I received this today from 'Harry'...."The Avon Lady"....those that know, 'know'....


Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood
April 2, 1940 - March 23, 1981


We've heard the news, it's hard to bear,
He was the one respected by all,
We weren't expecting the final call.
Memories of the past come flooding back,
Dicing with Ago lap after lap.
78, the TT and he did it again,
The Island alive with the sound of his name.
Alas, no more will see his face.
Alas, no more will we see him race.
The end of an era, but a legend forever,
Perhaps God is getting a team together.
It matters not how a man dies,
But how he lives.
The act of dying is of no importance,
It lasts so short a time.


The King

Hillberry was the place I chose,
to sit in the hedgerow with a rose.
The countryside was strangely still,
We sat in silence til.....
A noise was heard up the hill from Kate's,
to cause in crowd debates.
Was it Gary? Was it is Mike?
A noise I've never heard the like.
Down to Creg to the hands that wave.
Up four gears then down five,
out of Brandish to the dive.
And down to Hillberry flat on the tank,
the noise was like a wine you drank.
A Honda Six on full song,
like an arrow through the throng.
Cronk ny Mona no respite,
keeping the throttle cable tight.
Skipping like a stone on pond,
round to Signpost, Governors beyond
It was Hailwood, first on the road,
an experience time will not erode!
Ambition is a funny thing,
I'd been to Mecca and seen the KING.
And this is how I'll remember the man,
fate had a wild unruly plan.

A great tribute to probably the finest rider of all time and a gentleman RIP Mike.

All those years ago. Someone who will never be forgotten.

What will be done to remember him during the centenary ?

Pauline will probably invited but i am not going up that line for obvius reasons?

Isn't David going out on a Ducati? Also there is a Banner (TT Greats), and various bits and pieces.

Pauline is Definately going. She was at the NEC Bike Show around the TTMA/Tourist Board stand a couple of times with an 'official' entourage.

I don't know if Harry' is attending....yet, but it's a safe bet there won't be an official invite LOL!

Respect

For one of the, all time great roadracers 8)

Phew.
That touched me deeply.
Wonderful words, about a wonderful man.
The words recreating for me moments I will never
forget.
Also for me, these words take me back to my first visit to
The Island in 1967.
A visit that changed my life and lead me to where I am now,
looking forward to going across yet again.

On a lighter note, I am proud to share something with the
geat man, my first name, Mike.
In my local pub back in Staines, I am still known as MTB,
Mike the Bike. A nickame that fills me with pride.
Apart from the name, I share little more.
Yes, I did actually get on a race track for real, but it only
served to make me een more in awe of the great man and
of his peers, of which there have been very few.

So raise a glass to Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood.
A legend to those of us lucky enough to have seen him
in actin.

MV

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood. The greatest, and a gentleman. Sadly missed.

thewitch Wrote:Isn't David going out on a Ducati?

See the thread "Hailwood Sale". The email I had from Pauline confirmed that both she and Dave are attending, and looking forward to meeting old friends.

The only time I ever saw Mike Hailwood was at the Castrol 6 Hour race in Sydney just before his triumphant return to the Island.
I saw him in the pits and thought he looked quite old and tired, he walked with a limp and had trouble putting his leathers on before the start.
I have to say I thought he was getting past it but it was great to see one of my heroes in the flesh.
However when the race started and Mike came past lap after lap on his Ducatti he looked suddenly young again, just like the old films of him at the TT.
He road so stylishly and smoothly it is something I will always remember.
He may have been bashed around a bit, but once on the bike he was the Champion he will always remain.

"Grief, an untimely doom, fame that eternal abides."

Song, Youth, and Sorrow
By William Cranston Lawton

I was lucky too see Mike the bike return in 78 ,you kinda hear how good someone is but to go back ten years later and beat everyone shows how good he really was!