twowheeler
two wheels are best
Because we were on a catamaran, the crossing was quick and no sooner was I asleep than we're woken up to disembark in Douglas at 4:45am.
After riding off the ferry, seemingly everyone but me then roared off purposely in various directions. At least dawn had broken but God knows where they were all going at that hour.
I parked 200m away and went for a wander around the pretty but deserted (obviously) waterfront -
On the harbour's drawbridge -
Kicked about until 6am when I was an early cafe's first customer (The Caff in Lord Street, great omelette, toast and tea served by the cheeriest waitress in the whole world). Blood sugar restored , retrieved the Viffer then cruised south down the A25.
Port St Mary and its Operation Dynamo (Dunkirk) memorial. The Isle of Man has a proud history in that theatre of war -
Kept going to the southern tip of the island, which overlooks the Calf of Man -
This cross commemorates the ship Lily. She was wrecked on those rocks just offshore in a storm in 1852, drowning 5 crewmen. Amongst other cargo, she was carrying 60 tons of gunpowder and the next day, a 30-man team of local men attempted salvage.
They setoff a cataclysmic explosion clearly heard 18 miles away. All but one of them died and most were never identified as they were literally blown to shreds with body parts being found miles away. The local area lost a whole generation of men and many families were left destitute. A report from the time - http://www.sailing-by.org.uk/shipwreck-lily-1852/ -
After reading this sombre story then watching some seals, I curled up on a nice soft sheltered piece of grass and went into a deep sleep. Woke up 4 hours later surrounded by bikes and tourists, went to the local cafe for a cup of tea, felt like 10 men .
Meandered north until picking up the TT course at Greeba. Lots of bikes suddenly and I followed the crowd. Short detour onto a little road at Ballaugh -
Then back onto the TT course . Most bikes & traffic just cruising along but a handful were pretty willing. The IOM TT Constabulary are very visible and enforce (the generous) limits. Full marks to them, they have the right mix of PR, common sense and enforcement.
Just out of Ramsay, for the 2 week period of practice and race, the road over the mountain is turned into a one-way system from just after The Hairpin until Creg-ny-Baa, and this section of road has no speed limit. These cones mark the initial preparation for it -
In a sleep deprived state, for all of this section I just stayed out of the way, kept well left and under 100mph, which was plenty. There's lots to think about beside incidentals like apexes and gearing, such as not running up the arse of a bit of normal traffic like delivery trucks, keeping a bubble of space between others and not getting squashed by those who had it pinned. I got overtaken by several bikes at a huge speed differential and toward the end, by a convoy of cars. Most were souped-up Nissan GTRs but they in turn were being gathered up rapidly by, of all things, a dune buggy . Hallucinating I thought, but later found it parked - an Ariel Nomad . Bearing down onto the GTRs, this thing absolutely wailed past me on the outside of a left hander on 3 wheels; an image ingrained into my brain .
Enough excitement for one day, so continued on the course until turning off for Peel and my B+B for the next few days. Aalin View - it has a great view over the water -
Went for a wander around Peel. It's a nice old town -
Resident Manx Cat -
Large tides -
Pretty happy with this pic, overlooking the 11-century Viking-built castle, taken from outside the front door of the B+B. I'd accidentally turned on the Olympus's Art format and I like the effect -
More to come . . .
After riding off the ferry, seemingly everyone but me then roared off purposely in various directions. At least dawn had broken but God knows where they were all going at that hour.
I parked 200m away and went for a wander around the pretty but deserted (obviously) waterfront -
On the harbour's drawbridge -
Kicked about until 6am when I was an early cafe's first customer (The Caff in Lord Street, great omelette, toast and tea served by the cheeriest waitress in the whole world). Blood sugar restored , retrieved the Viffer then cruised south down the A25.
Port St Mary and its Operation Dynamo (Dunkirk) memorial. The Isle of Man has a proud history in that theatre of war -
Kept going to the southern tip of the island, which overlooks the Calf of Man -
This cross commemorates the ship Lily. She was wrecked on those rocks just offshore in a storm in 1852, drowning 5 crewmen. Amongst other cargo, she was carrying 60 tons of gunpowder and the next day, a 30-man team of local men attempted salvage.
They setoff a cataclysmic explosion clearly heard 18 miles away. All but one of them died and most were never identified as they were literally blown to shreds with body parts being found miles away. The local area lost a whole generation of men and many families were left destitute. A report from the time - http://www.sailing-by.org.uk/shipwreck-lily-1852/ -
After reading this sombre story then watching some seals, I curled up on a nice soft sheltered piece of grass and went into a deep sleep. Woke up 4 hours later surrounded by bikes and tourists, went to the local cafe for a cup of tea, felt like 10 men .
Meandered north until picking up the TT course at Greeba. Lots of bikes suddenly and I followed the crowd. Short detour onto a little road at Ballaugh -
Then back onto the TT course . Most bikes & traffic just cruising along but a handful were pretty willing. The IOM TT Constabulary are very visible and enforce (the generous) limits. Full marks to them, they have the right mix of PR, common sense and enforcement.
Just out of Ramsay, for the 2 week period of practice and race, the road over the mountain is turned into a one-way system from just after The Hairpin until Creg-ny-Baa, and this section of road has no speed limit. These cones mark the initial preparation for it -
In a sleep deprived state, for all of this section I just stayed out of the way, kept well left and under 100mph, which was plenty. There's lots to think about beside incidentals like apexes and gearing, such as not running up the arse of a bit of normal traffic like delivery trucks, keeping a bubble of space between others and not getting squashed by those who had it pinned. I got overtaken by several bikes at a huge speed differential and toward the end, by a convoy of cars. Most were souped-up Nissan GTRs but they in turn were being gathered up rapidly by, of all things, a dune buggy . Hallucinating I thought, but later found it parked - an Ariel Nomad . Bearing down onto the GTRs, this thing absolutely wailed past me on the outside of a left hander on 3 wheels; an image ingrained into my brain .
Enough excitement for one day, so continued on the course until turning off for Peel and my B+B for the next few days. Aalin View - it has a great view over the water -
Went for a wander around Peel. It's a nice old town -
Resident Manx Cat -
Large tides -
Pretty happy with this pic, overlooking the 11-century Viking-built castle, taken from outside the front door of the B+B. I'd accidentally turned on the Olympus's Art format and I like the effect -
More to come . . .
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