As is preTTy obvious, the thing that you love or hate on the Isle of Man is the TT. Probably the only thing that any non-motorbiker / non-islander has heard about the island - other than “tax haven”, that is. The locals we had spoken to seemed evenly split about it, talking about going away for the fortnight in most cases, that, or the hassle it caused in relation to carrying out their nornmal lives. The key part, as we found out pretty quickly, was whether you lived on, or in, the course.
As can be seen from the map, the course doesn’t actually extend into the southern third of the island, (the Southern 100 does, but that remains to be seen). and totally occupies Douglas and Ramsey (with the “mountain section“ in between them). I initially thought it went through Peel on the east coast, but the course shoots off north about 5 miles outside Peel and it’s coastal area.
The doesn’t mean other areas are unaffected, as the population doubles for the fortnight and suddenly there are bikes and bikers EVERYWHERE. Mainly pairs of biker or small groups, with most riding their own bike / and always with panniers and all sorts of stuff strapped on. The main Tesco opens a special tent - not to sleep in, but to sell camping equipment of every type you can imagine. We overheard one biker say to another group “ that the shelves were all empty as there is a campsite in a local field” and guessed he was talking about the “other” Tesco in Onchan (a VERY nice area) where there happens to be a field in the middle of this area of victorian mansions and the enterprising owner fills it as a 5* camping site with more than 100 small porta-garden-sheds and personalised bike parks - deffo the Rolls Royce of camping - as we also heard another guy talking about having to find the field of a farmer that a friend had told him about! There is lots of money to be made out of the visitors and the ”pop up” stalls and fairground on Douglas front are just the most visible bit.
That is apart from the actual competitors village which is also in Onchan - just above said woodshed site and which has all the pits, exhibitions, bars and entertainment you could wish for. It is all on the south side of the main road, which has the start / finish line and main stand. Nothing spreads north of the road as opposite the stands is a huge sprawling cemetery!
The first mile of the course is down a narrowish minor road with a set of traffic lights at the bottom of the first slope and a double roundabout at the bottom of the second. The bikes get up to about 170mph down this suburban “lane”, even from a standing-start. 200mph is possible on the mountain section and the current lap record for the 37 1/2 miles is about 15 minutes - with an AVERAGE lap-speed of just over 135mph the latest record.
And how are we faring? Well we ran into a small traffic jam last week on a day we went into Douglas, but other than that, it is just busier. Choosing the time to travel is key - and we are not bothering going anywhere other than locally and the main Tesco in Douglas.
And in answer to the love it or hate it, well, we absolutely love it. We have an app with updates and watch youtube clips of the action every evening. We have started to recognise the riders, manufacturers / sponsors and names of the different sections of the course. We haven’t actually ventured onto the course as spectators yet, but I am sure that will be the next step.
TT fortnight we embrace you (but will still try to avoid buying or renting on or in the course)!
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