Very Wet at the Isle of Man TT

I have just got back from the Isle of Man TT practice week. It did not exactly go as planned with constant rain causing all but one of the sessions to be cancelled.

Still, it was a very enjoyable week away on the bike!

Freddy and I left Bridgwater on Monday morning and rode up through Wales, stopping for a fish finger sandwich at the Cross Foxes before pushing on up to Liverpool to find the "worst signed port in the world". Anyway, after about 3 hours of queuing with thousands of other bikes, we got on the Manannan ferry and arrived at Douglas around midnight. A quick 30 min ride to the Laxey Football Club where we were camping for the night. Tent up and in bed by 1 am!

Tuesday was a ride around the TT course with a coffee stop in Ramsey whilst waiting for the mountain road to open. Well, that turned into a long coffee break so we headed off to Laxey Beach Café for lunch before returning to Ramsey once we heard the road was open. A short wait and we were off up the road. A large number of riders decided unrestricted meant they could ride like complete and utter idiots passing too close and far to fast. Sadly this was followed by a rider who decided to ride at a speed that was not commensurate with his skill level. After giving some first aid and scene management until the emergency service arrived to took over, I was off back down to Douglas. My ride of this iconic road soured by idiots and those who were completely unaware of their own (lack of) ability. The afternoon was spent in the TT stand above the pits watching the only action we saw all week.

Wednesday and Thursday were both wash outs so we visited the TT museum at Jurby and rode down to Port Erin and the Calf of Man. Both very nice locations and drier than the north and the mountain circuit.

Friday was wetter than an Otters pocket, so we hid in the shelter of the campsite marque, before heading to Douglas (via the Laxey Beach Café) for our ferry. Loads of bikers again including those coming home early due to the lack of racing predicted over the weekend

After staying the night at a Bunkhouse in Bethesda we had a great ride back on Saturday through Wales and down the Wye Valley back to  Bridgwater. The end for me but as I write this, Freddy is still on his way to Penzance.

This has been a bit of an eye opener for me on accident management. In order to manage the large number of bikers (some with a very low skill level but a high opinion of their ability), the IOM police make the Mountain road one way during the TT. The unrestricted speed limit seems to attract some of the most idiotic riding I have ever seen and yet...… A crash happens, they close the road and attend the scene, clear up and re-open the road. Some time later another crash happens and it starts again.

On Tuesday it was closed 4 times during the day. The shortest open period being 7 mins and the longest around 1 hour. The remainder of the roads are restricted and although it was great to hear the Police arrested and locked up a rider for 123mph in a 50 limit, there is still a level of tolerance to poor riding that I can not get my head round. The mandate for making the Mountain road one way during TT fortnight was "to make it easier to manage collisions" rather than "to reduce collisions" but I can't help but feel that thinking there are no vehicles coming towards you just make people ride even more dangerously. There is also no guarantee that there won't be a head on as both a car and motorcycle were spotted trying to go the wrong way!

Oh yes, and there is even a "Mad Sunday" when apparently it is even worse that what we experienced.

Would I go back? Of course, will book the ferry shortly.