I was away watching the TT for 5 days last week. It was my first time to the Isle of Man and it was a great experience, I would definitely recommend it for anyone who has the slightest interest in bikes. I've watched World Superbikes/Moto GP/British Superbikes etc but they really are nothing compared to the TT. If you were aloud to get any closer to the action, you'd be sat on the bikes with the riders! Although the course (public roads) is closed, you can get right up to the action on the roadside. There is, of course, an element of risk in sitting on the side of the road as bikes come whizzing past at speeds in the region of 170 mph but viewing spots are relatively well thought out to limit the danger.
I've uploaded a couple of short (30 seconds ish) video's which I took, to You Tube if you're interested in getting a feel for it. It looks as though the clips have been speeded up (even to me) but if you look at the people on the side of the road, you can tell they haven't been. There's also a couple of pictures to show just how close you can get:
Bray Hill: 160 mph speeds through a 30mph speed limit,
traffic light junction on a bend. Only the brave!
A straight section on the run into Ballacraine
Rider Gary Johnson on the straight after Bray hill (I've got my arm stuck out
over the wall, just in case you think I'm stupid enough to stand on the pavement!)
The shutter speed on my phone's camera isn't quick enough (surprisingly)
and as such I've some weird distorted images of bikes
So while I was out in the Isle of Man we spent Saturday afternoon with some friends in a place on the south of the Island called Port Erin. A lovely little village/town, very scenic, great beach, even better pub! As we'd gone there in the car and the beer was too good to stop drinking, we decided to leave the car and collect it the next day. We hadn't decided how exactly we were going to get it but I'd taken my trainers and figured I could always run down from our hotel in Douglas so long as I wasn't too dehydrated. As it happens I was fine in the morning after calling it a night at a reasonable time and because it was throwing it down there wasn't much else to do. So I donned trainers and waterproof jacket, grabbed a bottle of lucazade and set off.
It's the longest run I'd done in a while and I felt it. Not so much on the fitness but more on the legs. Most of the route was on tarmac and I was running in a pair of race trainers which provide less cushioning. I'd bought them for casual use rather than running, however when your running trainers are in the boot of the bloody car that you're on the way to collect (slight oversight), there isn't much choice!
It was a pleasant enough run and I always enjoy running in one direction, rather than doing a loop, for the constant scenery change. There was one section of road though, for about a mile, between Newtown and Ballasalla that had no pavement and there were a few moments when I feared for my life. A combination of overhanging tree's, blind bends and fast flowing traffic; mostly Vallentino Rossi style bikers, didn't make for a relaxing section. The Isle of Man is a fast, busy and dangerous enough place during the TT fortnight, without throwing into the mix a runner wearing a camouflaged outfit of black shorts and tarmac grey t-shirt!
Anyway I survived and although the run clocks up about 15.5 miles on google earth I probably did at least an extra mile thanks to the locals at Ballasalla who sent me off road down some track towards Castletown. They said it would keep me off the road and out of the traffic, what they didn't say is that the path splits several times and disappears completely in a couple of places - you can always trust the locals! I also took a wrong turn when I got to Castletown; funny how sometimes, for no reason at all, you are convinced that it's left not right. In this instance I knew I'd gone wrong when I got to the Sea!
I took my phone to use as a sat nav but only used it when lost because of the extortionate data charges. As such I've plotted the route from memory on google earth below:
The beautiful bay of Port Erin on the Isle of Man
Me, Gaz and Frank are only six weeks away from the big day now. We've still got a lot of preparation and hard work to come and it's all for a good cause. So, if you like the post, and I can tug at your heart strings, please make a contribution to Dr. Kershaw's hospice by clicking on the Just Giving link above - thank you!
Cheers
Mick
No comments:
Post a Comment