29th August Ballasholague Farm, Isle of Man
Kms today 38
Kms to date 10,187
Betty prepared Manx Kippers for breakfast and then proceeded to complain about the smell in her kitchen! We rode to Ramsey and then up onto the mountain. The weather was grey and races had been delayed. There were big signs warning us that traffic was 2-way on the mountain because apparently its 1-way during the TT. The roads were unrestricted once we got out of Ramsey so I gave the V-Strom the berries up through the hairpin, the Gooseneck, the Waterworks, Guthrie Memorial, Mountain Mile, and the Veranda - all famous names to the Bungalow, where we were going to stay for the days racing. The V-Strom is a bike that doesn't like being revved hard and so it was not as much fun as I hoped. We had a magnificent view down the valley to Laxey and Snaefell was up behind us. The Trolley tram was operating from Laxey, but not going across the track and up Snaefell. There was a café closed because of asbestos with a huge mural of Joey Dunlop on the side and a statue of Joey sitting on his last TT wining bike , a works Honda SP2, the same as at the memorial in Ballymoney. Around the base of the statue were little mementos to other riders who had been killed on the Island, including Joey's nephew; rather sad I thought.
There were very few spectators because the races had been delayed again (we should have checked) so we started chatting to our neighbours. There were a couple of lads from Yorkshire in shorts who usually come for the TT, but this year came for the Classic TT and they didn't even own bikes. They were well prepared with chairs, esky full of beer and a portable barbeque! They were very generous and shared their beer and a few sausages during the day. Another gent arrived on an ancient AJS and we had a chat about the races.
The racing eventually started at 1:15 with the MGP Junior which were mainly Kawasaki 600's, Yamaha R6's and Honda CBR600's screaming around the sweeping bends of the Bungalow. They did sound good and watching the different lines over the tramlines was interesting. Fastest seemed to be a wide line with a quick flick to the right after crossing the lines and before heading up to Hailwood Heights. The Fastest rider got a bit over excited with nearly a 120 mph lap and then binned it at Creg na Baa leaving the winner a rider from Limerick called James Chawke with an impenetrable accent.
Kms to date 10,187
Betty prepared Manx Kippers for breakfast and then proceeded to complain about the smell in her kitchen! We rode to Ramsey and then up onto the mountain. The weather was grey and races had been delayed. There were big signs warning us that traffic was 2-way on the mountain because apparently its 1-way during the TT. The roads were unrestricted once we got out of Ramsey so I gave the V-Strom the berries up through the hairpin, the Gooseneck, the Waterworks, Guthrie Memorial, Mountain Mile, and the Veranda - all famous names to the Bungalow, where we were going to stay for the days racing. The V-Strom is a bike that doesn't like being revved hard and so it was not as much fun as I hoped. We had a magnificent view down the valley to Laxey and Snaefell was up behind us. The Trolley tram was operating from Laxey, but not going across the track and up Snaefell. There was a café closed because of asbestos with a huge mural of Joey Dunlop on the side and a statue of Joey sitting on his last TT wining bike , a works Honda SP2, the same as at the memorial in Ballymoney. Around the base of the statue were little mementos to other riders who had been killed on the Island, including Joey's nephew; rather sad I thought.
There were very few spectators because the races had been delayed again (we should have checked) so we started chatting to our neighbours. There were a couple of lads from Yorkshire in shorts who usually come for the TT, but this year came for the Classic TT and they didn't even own bikes. They were well prepared with chairs, esky full of beer and a portable barbeque! They were very generous and shared their beer and a few sausages during the day. Another gent arrived on an ancient AJS and we had a chat about the races.
Two lads from Yorkshire well prepared for the mountain, shorts, beer and a barbeque
The racing eventually started at 1:15 with the MGP Junior which were mainly Kawasaki 600's, Yamaha R6's and Honda CBR600's screaming around the sweeping bends of the Bungalow. They did sound good and watching the different lines over the tramlines was interesting. Fastest seemed to be a wide line with a quick flick to the right after crossing the lines and before heading up to Hailwood Heights. The Fastest rider got a bit over excited with nearly a 120 mph lap and then binned it at Creg na Baa leaving the winner a rider from Limerick called James Chawke with an impenetrable accent.
James Chawke on his Paton
The next race was the Lightweight/Ultra Lightweight MGP. The Lightweight was again mainly Kawasaki ER6 and Suzuki SR650 twins with one Paton. The Ultra Lightweight was a bit more interesting with Moto 3 bikes, 125 2 strokes and 400 V4's or straight fours. The racing wasn't that interesting as everyone seemed to be travelling at much the same speed with no "quick men". This probably because the riders were not experienced on the Island. I can see why many people leave mid week as the MGP is pretty ho-hum. It was a lovely sunny day if a bit cool and it was nice to sit back on the grassy bank and watch the bikes fly past.
A couple of racers chasing each other over the tramlines (see the sign!) at The Bungalow
Comments
Post a Comment