vehicles underneath the stony arches of the monastery.
Back at the Canyon, Malle had set up their usual Art of the Machine exhibition. A miniature custom bike show within a festival, it’s become a mainstay of their events. This time around, The Art of Machine tent was packed with lust-worthy motorcycles from Norton, Maria Motorcycles, Holy Moly, Unik Edition, WKND Customs, and others.
The Malle Canyon race program kicked off on Saturday with a brisk 5-kilometer [3.1-mile] scramble into the surrounding desert. Like at the Malle Mile, the machines and riders that kicked up dust at the scramble offered a cornucopia of visual fodder for Manuel’s camera. From classic scramblers to custom motorcycles, and crusty adventure bikes to scooters and road bikes, Malle never disappoints.
Next, racers tested their mettle on the Canyon Carve, Dune Climb, and Canyon Relay courses, kicking up thick white sand left, right, and center. Typically, most of the bikes there looked like they shouldn’t have been anywhere near a dirt track—either because they were out of their element, or because they were too gorgeous to scratch.
Along with a strong local contingent, competitors came from the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, and Germany, and as far abroad as the USA, Australia, and South Africa. The legendary Troy Lee was present too, as was the ever-stylish Dimitri Coste.
On the final day, racers battled it out in the event’s grand finale: the Canyon Derby. A combination of the Canyon Carve and Dune Climb, riders went head to head in straight knock-out rounds to crown the King or Queen of the Canyon. British rider Kirk Catherick took the gold, narrowly beating Lisbon local Tomás Blades.
Of course, a spot on the podium and a bottle of bubbly are wonderful prizes, but the real beauty of the Malle Canyon was the fun of losing together. Planning has already begun for the 2025 edition of the Canyon; with any luck, we’ll be there this time.
Malle London | Images by Manuel Portugal
