Ackkkk a no sleep night. Not sure if a little lag biting me. Either way its race day......sooo today I managed to crawl up and head down for breakfast. Deb and andrew were already up n chipper cause they had Grandstand seats at the start line today . I debated getting them but decided to not as there were so many places to view from, and its a bit of a challenge finding the next good spot.

Always up for a challenge...  So the sun was shining and the forecast for the rest of the week did not look good so figured today would be a good day to watch from the mountain as it is suppose to have nice view. The rest of the weeks weather was very dodgy at best. So turns out I can get there from the inside of the course and the way the lil country roads go there is sort of a secret way back not Douglas on the outside of the course if you do it right. Sounded like a good challenge so off I went, I needed to beat the road closure. Its a small island but there are lil roads criss-crossing everywhere.  

 Very cool narrow roads with huge hedgerows no shoulders....just a wall or a massive hedge full of tall grass...Its like driving down green hallways......I keep getting me legs whipped when I hug the corners. Great driving...as long as no one is coming the other way. Found the road outside of Kirk Michael and off I went up this little narrow paved road.  

 This road turned out to be a hoot! Narrow and twisty lil mountain path with the odd sheep on it.....actually sheep all over the place as its free range. I got to the intersection of the mountain road from the inside and parked not many folks here yet. So I parked, grabbed me gear and asked a marshal if you can still get back if I cross the road...reason being the fields on the other side were slightly higher than the road...and on the outside of the curve...gave what I saw to be a great view...as you can see them for over a mile away coming in on the run to the veranda.  

 This is where Colin Cummins had a spectacular crash a couple of years ago and actually survived....google it....seriously...your jaw will drop. They go so fast on this stretch the tires just can't hang on to the road at times in the corners and there is no margin for error at all....as he put it...he thought he had it...but he didn't. End result is a miracle he wasn't killed....tonnes of pins in his leg busted back....and he will race again....
 
So I got across the track hopped a fence and found the perfect spot in a field of peat. The Marshal told me that they may let me cross the track in between races. Worth the risk I thought......I was looking right at the apex of the corner....I'd have to duck if whoever was coming lost it.  
Now the wait begins....but its okay I'm prepared....I got the worlds smallest chair..... I whip it out...unfold it. Strategically sit on it....hmm seems cozy....then ketwangggggg.......I fell over in a heap....chair literally blew up....hmmm a Guinness effect I suspect....sigh. Ah well the bag it came in worked as a chair to keep the pants dry on me arse......I think I heard some serious laughter from across the road on that one. Geeze you'd thing a high quality $3.99 chair could withstand more than that....  
  
But sure enough a delay.....just as they were about to close the course for the race....somebody killed themselves on it. That's a 3 hour delay....how inconsiderate...if your going to kill yourself time it so it doesn't effect the race. Apparently it took a few hours to find all his bits n pieces.....every year its just a matter of how many will get killed not if anyone will get killed. This course is for real with no margin for error at all. A lot of MotoGp riders will not race it and say the guys that do are crazy if you can believe it.  
 
So I had the field to me self and everyone was across the way...it was great then this teen showed up from along the fence line and tried to set up in me field of view....I did the clearing of the throat thing....and mentioned yaaaaa nooooooo and he smiled and got it. He had a bigger camera lense than I ..... so I figured he could go farther back. He understood first come first served. Then his dad showed up and his twin brother. His dad asked if he was bugging me at all and I said nope...then gave him heck for potentially getting in me view. Wow....manners anyhoo....that is Pete...and his kids....awesome bloke. Next thing he had them getting tea for him n me....and sharing cookies and all sorts of goodies on this peat field on the mountain ... in the chilly mountain breeze. It was pretty cool specially when the sun got hidden by a cloud. Sure missed my toque...err woolly cap. Learned a lot about the crappy economy in England while waiting. Even the rich are suffering.....having to downsize their vacation homes...
 
Finally the race got started......it was about 10 minutes at speed from where we were.....he had a radio playing so we could keep up....the only station on the Island and its dedicated to the race. So they give updates of where the leaders are once the hit Ramsey...they are almost at the mountain climb.....so at that point you start getting your camera ready cause its going to be fast.....the helicopter chasing them is a give away too....its pretty cool when the chopper can't keep up though.  

 In the distance you can see a head light coming around a bend then you hear the engine then the leader is heading right toward ya.....and pow....he blasts by.....I got a great spot..... got the camera on auto shutter......and quicker than you can blink its a hard left bank and gone around the bend.....totally amazing.....one after another each belching some form of crazy horsepower and a different sound. You get a huge whiff of rubber and exhaust your that close.  

 So after about an hour, 4 laps.....its over...the action is spread out...so it takes a while for the last riders to go by. They are still on the track and the winners are in winners row already. Found a great place to watch from! So My friends decided to mosey on down the fence line and around here I thought I should see what else I can find.
   
Packed up.....yelled at the Marshal from across the road....and he gave me the nod.....several guys get on the track with yellow flags and you feel pretty special LOL. Its very serious...bit paranoid I think but what do I know.  
 
Since I got there tons of people showed up and the road was lined for a couple of miles to get to the track....crazy.... I was about 30 feet from the edge...early bird gets the worm....loaded up the bike...hopped on and trucked back the way I came.....got lost on the twisties....but didn't care.....as it was awesome riding...so I had to go back and do it again till I found the right lil turn off to Douglas.  

Great fun....I actually am impressed by teh ASC sstem manage to test it way more than I would on my bike....LOL. Seems when both wheels come of the tarmac at the same time....the bike literally stops the engine in an attempt to get earth bound again....then when you hit earth....its all good....the lil ASC light turns on when ever the bike tries to save you it looked like a strobe light...when I got long air....it just stayed lit up.....and it sounded like the engine actually shut off....very strange....If I wasn't so focused I would have glanced at the rpms to see but would have been a bad idea...was just going by sound. The bike sounds awesome with the echoes of the valley's. Eventually caught up with traffic and had to slow up....then an actual traffic jam to get on this lil secret way to cross the track....I just followed the guy in front of me.
 
What a maze.....but made it...and ended up on the promenade....figured I'd grab some grub then find a decent spot again.....welllllll I ended up in a pizza joint....not badd not great....and a long way from where I parked the bike....boots not great to walk in.....so I decided to head to the track....crap..it was a fair ways...uphill.....so I got to work off some Guinness....ying...yang.....
 
This time I ended up in an area just outside of the Grandstand.....on an accelerating straight away. there is a walkway to cross the road so did....ended up literally hanging on in the outside of this bridge to get a view..... there were so many people there.....and they have an elderly security guy that would yell at you even if you thought of stopping on the bridge.....I ended up with a view but getting shots was tough.
 
I got there just in time for the start.....I thnk it was less than a minute from the start line....holy crap once Mcguiness went by my ears rang for a while the combination of fire breathing bike, stone walls, buildings, massive speed......made for a hell of noise....one after another 10 secs apart. It was great stuff. The crowd loved it.  

Eventually I crossed over to a church yard. There was a gate recessed a bit from the road...you could not see the bikes coming you could hear them....they passed about 3 feet from you..... I stuck my camera through the bars and just started shooting.....I think I got some good shots. The bikes go by so fast no point in trying to include the video....as when upload it....the renderer can't catch it. In the end it was an amazing spectacle of power and speed and nerves.

The last of the guys blew past and I started humping it back to me bike, Long walk but all down hill at least. Again bike boots n walking on hard things not great....walking through town everywhere you can buy TT stuf.... I actually feel like a bit of a nerd as almost everyone has a Official TT racing jacket....just can't make me self do it. 

Found me bike and headed back to KM....not many folks were on the road so when it opened up I did the same. When I pulled in I could smell the brakes and the tires...actually checked the tires and they really do get hot.

Great timing as seems Andrew and Deb just got back also...they had Grandstand seats and loved em...off we all went to the Mitre ...and we found David and Vivvien hangin out....so we had a merry ole time. Them trying to teach me English it would seem....ack they may have invented the language and then botched it up.....thanks to me they all know what a toque is now. Doing my part.....

Also if anyone can figure out how the money system works let me know....a Scottish pound is the same as a Manx pound is the same as a British pound but you can't use a Manx pound in England but you can a Scottish one...they all work on Man.....very bizarre....surprising the pubs actually quit serving fairly early and they lock the doors you can stay late . Deb being a trooper held on to me last call drink till I was ready for it.   

So about here I asked about the Cayley Giant....sure enough everyone knows about him (least the folks from Man do). I let them know a friend of mine was related...small world....Google it. Giant of a man that was from Isle of Man...died under mysterious circumstances...you never know who you are talking to may know........the place was fairly busy...we need more English style pubs back home..definitely fun places....not found a bad one as of yet.....had fun chatting but had to head home eventually....

Tomorrow was a non race day sooooo get to take me time....maybe sleep in.