(06-03-2011, 08:33 PM)ian huntly Wrote: After all of my years coming to the TT I have to query the intention of trying to increase the attendance at the TT by launching TV programmes and movies showing TT riders in other guises and gimmicks that leave you with migraine and or epilepsy.

I am sure that the 3DTT movie and Guy renovating a boat will certainly attract people but can the Isle of Man cope with an invasion ??

There are few hotels now, the parking needs to be sorted and not everyone wants to camp or homestay.

The roads are gridlocked and from the top of Bray Hill to Quarter Bridge is a nightmare. The number of true vantage spots to which the public can get is reducing and some of the great spectating areas are now closed.

Nobody could love the Island and the TT more than I, but it is now easier to follow practice and racing via the internet.

All you need is an old brake pad soaked in oil being heated over a low flame while you listen to Charlie Lambert and his team and follow individual riders on your laptop with a bottle of wine or beer sittiing in your favourite chair.

These facts may yet bite the IOM on the bum.

Of course, I'm booked to come, as usual, but parking has been really bad for a few years now and I think it is a priority to resolve this, especially since this is the Centenary year of the Mountain Circuit.

Yes, I drive a car but some bikes are parked across car spots, effectively using up space for a four wheeled vehicle with a two wheeler plonked diagonally.

Could we perhaps have some car spaces divided in half longitudinally with a line so it would be natural to park two bikes in one car space ?

I would like to have some sensible observations on this topic.

Hi Ian,

As you know I have been attending the TT since 1958 and would not miss it for the world. For a number of years now there has been a problem in finding places, ( guest houses/hotels etc ) for people to stay in, you are correct when you say that not everybody wants to stay in home stay or to camp. With this year being the centennial of the the mountain circuit, I believe that there will be a lot more people visiting, consequently there will have to be more places for people to stay. I have a friend from Germany who is trying to find somewhere "nice" for him and his family to stay, (there are six of them) He has tried the "first class" hotels in Douglas and the surrounding area they have no vacancies, what are people like this s'posed to do ?. The traffic situation at times Ian is awful,
I stay in Union Mills and after one race day it took me over an hour to travel from the grandstand to Union Mills. Parking is very bad, especially in Douglas, yes, there is more that could be done by the traffic dep't at Douglas corporation, but maybe they police what they can, and look forward to everybody going home. It must be very difficult for the authorities to know what to do regarding the TT and Manx GP, over the last ten or fifteen years or so a lot of hotels and guest houses have disappeared from the island especially in Douglas, and yes they want, and need more and more people to visit what is still one of the worlds greatest sporting spectacles. I am hoping to visit the Isle of man and the TT for many years to come, and like you Ian I will have to put up with the
problems that a infrastructure like the IOM's at TT and Manx GP time put on it. But there must come a time when the authorities will say, " We will have to think this one through, WE ARE FULL."

Having said all that I am really looking forward to this years TT, and of course the mountain course centennial celebrations. As I have already said I believe that the TT is one of the worlds great sporting spectacles, and once you are there, it is ( apart from some private viewing spots) free. Over the last few years the management and race organization has been world class, and I for one would like to thank them.

See you all at the end of May.!