This year, UBC Law is celebrating one of its longest-running traditions…the UBC Law Trike Race! Although the names of the students who had the original idea are unknown and many now take the credit, we do know that the first trike race occurred in 1972. While no one seems to be able to explain why the trike races were started, those who were involved are keen to speak to the complexity (and outrageousness) of the event in its first few years. While the race of recent years has involved teams of four students each riding tricycles up a straight stretch of road in front of the law school, the original race course was significantly more challenging.
The participants officially started the race in the library, under the watchful eye of Paul Ayriss, the school administrator, and Raymond Herbert, a faculty member. As soon as the starter’s pistol was fired, the racers headed off through the library and then outside to wind around the law school, where they became the target of eager classmates and faculty armed with projectiles to throw the participants off track. While today’s race involves water balloons, racers back in the day had to endure buckets of water mixed with fish fertilizer being poured by students who had climbed up onto the roof of the law school. Once the thoroughly soaked participants finished the outdoor part of the race, each team’s pit crew waited to help lift the tricycle back inside the building, where the triumphant team would cross the finish line back in the library.
Being the last student event of the year, it was a popular event and a great opportunity for students and faculty alike to relax before the inevitable days of studying and final exams. In fact, the event was so popular that classes would often be cancelled to allow everyone to participate in the festivities. One year, as the story goes, the trike races were even graced with the presence of some very distinguished guests. The trike race was about to start when a limousine pulled up to the barricades that were blocking the road. The chauffeur was warned that he should move his vehicle if he didn’t want it to get dirty. The chauffeur obligingly backed up and left, protecting his passengers (the King and Queen of Spain, as was later discovered) from the crazy race that was about to unfold.
While that was the first and last sighting of royalty at the race, the modern day trike race has maintained many of the traditions of the original event, including teamwork, camaraderie, and good fun. It still brings students and faculty together outside to relax, dress up in costumes, and embrace the silliness of grown-ups trying to ride wee bicycles. It is a mystery how an event created by a few UBC Law students looking to have some fun has lasted 40 years, but what is clear is that it has become integral to the UBC Faculty of Law and will no doubt continue for another 40 years.
