We’re off!

Up at 4am but adrenaline is soon kicking in and we meet up with our riding and holiday companions at 5.30 for the trawl up the M6 to Heysham. But even that cannot dampen our spirits – I’m finally going to my first TT and I cannot believe it!

After a quick bit of refreshment and leg stretching en route our road captain, Greg, is keen to get us to Heysham in plenty of time for the Ferry. We arrive at 8am – even 3 hours before the ferry departs there are bikes! bikes! bikes! everywhere.I did wonder about why we needed to be there so far in advance of departure – getting all those bikes onto the ferry is a major operation.

The sun is shining and it is HOT! The Irish Sea is a millpond which makes it easier for those of us without sea legs. Excitement is running high.

We get on the ferry and are ensconced ready for the 2 and half hours crossing. Bacon batches and coffee are the order of the day and much feverish conversation ensues and the girls (I’m sure they won’t mind being called that) busy themselves changing the sim cards in the mobiles to Manx Telecom, it is the last time Greg and Jude see their UK sim card, though they don’t know it yet(oh dear!).

Out onto the deck for the obligatory first photos as we approach Douglas harbour – excitement overload!

As luck would have it we are facing the right way for a quick exit and we are ready to go, all except the guy on the red Triumph parked in front of Greg who is nowhere to be seen, grrr.

We make our exit and get onto the Castletown road to call our landlord for directions. They are easy to follow and we soon arrive at the Mount Murray Hotel and on to the housing complex and a flat above a garage owned by one of the Purple Helmets.

As well as the hotel there is a pub opposite on the main road and it is a 10 minute bus ride to Douglas – Proper Job!

Greg is keen for me to have a ‘siting lap’ as soon as possible so a quick turnaround is in order and off to meet up at the Grandstand. We plan to ride around to the Creg (Creg Ny Baa)and stop for a pint. The sun is even hotter and as you might expect there are bikes everywhere this really is motorcycling heaven on earth.

I am blown away by the fact that they race on these roads, they are narrow and full of walls and trees and, and …..totally mind blowing.

We ride to just before Kirk Michael and Greg’s bike starts misfiring, oops, (not smug at all on my 18 yr old bike), I ask the Oracle if there is a pub nearby and she replies oh yes not far to Kirk Michael, Guinness Time then surely? Greg freewheels to the pub, Guinness, crisps and sitting watching the bikes go by, can it get any better than this? (Actually it can and it does, more later)

Greg is low on petrol and thinks that is probably the problem and it subsequently turns out to be the case. Bikes and us re-fuelled we’re off again.

Despite prior warnings I am amazed by the closeness that other riders feel they need to pass me, and I’m not hanging around. Also passing on blind bends and other silliness.

Our siting lap continues over Ballaugh Bridge, down Sulby Straight, Ginger Hall and down into Parliament Square, Ramsey.

Thwarted! Roads are closed, someone got it wrong again, it is only a matter of time, unfortunately. So we, and lots of others, take the lovely coastal road to Douglas, via Laxey and Onchan. Unsurprisingly this road is not as smooth as the race course but nothing can change our mood today.

Back to the flat, leave the bike, pay the landlord and we are on the bus and into Douglas to see Ross Noble.

First stop – Busheys tent, it’s got to be done. We walk along the front to meet our friends and a night of comedy. Totally knackered afterwards even for a pint, its been a long day so we get a taxi home and to our beds ready for more of the same tomorrow.