Day 1 what should one expect?

this is the fourthtime I have been fortunate enough to be on the Isle of Man to witness the racing firsthand. Three of those times have been for the TT and once for the Classic.

Looking back over the day it was just so typical of the TT.

I came across one spectator accident on the mountain that resulted in the closure of the road, I saw one rider come off and heard of another accident that caused the restart of the sidecars.

To truely appreciate the skill and expertise of these riders I always try to complete a lap of the course and on the unlimited Mountain Mile I expect to achieve speeds in excess of 160 kmp as without that thrill and flirt with real danager I don't feel "part of the event"

So this morning I set off with Greg and Andrew as his pillion passenger to "do a lap"

The bottom section of the course runs in local villages and towns so one always strictly observes the speed limits and traffic also is usually heavy, but 2018 hasn't proved a big crowd event sofar.

After passing Ramsey . the second largest town, a special chill enters the body as you approach the hairpin bend leading to the Mountain section of the course. It's here that I leave my riding companions, the signage changes, the Police presence while symbolic is heavy and despite what is just around the cornor traffic control cones draw you into a single narrow lane for some 500m.

The cones finish and the speed sign is a white background with a black circle and diagonal black line- derestricted!

There are no towns, it's always colder,it may be misty,it's always possible to come across wet spots on the road.

It's man and machine and the Triumph has an alto ego once the panniers are removed the 1050cc triple begans to bark with a sound only triples can produce at high revs'.

There can be no scenery gazing,as one is fully concentrating on the road some 80-100m in front with an occassional look at the GPS to add visual reinforcement to the memory as to which way the road bends around.

In racing there are no rear vision mirrors but here those on track with you are mostly "wantabe racers" so i try to glance at what's coming behind me as often they maybe riding inexcess of 200kph and most likely outside of their capabilities.

The Mountain Mile signpost flashes past and soon the GPS is telling me in real terms ÿou have cracked the ton" then a civilian figure apving his appears on the road frantically waving his arms, I don't need to be told äccident ahead road probably blocked, injured riders maybe even a dead rider, I have seen it all before.

The twin disc brakes haul me down to walking pace well before I reach him, yes a rider has collided with others , he is injured his bike is off the road caught by luckly a wire fence the rider is prone beside it.

A Police officer approaches, "No help needed and if you would like the 4 bikes can carefully pick their way amongst the debris and head down the mountain as the road is going to be closed. No second invitation was needed. Greg unfortunately was redirected back to Ramsey.

I arrived at the Start/Finish line with a task and a visit in mind.

I was surprised at the lack of people in the merchandise and pits areas which actually assisted my needs and soon I had seen many of the top bikes from BMW,Yamaha,Honda and Suzuki. I saw the Norton that IOM legend John McGuinnes would ride, with a recently broken leg, in a special parade lap.

Bradden Church was to be my first viewing point and I was soon parked enjoying Victoria Sponge cake and a cup of tea. I did however express my concern tthat they were pricing themselves out of the market. In 2011 it was 1pound to park, in 2015 it was 5 pound and now it's 8 pound. Not good marketing when many new areas are opening up with free parking plus offering the facilities the church was renowned for food, toilets & seating with no parking fee. Food has also leaped from 1 pound for a cup of soup to 3.50pounds now.

This is a good viewing spot as some of the photo's show and yes we did have a rider fall off at the cornor and thanks to the fact that this cornor is one of the few that has padding infront of the stone walls the rider walked away as the photo shows.

I have always like the south of this island so between races I rode my usual Southern route to ride the Southern 100 track, visit Colby, Port Elizabeth & Port St Mary before testing man and machine again on the hill climb track and finally enjoying the scenic Western coastal route to Ramsey. Then a backtrack to Kirk Michael and a front row seat to watch the sidecars after visiting a museum that specialises in Douglas motorcycles.

The sidecar race like the first race won by Michael Dunlop (his 16th IOM win) set new lap records in fact the winner of the sidecar three lap event set a time in every lap lower then the prior track record.

So as Day 1 draws to a close it typifies the drama, the human suffering, the highs and the lows of racing for glory at the TT.