Iom tt 2019

[dlockhart]

[Jeff Higgins]

My younger son and I are flying out next Friday...

[Jeff Higgins]

We're flying Iceland Air to Keflavik, then on to London for an overnight layover, then on to Douglas. We have a hotel room in Douglas. No idea where to start or what to do, but we will figure it out. We are bringing day packs with the idea of hitching a ride out onto the upper parts of the course some days, and staying more in town on others. We are told there are buses that provide transportation up the island. We'll see...

[Rick Lee]

I gotta start training for next year's race.

[Jeff Higgins]

My son and I at Creg ny Baa on Thursday:



After a frustrating week of rainouts, they finally managed to race on Thursday. They got in five races, a new TT record, albeit they were shortened by a lap or two so they could squeeze them all in. Friday they ran the Senior TT only (they had scheduled sidecar as well, but moved that up to Thursday) due to approaching weather. They got in all six laps, and it was a thrill to watch the big bikes at speed.

What an adventure. If any of you are even considering going, I would say "just do it". The travel and logistics are a bit difficult from here, but well worth the effort once you are there.

This was a "learning" trip for us, and we did manage to learn a few things for next time (and there will be a next time). Number one, we relied upon the "TT buses" for transport up and down the course, which was somewhat limiting. Oh, it was still a blast, but I think a bit more mobility would be nice next time. The buses stop when the track closes, so you spend the day wherever you got off the bus. With a rental car (or bike), one would be free to scurry up and down the back roads to take in a greater variety of viewing spots.

As it was, we watched from the main grandstands so we could take in the pits and see the riders and teams. Not the best place from which to watch the racing, though, so we ran down Bray Hill (just about a quarter mile from the pits), which was better viewing, but standing room only. Creg ny Baa was a far better grandstand, and you can walk some distance up or down the hill from there. And it was a lot less crowded.

Tuesday was completely rained out (it's normally a rest day anyway, but they wanted to catch up the racing), so we bussed it around the course. Any of you who have driven country roads in the UK, Scotland in particular, are well familiar with just how narrow and rough those roads are. I guess we thought that the "race track" would be better maintained. It's not. At 40 mph on the bus we were holding onto the seats in front of us and getting bounced out of our seats. Even on Sulby Straight, the highest speed section of "track", where the big bikes run in the mid 190's. Just unfathomable to me after having been on that road on a bus.

Anyway, again - if you have any interest at all, I would highly recommend you go. You won't regret it.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

My son and I at Creg ny Baa on Thursday:

Which one is you ? Great father/son trip!

[Zeke]

They probably only hit the top of each bump.

Seriously, you can't compare a bus suspension to the money they spend. But, you're there and I'm not.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Zeke

They probably only hit the top of each bump.

Seriously, you can't compare a bus suspension to the money they spend. But, you're there and I'm not.

You're right, a bus has a way of making even pretty good roads feel pretty rough. Whole different dynamic. That said, when out of the bus and walking around, the road surfaces appeared very much your typical U.K. country road. Riding in the taxi between the airport and hotel was notably rough as well.

The teams do set up the bikes with TT specific suspension settings, with dedicated springs and dampers, some going as far as a dedicated swing arm on the Superbike, where they are allowed to change it. It's a pretty big deal for them - none use their "TT setup" anywhere else. Not that the roads are any rougher on The Isle of Man than they are at other stops on the Irish Open Road Series (which comprises the other stops in their racing series), it's just that the speeds are that much higher on the Island on the same level of crappy road.

I've ridden my motorcycles and driven my cars on our same local roads all of my life. I can say that it is easier to make time on a crappy road on a bike than in a car, especially a stiffly sprung road race oriented car. I think if anyone ever tried to race cars on the IOM, they would be best served with rally cars rather than road racing cars. Actually, I think someone tried that once, just to get a time - some World Rally car or something. I'll see if I can find it...

[Bill Douglas]

All I can say is have a good time and take lots of photos!

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by peteremsley

So glad the rain stopped!!

Boy, no kidding. We were really starting to think it was all for naught. Long ways to go to stand around in the rain. Thursday made it all worthwhile, though, and the Senior on Friday was fantastic.

Originally Posted by peteremsley

So glad the rain stopped!!

Prettiest bike ever?[/QUOTE]

Absolutely. The sound was amazing as well. Poor John, though - I really felt bad for him. Do you know what kept going wrong?

In Superbike qualifying on Thursday, he stopped to fix something at the Bungalow. Clearly out of it, when he came down the hill, through Creg ny Baa, he rode a wheelie past the crowd on exit, right in front of us. Pretty darn cool.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by peteremsley

lil lunch at the start line... superstock about to head out, I think.

Not exactly a ploughmans platter but it'll do!

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by peteremsley

I think Norton was overheating. A real shame because he seemed fast.

He kept stopping to fiddle around with something on the bike. That kind of led me to believe it was some sort of an electrical gremlin, or fueling, or something like that. I'm not sure what he could fiddle with to help with overheating, unless it was engendered by a lean mix or something. At any rate, a real shame. That thing sounded glorious when it was on song.

Originally Posted by peteremsley

We did the bus lap with Phil McCallan at 6am one morning. Was good fun. His description of the road and the bumps and jumps was worth every penny.

That must have been awesome! We just rode the "TT 6" bus up to Ramsey, which was pretty fun in itself. Pretty revealing as far as just how bad those roads really are.

Originally Posted by peteremsley

Had lunch with James Hillier's family one day,too. Quite a party - good Yorkshire folks

How fun! That was kind of one of the really cool takeaways for us - just how approachable and down to earth everyone is. It's like going to a local amateur road race. No pretenses, no egos, just all a bunch of good "mates" as you guys call one another, looking out for and helping each other.

Originally Posted by peteremsley

Would go back again, but probably do it differently. I'm thinking Airbnb and a rented scooter...

That was our conclusion as well. This was more or less a "scouting trip" for us. We stayed in Douglas on the waterfront and were beholden to the TT bus routes for transport. A great way to start, and to just be there to look and learn. More mobility will be key next time. We may still hotel it, but we really want to be able to move around more easily. I'm thinking more along the lines of a small car, so we can throw lawn chairs, coolers, extra clothes, and whatnot into it.