The Tourist Trophy races on the Isle of Man have no equal. Riders reach speeds in the region of 200mph on closed public roads over the 37.73 mile course, climbing from sea level to over 1000ft on the mountain circuit. The outright lap record holder is John McGuiness riding a Honda CBR1000RR round in 17'12'30', thats an average speed of 131.578mph and has stood since 2009.
If you haven't seen TT3D, Closer to the Edge, you should. It doesn't matter whether you are into bikes or not, this film will give you some perspective as to what goes through the mind of someone who can ride that fast on the public highway with no room for error. An hour 45 of concentration, 6 laps, over 200 miles
We can't, so we went on pushbikes!
The Mountain road is one for a fair portion of the time bikers are on the Island, to try and cut down on the number of accidents, likewise the cones limit the cornering options available.
Token effort of road safety, this will help at 100mph!
Quarter Bridge on the Friday before race week, practice and a pub, perfect!
Guy Martin, with the 1000yard stare at Quarter Bridge
John McGuiness on his way to race win number 18 in the weeks' opener, at the Creg.
We found a cheeky little Bridleway at the back of the Creg to drop us back down to Douglas
Look who we found wandering round the pits being all sociable, the current King of the mountain circuit, McGuiness.
A spectator earlier in the day at the TT!
Hutchy, struggling back from that leg injury on the Swan Yamaha, entering Hillberry about 130!! dropping down from the reportidly fastest part of the circuit, evryone says it Bray Hill, but there's no speed trap at Hillberry, coming off the mountain down from the Creg, the runners and riders reckon this is the top speed spot, 170, 180, 190 …. on the big bikes.
