Well as the weathers so pants and theres not a whole lot doing bike wise this time of year, i thought some of you might like to see my IOM TT  2014 Trip Report - I hope you enjoy, and i hope you can all make it out there this year!


Wed 28th May;





Typically late setting off - by an hour and quarter! Weather was pants, rain of all things, same as last year. I had no time to stop, so a race it was across the M62 to Liverpool, satnav playing silly buggers by sending me through the town centre instead of straight to the port to top it off! Before i'd even left the town where i live, i realised i haddnt packed my umbrella, and a short distance up the motorway i also realised i'd forgotten a "puck" for use under my sidestand on soft ground. Not the end of the world, and to be fair they were the only things i forgot, so it could have been alot worse.

Once i got to the boat the good news was that because i was so late there was no queuing and i simply rode straight on..



Wasnt long before we left the docks and started the two and half hour journey to the Island...





A pretty uneventful sailing and docking, it wasnt long before i was shacked up in my tent with a beer and chinese, day one drawing to an end...





Thurs 29th May;

First full day on the island, and practise week, things being alot quieter than they would be in a weeks time.





I took advantage if the quiet stalls and bagged a couple of t-shirts for myself, a fleece for our lass (didnt fancy my ear bending like last year for not bringing her one back) and also a umbrella. We all know if you buy an umbrella your not going to need it right?





I had good walk around the paddock, the TT is brilliant for being able to get close to both the bikes and the people that make it happen. I hope this continues, as unfortunately there were a number of thefts this year from the paddock area, including an expensive mountain bike, a helmet, and a pair of superbike wheels - the latter from Karl Harris who sadly died during the Superstock race later during the week. Always lots to see....


Wilson Craig Machines..




BMW's...

Norton...






McPint's 'blade....




Busy, busy, busy...





Steve Parish talking to the Milwaukee guys...




Tyco Suzuki Tent...




The future of biking....













Mark Higgins record beating Impreza.... <------ LINK

After spending an hour or so around the paddock i took a ride up through town past the old tram....




...and Bushys beer tent....





Around past the port where all visitors enter and leave the island...




...and finally found myself at Breg-Ny-Bar ready for the evening's practice..





It was a chilly evening and i was struggling with the light for my camera but the sidecar lads and lasses were knocking on...








...as were the solo lads....



Chad from MCN...





This lad got black flagged by the Marshalls, after abit of heated discussion they let him back out, i presume they must have had a report of leaking fluids or something....




As always before you know it the sessions over with and it's time to head back to camp - course car waiting to go out. Until this chap goes past your not allowed out onto the circuit...

You can watch from the balcony at the creg, its not cheap mind...

Fri 30th May;

Woke up to a nice dry day....




As usual the fly's were out. For any old skool bikers reading this, have you noticed theres alot less flys around these days? Riding around the IOM is like riding back i the ninetys, both for lack of traffic and large amount of fly's!! Keep your visor closed or risk this...





Stopped at Peel for apparently the best fish and chips going....





...and then decided to take a lap of the circuit over the mountain. It wasnt looking good though by the amount of bikes parked up at the start of the mountain section..






oh!







Mark Higgins was also having to wait....






Unlike the road sweeper on his way to another RTC. According to Police by Thursday of race week there had already been 85 RTC's, up frpm 84 for the whole of TT fortnight last year......





I decided not to wait and took a different route back to camp, passing another camp which is always at the side of the road above Laxey, and has been every year since 1980 or something or other..... Reminds me of the Nurburgring 24hr race....





Practise that night i decided on Bray hill, a notorious viewing point due to the speed of the bikes as they set off on their lap. You need to get there early mind...




But plenty to see while you wait....





I didnt take any photos here to be fair, a couple of videos and thats it, but even those cannot relay the astonishment you get as the first few bikes roar past, it really is jaw dropping. However, an hour in it does get a bit samey-samey, (Spell?) so i would recommend anyone to watch practice here, but not a full race day.

Sat 31st May - Raceday!!


So after how good Rhencullen was last year with the Supersport 600's taking off over the crest i just had to get back there again this year, this time for the Superbikes.





Big surprise and disappointment was that the owners of the house whose wall i was sat last year have changed, the new owners are not allowing anyone apart from friends and family on the wall now. Cant say i blame them though when on the previous practise sessions people had left rubbish stufffed into the hedge behind them, their own worst enemies i'm afraid. I must say though that i never witnessed anyone leaving rubbish anywhere, everyone took it with them. So i had to sit on the opposite side of the road, where there's space for about twelve people.





It was here that i experienced some hostility by another spectator, who voiced his thoughts by telling me "we havent been here since 7:30 this morning for you to come and push in at this time" ... i was slightly taken a back but told him in no uncertain terms that there was more than enough room for more people to be there, and that i wasnt going anywhere. I didnt even want to be on that side of the road in the first place for what it was worth. The rest of the people there were sound and friendly, shame he couldnt have followed their lead.

Across the road on the wall there were a few people, as you can see you encounter all manner of here....




So onto the Superbike race, big surprise was that the 1000's werent taking off like the 600's were, i can only guess the smaller bikes cant be ridden flat out whereas the bigger bikes have to be respected. Still, they werent hanging around....




John McGuinness...
















Getting it crossed up...

Meanwhile across on the wall....





Back to the racing....





Sidecars next....





Enjoying the action, these Irish lads were sound....





Supersport (600cc) action next up...












So all in all a good days spectating (bar the guy at the start). Made me laugh, the new owner of the house came out later in the day, commenting how he'd "bought the house my Wife wanted in the location i wanted" ... cant fault him lol.

So back to a pleasant evening at camp, i spent an hour or so each night sat with this view....





Cooking tea....





.. and going through the days photos on my camera. As ever its a case of not spending too much time trying to get the perfect shot, for if you do you'll not enjoy the spectacle of the race itself. Very easy done. Caught up with our lass, who by the looks of things was catching up on the racing at home whilst drinking my beer!





Happy Days for all!

Sunday 1st June - "Mad Sunday";


All but a name sake, the mountain section is now one way for the whole two weeks so Mad Sunday isnt quite so mad now as you've got two weeks to enjoy the road.

Woke up to a misty start....








No rush so started with a gentle ride out, determined to get a Sunday dinner. I asked the advice of a copper who was operating a speed trap, i must say at this point the coppers on the Island are so chilled and relaxed, totally opposite to back on the mainland, and by been this way they earn so much more respect. I did not meet anyone who had anything bad to say about them, even the one who'd got done at 47 in a 30 zone. Top lads who do a great job. Anyway, to cut a long story short (lol) he pointed me in the direction of Sulby Glen Hotel - its on the course, you can sit outside while the race bikes fly past going flat out...





The cops also eat here, as you can see by the police cars...






Cannot complain for less than a tenner with a coffee....





Outside tourists going past....





From Sulby i rode upto Jurby in the North West of the Island. Called in at "Jurby Junk" - as per its name it is full of junk. Short ride from Jurby to the most northern part of the island...





Nothing to see but at least i can say i was here ...






I was later going through Kirk Michael and couldnt help but notice this great photo opportunity....







From there i went upto Ramsey and the start of the mountain section, funny thing was though that the roadside was packed with race fans, all the way through Ramsey. Hell, i could have been a TT racer, it was surreal. Then i realised, it was time for the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Andrews_%28motorcycle_racer%29"]Simon Andrews[/URL] Memorial Ride. All these people were waiting to wave the riders through. I decided to take advantage of the quiet road and blasted across the mountain section, stopping at Hillberry so that could also wave the riders through. What i didnt realise was that would be 16 miles (!!!) worth of riders....

I let them go past and followed the stragglers back around to the start, but rather than pulling in i opted to follow the course all the way around, the roads were quiet for the time of day and i wanted to take advantage. I constantly look for good photo loctions and happened across this one. Its one of the paces where they site the high speed camera to catch the bikes bottoming out. No where for me to catch the action though, it is all a restricted area now...





So i kept on going up to Ramsey, looking forward to a run over the mountain.

I rode out of Ramsey town centre, it was sunny and the road was open for once, this was going to be good! Out onto the open road, NO SPEED LIMIT at all (just like the rest of the national speed limits on the Isle of Man)... excitement building at the thought of opening the bike up ....

... only for the weather to spoil the fun rather prematurely. Within a mile it was spitting, shortly after that there was spray off the tires of cars that i was passing, and by the time i got to the Bunglow it looked like this...





...and it got even worse after that! As i dropped back down from the mountain section the mist cleared but it continued spitting with rain, decided to call it a day and head back to camp.


Bike repairs IOM style....





So that was My Mad Sunday! Steady away, time to relax again....





Top set of lads, none of whom i'd met before the trip, not that that matters....

Mon 2nd June;


Another day another eye opener...




Where theres a will theres a way..





Main race of the day was the 600's - Gooseneck always makes for good viewing...

And then from the same spot but facing towards the bikes as they arrive into the corner....























This is the car park - the incline can be off putting on a bike, funnily enough though it didnt bother me at all this year, though alot were struggling.






Walking down from the corner gives you a good view of the catch fencing ....







Once the races have finished the roads are re-opened fairly quickly, though the mountain section is another hour after that as the one way system has to be set back up, plus i think they like to let the spectators calm down before letting them loose. Still like wacky races when it does eventually open.....





On this occasion it was open around 15 minutes before the inevitable happened and the road was closed for another RTC to be cleared up... time to head back to camp me thinks.





All in all a great day with nice warm weather, though as is the way at the TT, another rider today joined the list of those who will never return from the IOM. Supersport rider Bob Price sadly lost his life during the race. God rest his soul. Sad sad times.

Tues 3rd June;


An army marches on its stomach, never a truer saying....





Because of the cancellation of some of the racing the day previous it was decided to run some more on the Tuedsay, which is normally a day off for both the racers and fans. Choice was Ramsey sprint or back to the races. I chose the races, and i also chose to go back to Gooseneck but to this time go alittle further down and see what snaps i could take there. Good spot to be fair;













You wont get much closer to the action than this wee lad....






With the slight change of position you get a different perspective of the riders too....














The racing for the rest of the day was cut short mid afternoon due to an incident up on the mountain course.


The Red Arrows finished the afternoon off, thrilling the crowds down at Ramsey Sprint, though the display was also good from the gooseneck...

Crowds leaving the carpark after the end the racing....





One of the many beautiful views you get whilst touring the lovely island....





I made my way back down to the Grandstand to fill some time in....






Dunlop had left Bruce Ansteys record breaking tires out for all to see....





And that more or less brought the day to a close.

Unfortunately later that evening we were to find out the reason for the early finish of the days racing; rider [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Harris"]Karl "Bomber" Harris[/URL] had sadly passed away after an accident during the superstock race. A very sad end to the days racing and may he rest in peace

Wed 4th June;


Anyone for conkers?



Having spoken to one of the lads down at the camp site i took his tip for a good viewing spot and headed around to the other side of the course to the conker trees. You know what - he was right, it is good!

I was slightly taken a back by the fact three coaches had just disembarked as i pulled up. I parked the bike and made my way across to the viewing area, expressing my frustration at arriving after the buses and not before them to the guy walking next to me. Well you could have knocked me over when he turned to me, smiled, and said in a strong Australian accent "thats right mate, 180 of us Aussies have just landed" :eek:


I found a spot which looked good for a few photos, and the guys already there couldnt have been more friendly, making room for my camping chair and even offering to swap places if i thought their spot was better than mine. Brilliant and if their reading this, cheers








A little further down there was the high speed camera - right piece of kit....





We didnt have to wait long for the show to start, the little 600's and their fearless riders showing us how its done. The road bends slightly, and theres a crest which the riders wheelie off as they go by, you see them approaching, passing, and riding off into the distance....

This lad got abit of a slapper on and was out of his seat even before the crest, and it continued on afterwards. Very very lucky to keep it out of the banking, the whole crowd gasped as went past....































..... you get the idea by now - a very good days viewing for sure.


As usual this week the weather stopped play, and racing was abandoned after the Supersport race. By the time we were leaving all the Ausies were waiting under the conker tree's and the rest of us were getting soaked with rain ....





I headed back to the camp site, though not alot happening apart from the chickens out and about pecking away.....





...so i decided to get out the rain and go to the local pub for dinner, nice steak and ale pie went down a treat!

Thurs 5th June;


So the time to go home had arrived, this years IOM TT was over with, sad times. I started to pack my things away, you can see how wet the ground had been by the fact there was no grass left by the entrance to my tent....





Not that that mattered now, it wasnt before the bike was getting loaded up once again....





On the way to the ferry i stopped to get a shot of Douglas, the dark cloud once again threatening rain...






It held off though and it wasnt long before i was on the boat.....





And not long after that leaving the port and heading back to Blighty....






As much as i will miss the TT, its good to be home now, but i cant help but think of Bob and Karl, and the fact they'll not be coming home this year. God Speed and RIP to you both.

So that was last year - bring on this year, cheers

Nice one ! thanks for that Rich , not been able to take photos when marshaling I don't bother with a camera much , so it is nice to see what you lads take that's why the count down and the pictures with memories that we had on the old site did so well , thanks again

(10-01-2015, 11:57 PM)RichW Wrote: So that was last year - bring on this year, cheers

Well done RichW, a lot of time must have gone into producing all that, much appreciated.

Thanks guys, i enjoy reading about other peoples adventures, and also enjoy telling people about my adventures, so good all round

Picked up on a few typo's and dogy links but not allowed to edit after 15 minutes of the post been made on this forum, sorry about that