Nothing like 2 hours of sleep to get the cobwebs out.....managed to stagger up....

The first races are today. Wowser. So I crawled downstairs and Vivien and David had breakfast waiting for me....this is also where I met Deb and Andrew a really nice couple from England....near Birmingham I think. I was a bit messed up think my pants were on backwards so they probably think I was one of those "Eccentric" types.....but once I told me tale of how I got there, I might have seen a glimmer of sympathy LOL. Either way I was b*****ed....but was not going to let that interfere with me race day.

You need to get to this lil Isle to understand it a bit. The place is buzzing about the TT...it lives for it. It's a massive event. The actual course messes up all forms of getting around. At certain times before a race starts they close the course to traffic. So depending on where you are you could get stuck there for the duration of the day usually till about 6 in the evening. So you need to also factor in where to watch from...because you can sit on the side of the road and watch....there are all sorts of interesting named parts of the course such as Greg nay baa, the Veranda, Kirk Michael.....did you catch that...I'm staying in Kirk Michael...its right on the course...the course is about 200 feet from the house.  

Since I was b*****ed...I intended to stick around here to watch....seemed like the thing to do. So did Deb and Andrew....so we decided to team up and David and Vivien gave us a bunch of pointers on where to try to go and filled us in on the lil tricks...such as if you go to the pub to watch you are stuck there all day....not too bad of a proposition I thought. But they also have an ole rail line right behind their house. This is now a walking path..and it get to some of the places to watch from and your not stuck in one spot...Once in Kirk Michael..unless you plan you can be stuck here.  

So this is a road race and you can get really close...literally feet from the bikes as they go by.  
Here is a link to give you an idea of what it is from Guy Martins bike doing a lap. Each lap is 37 miles...they launch 10 seconds apart so it is a race against the clock. Average top speed around 130, they top 200 in some sections...remember this is not a race track just normal roads here....

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QVXc29ZgutI

 But they have some rules and the race marshalls are everywhere to crack the whip. Once the track is closed...you can not put your foot on it at all....unless guided. If you go on the track at all even if the race isn't on..they can cancel the race...so you would not be too popular.  

So we wandered down the path, talked to a few locals all very helpful folks....and we ended up right on the track sitting on the grass on a hedge row. Wicked view of them accelerating out of the town. The streets here are not wide at all and the houses are only a few feet from the road with some type of concrete or rock wall. They are doing about 170 mph through this section. One slip and it'll only hurt for a sec. I missed the qualifying rounds which are suppose to be neat to see. There were already 4 deaths through out the week. Not racers mind you....usually its bikers going crazy on the course. Its hard to sort out the speed rules....you can't just drive like an idiot...officially....on the mountain you can...and no waivers to sign lol.

So plunked down and of course every one there was in a great mood and chatty. Great day sun was shining....not too hot. The spot we picked was seeing a bit of a straight run out of town and just past us was a lil bump in the road.....and then a right hander out of view. Everyone has a radio to listen to command central and find out when the race starts and status during....my radio which I bought just for this....prompty s*** the bed.....so Deb tossed me a lil radio you put on your ear....they are made for races it seems there is only one channel...and it worked.  

After a bit of a wait the marshals clamped down....from this point forward could not walk on the road it was only 2 feet away....no fences either. Only option out was to try to hop a nasty hedge behind....but no need to at this point. Eventually the race starts.......then its the wait.....takes about 5 minutes for the riders to get to where we are sitting.....

You start to hear the sound of the revving engine in distance echoing through the area. I remember the run into town on my bike...it was a hoot.....but at 170 holy s***...... everybody looks to the right......gets the cameras ready....and the first headlight comes into view....John Mcguiness ...... current King of the Mountain riding a Honda......Booooom he blasts by at an amazing speed.....and that lil bump launches him a bit but he keeps it all under control hard lean right and he is gone.....just a wiff of exhaust...a ringing in the ear from the scream of the engine going by. You literally can not blink as you will miss it....freaking amazing....blasts past maybe ten feet away. Then one after another each one having his own issue with the bump....slight tank slaps as the rear goes up on occasion.....no idea how to describe the sensation of speed and living on the edge of technical capability, physical ability, raw nerves and gonads of steel..... absolutely amazing. Worth the effort to get here on the first pass alone.   

With the radio going and your ear paying attention then you have an idea of when the next rider is coming by I took a ton of pics on auto shutter as it was the only way to try to catch a shot. Forget trying to track em going by.....I finally got the hang with me iphone of all things for video. You never know what you got till you look later...... after about an hour I think......it was done 4 laps....John took it.  
Was pretty dang cool to see. rather than sitting we figured we would try to get a new view....soooo had to ever so gingerly sneak alone the grass line of the hedge....bit of a challenge as its a good angle but we managed and the Marshal didn't yell at us once. So we headed back into town. Sidecars next....Deb took a nap as sidecars weren't her thing, me n Andrew went to find a different view point.  
 
Bit tricky as all we could find was a road that was blocked off near a stone wall in town....they had the fence back as it was right after a tight right hander. We were on the outside of the corner and if anything went wrong it was coming right at us.  

The set up is a bit paranoid after a race marshal got killed 3 years ago so they have tightened the spectator areas down a bit. At this point we have been on the outside of the track and cannot cross to the inside from here at all. The pub sadly is on the inside....tough decisions can effect your whole day. I seem to be getting hankerings for Guinness now.  

So settled in the new spot and had a bit of a camera opportunity coming around the corner....but for only a tenth of a second at best....then a hard head swivel and should see em going past but the wall blocks a bit of the view.

Really don't get carts I personally think they guys n gals riding em are bonkers...and my bonker meter is set pretty high...basically the driver is laying down with his chin resting on the engine....and the rider is pretty much hanging on for dear life....but the catch is he/she has to lean on the corners to not help the cart turn....but it is actually needed to turn the thing...ohh doing around 160 or so.....when they crash its pretty spectacular. Or if the rider leans a bit too much they clip a fence or something with their head or hip or other appendage...and poof they are skidding down the road less some brain cells or appendages and usually consciousness too......friggin bonkers.  

And they were off......I heard the revving engine.....the first one came by so fast I only caught them exiting into the right hander the rider was clutching to the driver in a very passionate embrace.....definitely gotta be close or near death experiences might cause this....bit of a poof factor if you ask me...... not that there is anything wrong with that LOL. Either way holy crap are they fast and loud......one rider almost fell off and slipped bad his feet were dangling off the end of the cart....oops... pretty interesting to see.

Next round was another bike race 600's....this is where an attempt was made for us (Deb found us) to all make the pub...we all seemed to want a beer bad so we wandered up n down the streets in an attempt to get to a road of hope.....where we may be able to get across between the race......we eventually wandered into the campground and it was packed....this island is stuffed. We popped out on the road and headed to the course.....nice spot....I saw no way to get across and settled into the idea of viewing from here. Then got the word follow me...it was Andrew...seemed Deb sweet talked the marshal and he was allowing us to cross. Wahooo to the pub for us. Deb is now official logistics coordinator now. 

Wicked spot...we got some beers and settled in on a park bench on the inside of a right hander. We were just above the road. Sweet spot! So I started to set up the various cameras I brought....at some point Deb thought I was gunna pull a rabbit out of the bag....lil dodads everywhere. Was a great spot so wanted to get some shots. A gaggle of Irish blokes settled in besides us and chatted with us to a nice bunch of Northern Irelanders. Everybody I've talked to has been great so far. Really makes you feel a bit at home.

The race started and holy crap.....I coulda smacked the helmets with me hand as they passed by leaning in on the corner....wouldn't have a hand left but that's how close we were. Really cool action...but it started to rain on the mountain. This caused a delay. Should have mentioned the course runs over a mountain....about 2000 feet climb...makes weather a huge factor as it can be rainy on the top...or foggy....windy etc etc.....lot of factors can effect the track. In this case the rain on the mountain caused them the stop the race. Still saw a lot..... all good.

With the weather going south Deb had forgotten her jacket so she borrowed mine....seems that that entitles a person to beers around here....great deal as she obviously is not aware of how tough our Canadian resistance to the elements is. So eventually we headed into the pub and had a few pints....then Deb headed back n me and Andrew had a few more pints....some where in here I did make a mistake of uncorking.....holy crap found the one downside of Guinness I think....I actually think it grows in your bladder......I've never had to uncork ever 5 minutes it seemed else I really did feel like I would explode.....seems the yang of the universe has showed up. We called it a night....fortunately the pub is only a block from the house that..... was sufficient time for a desperate need to take another tinkle.....and another...and another.....hmmm must rethink the Guinness thing......need empty bladder for the mountain run tomorrow cause its Mad Sunday .... Google it LOL........ :)))))