Isle of Man – Day One

An early start, a run across the M62 and onto the Steam Packet — which turned out to be neither steam-powered nor technically a ferry — got the trip underway. Tesco Mobile welcomed us to Jersey as we approached the island, so confidence in modern navigation was already high.

Once ashore, we quickly discovered the magic of the unrestricted sections, although the Isle of Man’s bumps, bends and questionable road surfaces soon tempered any Autobahn expectations. There was a brief Rally Mode excursion onto the beach, followed by our first taste of the Mountain Road.

After burning through adrenaline, dopamine and fuel in roughly equal quantities, it was back to Peel for food, drinks and the first of what would become several evenings enthusiastically supporting the local hospitality industry.

Isle of Man – Day Two

A suspiciously slow start had absolutely nothing to do with the previous evening, but an enormous breakfast wrap soon restored normal service.

The day took us around the Southern 100 circuit, Castletown, Fairy Bridge and the famous Laxey Wheel — although at £15 we decided admiring it from outside was perfectly adequate.

Another trip over the Mountain Road followed, complete with the island’s seemingly endless supply of police laser guns to ensure concentration levels remained high. A stop at the Victory Café and a photo with Joey Dunlop preceded a run into Douglas, before returning to Peel for queenies, bacon, live music and another evening supporting the Manx licensed trade until closing time.

Isle of Man – Day Three

Race day began with possibly the driest bacon sandwich ever created before we headed to Creg-ny-Baa to watch the action.

Ironically, I’d deliberately booked a weekend without racing to avoid the crowds, road closures and packed ferries — only for the race dates to be moved onto our weekend. As it turned out, it was one of the best things that could have happened.

Getting close to the bikes as they screamed past was an experience in itself, with incredible noise, speed and surprisingly little separation between spectators and machinery.

When the rain finally appeared, we escaped back towards Peel for fish and chips by the harbour, followed by another relaxed evening overlooking the waterfront, drinking wine and putting the world to rights.

Not quite the quiet weekend originally planned, but significantly better.

Isle of Man – Day Four

Our final morning suffered another delayed start thanks to an increasing intolerance of early mornings and the previous evening’s grape-based refreshments.

After breakfast, Tom and I headed off to complete the TT course. The Mountain Road initially disappeared into thick fog, making the sat nav, road markings and my rear light rather more important than usual. Fortunately, the fog eventually opened up enough to enjoy the unrestricted section before the TT course delivered its less glamorous ingredients: traffic lights, roundabouts, vans and tourists.

We completed the lap in just under an hour. For Tom it was particularly fitting — he already has the TT circuit tattooed on his arm, and now he has a GPS trace showing that he’s actually ridden it. Essentially, his tattoo has received a software update.

A thoroughly wet wait for the ferry followed before it was time to leave. Four days of brilliant roads, racing, mountains, questionable breakfasts, unpredictable weather and enough unrestricted tarmac to make us wonder how long it will be before somebody asks:

“Fancy the TT next year?”