classic tt / manx g.p.

back on the ducati and i make my way back down to port st mary, i pass over the famous 'fairy bridge' and wish all the racer's a safe week, down over the start and finish of the southern hundred course, it's not just the tt course here, the billown course on the outskirts of castletown hosts racing a couple of times a year and although not as long as the tt course, it's just as demanding, check out some of the vid's on youtube, pure roadracing, i find my digs and meet rosemary the landlady, the digs are spot-on and i have a quick shower before meeting up with dangerous, sweary mick and chalky for the evening practice session, as we reach the grandstand it's drizzling and we are just in time to hear the announcement that practice is cancelled, bugger, better go to the pub then.............sweary mick is standing by the side of the bed, 'here you go youth, tea, it's half past-six' fucking hell, i thought i was supposed to be on holiday! dangerous groans and slides back under his duvet, breakfast and into douglas for a coffee in the late summer sunshine and a raiding mission to mark's and spark's for salmon and cucumber butties and hand cooked kettle chips, up to the famous creg-ny-baa pub on the descent off the mountain, it's a fast downhill run from keppel gate to the creg, a tight right hander, complete with overbanding and patched tarmac, before the massive drop down to the left-hander at brandish, team loveless soon establish base camp in the grandstand and quaff countless mug's of tea as we wait for the roads to close, the old bill present suddenly shut the road by parking their car across the road and direct the traffic off the course, it proves to be a false dawn as new's filters through that some unfortunate has stuffed it on the mountain course and is being helicoptered off to nobles to be pieced back together, another hour passes in the pleasant sunshine and eventually the roads are closed to get the racing underway, the inaugaral 500cc classic tt, young ollie linsdell took his dad's paton to a brilliant win with an amost two minute lead at the end of the four lap/150 mile race, micheal dunlop, conrod cummings and john mcpint were early retirement's but ollie played it perfectly, a fast, safe ride and a well deserved win on the course that almost claimed his life, more tea and the closed lap tt parade, a cavalcade of racing machines being gunned across the mountain and the cherry on the cake, the re-run of the famous 1967 senior race, ago on the mv versus mike hailwood on the honda, [played by john mcguiness, resplendent in black leather's and pudding basin helmet] ago was away like a scalded cat and mcpint didn't catch him untill union mill's! as they rolled into the creg ago's mv stuttered and stalled, ago shrugged and mcguiness stopped, the perfect moment when ago's chain broke at the creg, mcguiness leant his priceless honda four on the grass bank and gave ago a push, ago waving as he rode away, mcpint pushing the honda and bump starting it to catch ago and cross the line side-by-side, lump in the throat moment, a fish and chip supper on onchan head, a couple of pints and it's good night irene for this puppy.........