Wednesday dawned bright and sunny, so attempting the 37 odd miles of the TT course was ON !!!!!!
Even on the initial run into Ramsey yesterday, I was impressed by the scenery, the sunshine making it even more splendid. The run down to the start area in Douglas took a bit longer than anticipated, as self-imposed diversions kept popping up, like Maughold Head (great view plus a lighthouse) and Laxey (more of this later….).
Using a good old-fashioned OS map, I found the TT start area. You see it on the TV, but it all looks a bit different in real life. Anyway cranking up Sam’s GoPro camera, I set off. Sensibly, the TT organisers have put up “visitor boards” for oiks like me to know where we are on the course. All the familiar names started to appear – Bray HIll (a lot steeper than ever I imagined), Quarterbridge, Glen Helen (very sinuous and winding), Sarah’s Cottage, Kirk Michael (a narrow, narrow village, taken as insane speed), Ballaugh Bridge. Then past my campsite entrance and into Ramsey. After that the fun begins, the climb onto the mountain proper….
So far, my gob had been completely smacked by the course. The TT bike riders must be insane to do the speeds they do, especially through the twisty bits. My admiration for them has increased a zillion-fold – the sidecar guys must be completely, utterly nuts ! I had no idea from the TV that the early part of the course was so twisty and undulating. You also have to bear in mind that this is also a “normal” everyday road, although some concessions to safety are provided by strategically placed crash pads and barriers – some of them looking very permanent !
Off up the mountain then, via May Hill, the Hairpin, Waterworks and Goosneck. Ever upwards to The Verandah, Bungalow and Windy Corner ( it is !) Stopped several times to admire the views. There is no shelter from any wind up here – even the mashall posts/shelters are wired down to the ground.
Lunchtime was imminent, so I decided to stop at the famous Creg-ny-Baa Hotel. They do a mean meat pie with gravy. As I was leaving, I got into conversation outside the hotel with some bike magazine guys – as one does. They were doing stuff with KTM – with nice new shiny bikes. I’d previously seen a guy lurking in the ditch with a professional looking camera on my way up the mountain. Turned out it was well known TT rider Michael Rutter Involved with the filming. After much informative chat and total admiration of the awesome 200 mph (allegedly) straights before and after Creg-ny-Baa, I moved on, completing the course back to Douglas.
WOW !!!!! is such a small way of expressing my thoughts on the whole thing. Impressive would be another. Anyway, after much mopping up of the drool dangling from my chin…… I was hooked – so went round again !
Now bear in mind that there was ordinary traffic around (including tractors, the IOM is 80 % agricultural after all, so plenty of them), it took me just under an hour to complete a “non-stop” run. The quick guys on bikes do it in less than 17 minutes (an AVERAGE, yes AVERAGE of over 135 m/hr – unbelievable !) and Mark Higgins’s record (past UK rally champion, born in the IOM) in a VERY special Subaru is around 17 1/2 mins (Average 128 odd m/hr). If you’re interested (or are super-nerdy…..), the short film version of his record run is HERE, the full 17+ minutes HERE. That puts it very much into perspective. OK, so they have a closed course – but even so……..
As you can tell, I was somewhat taken aback. If you want to bore yourselves stupid, see my very non-professional GoPro efforts, as below:
PART 1 – Start to just after Handley’s Corner HERE
PART 2 – Then on to Ballaugh Bridge. Unfortunately, there was an “incident” just after that, so had to divert and come back part way along Sulby Straight HERE
PART 3 – Sulby Staight to Waterworks HERE
PART 4 – Just after the hairpin in coming out of Ramsey back to the start.HERE
It’s in bits as there was a lot of stopping/starting, the battery seemed to be playing up and also totally incompetent first time GoPro operator digit trouble. Sorry about the initial bit of bad language – didn’t realise GoPro had a microphone !
Then on to something slightly more sedate/shorter – but only slightly……
At the “bottom” of the island (near to Castletown) there is another bike course, the Billown Circuit. This again is 4.5 miles of closed off public roads and is used for (amongst other events) the Southern 100. This is a “proper” race, with riders starting collectively from a traditional grid, rather than the TT, which is more like a time trial, with riders setting off at minute intervals. Lots of very solid-looking walls on this track, so the riders still require the switching off of brains to compete, in my humble opinion…. GoPro results can be seen here.
Somewhere, I managed to flit through Castletown (the old IOM capital before Douglas) and on to a quiet walk along Scarlett Point. I’d deliberately decided to leave all the good stuff at Castletown for the next visit (yes there will be another one, I’m pretty sure) as it merited a bit more than a quick look round.
After all this adrenaline pumping action, it was a quiet walk around Ramsey in the evening. Surprisingly, the harbour featured a fair number of fishing boats. Apparently, the main fishing undertaken in the Isle of Man’s territorial sea (12 nautical miles) is for king scallop, queen scallop (known locally as queenies), crab, lobster and whelk.
And so to bed……..