Speedzilla Forums banner

I'm goin' to the TT!!!

2K views 31 replies 0 participants last post by  Guest 
G
#1 ·
All -

I leave for the IOM this Saturday for the TT Festival. I will post updates as best I can from there. I scored press passes as I will be writing an article for RoadRacerX, and so should have access to their press pool internet terminals.

Look for daily race updates at http://www.iomtt.com

I CAN'T WAIT!!!
 
See less See more
3
G
#9 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (spezjag)

All -

Am here. This is a short burst with more to follow.

Press creds in hand.

Practice brilliant. Roads painfully narrow. Speeds insane. Noise fantastic.

Practice is rained out today. Afternoon practice tomorrow should be okay.

More to follow!!!

 
G
#10 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (spezjag)

All -

Still having a great time here. Weather stinks, but I knew that coming in. Tea is great. Have not found clotted cream yet. Guiness (when from a clean tap) is amazingly smooth. When from a rancid tap, it's still better than in the States, but has a bitter aftertaste.

Racing has been affected by the weather. Yesterday's Superbike race was postponed until today. The Sidecar racing was fun later in the afternoon, when the weather and roads cleared. Had Indian curry last night - very spicy. My face was bright red for a half hour after dinner!

Speeds are awesome. Crazy stupid. It's so cool.

Was interviewed by Speed Channel - they aren't covering day-to-day, but will have a pice for Two-Wheel-Tuesday. With luck, I will not end up totally on the editting room floor.

More to follow - today is the Superbike race which was postponed from yesterday. Should be awesome.

 
G
#11 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (spezjag)

Gary, if you get this message give this guy Malcolm a phone. Malcolm runs the TT web site and has a wealth of knowledge. He’s a good guy and a fellow Scot, Just mention my name if you decide to contact him. Give him a call on 07968 827 018
 
G
#12 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (spezjag)

Go to the very south end of the Island on a non race day, you can drink coffee

and watch seals at a Cafe in the middle of NOWHERE, cool place. watch the

schedule for the Ramsey sprint, prolly this Saturday. good fun. And try

to make the beach race in Peel. Oh, don't miss the Purple Helmets.
 
G
#14 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (svmango)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by svmango »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Go to the very south end of the Island on a non race day, you can drink coffee and watch seals at a Cafe in the middle of NOWHERE, cool place. watch the schedule for the Ramsey sprint, prolly this Saturday. good fun. And try to make the beach race in Peel. Oh, don't miss the Purple Helmets.</TD></TR></TABLE>

SV -

Am going to the Peel beach races Thursday - met a police officer who is also a racer in that event! Nice guy.

Ramsey Sprints are today - I have an interview first, then will try to dash up there.

The Purple Helmets have burned images into my memory that only death will cause to fade.

Went to the North end of the Island yesterday, and it was so clear, we could see both Scotland and Ireland, which the locals said was almost unheard of. Got totally burned by the sun, am expecting my face to start peeling like a banana next week.

Words cannot express what this has been like. I know my article will fall far short of the mark. You simply have to come to see this, before it's gone. Something this cool is too good to last.

 
G
#15 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (spezjag)

All -

Yesterday was awesome. Was at Creg-Ny-Baa, speeds unbelieveable. In Sidecar, Molyneux smashed his previous record, with every lap under 20 min.s; his speed was amazing.

You can get incredibly close to the course here. I was maybe at most three feet away as McGuinness passed me at @160mph. Insane.


People here are great. I will miss this place when I leave.


More to follow!
 
G
#18 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (3stripes)

All-

Well, after having to spend two weeks in the woods with my National Guard unit meeting the finest ticks in Virginia, I am finally back to a computer where I can post on this site.

First, I have submitted the first draft of my article to RRX, and will send the photos once I am at a high-band work station. Second, I am certain that many of you have heard about the accident during the Senior TT where journalist/racer Gus Scott lost his life. Details are sketchy, though an article was posted on the IOM paper's web site stating that a marshal had attempted to cross the circuit without getting clearance, and it appears that Scott struck her while she was in the middle of the road, killing both instantly. The article was pulled the next day from the site, and no other details have been posted. All in all, four people were killed during the races, with two more bikers killed after racing was completed for the day and the roads had been opened.

HarveyT - I made it to the Peel Beach races - awesome! Peel is a neat little town to boot. Thanks for the referral!
The Red Arrows precision flight team had to curtail their presentation due to low cloud cover, but they were fun to watch before the racing began. The sun set behind the castle ruins, which made for an awesome backdrop to the racing. Very cool. The sun sets generally around 10:00PM, which mnakes for long days, but the weather this year was practically perfect, esp. during the race week.

The island is great, we made lots of new, true friends whom I hope to keep in touch with, and had a wonderful time. I strongly recommend it to everyone. The draft article includes advice on how to plan a trip there.

Sad to be back
but I really had a great time. Look for me on Two Wheel Tuesday (I am the idiot with the big grin on my face and wearing a college sweat shit under my rain coat).
 
G
#19 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (spezjag)

Sounds like a great trip, dude. I look forward to reading the article.

How did you get this opportunity? Have you done a lot of motorsports journalism, or are you just getting started?
 
G
#21 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (Baasinator)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Baasinator »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How did you get this opportunity? Have you done a lot of motorsports journalism, or are you just getting started?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Funny you shoudl ask. This was the first time I have written about bike racing. I am a graduate school professor in Political Science (amongst other careers), and I submitted some writing samples to Davey at RRX; they looked them over, we chatted, they liked what they read and heard, and approved the article. Pretty funny, actually.

It was a great time. I will remember it for the rest of my life.
 
G
#22 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (Harvey T.)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Harvey T. »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Spezjag, we had a word or two about the TT while you were away. http://speedzilla.zeroforum.co...44821</TD></TR></TABLE>

Harvey -

Yeah, I have read the linked article. The IOM folks are still conducting the inquest, but it appears that there are videos showing the marshall crossing the hot course without clearing it with someone who had eyes on approaching traffic. Truly sad. I had been cheering for Scott all week (professional courtesy, after all) and it really hit hard when I heard he was the one killed.

I know a lot of folks are calling for it to be shut down, and the fact that both a journalist and a marshal were killed will only fuel that fire, but now having seen it, I can attest that it is amazing, simply amazing. We will miss this when it's gone.
 
G
#23 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (spezjag)

All -

Some quick images:

How close I was to the action:



The bridge ar Ballaugh:



Racing through Ballaugh:



John McGuinness at Quarterbridge:



Very chilled brolly girls:



More to follow!
 
G
#25 ·
Re: (Tron)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tron »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Great writeup! When do you think the article will be published? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Tron -

I think it should be out around mid-August.
 
G
#26 ·
Re: I'm goin' to the TT!!! (spezjag)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spezjag »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The bridge ar Ballaugh:



</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oddly I stood at this EXACT same spot, well till the little old lady said

"This is pryyvet propatee, peese hoff witcha"

I got to watch Joey Dunlop do the hop from that spot, then I tried to wheelie the

bridge when leaving and nearly went over backwards
.

Did you have a bike while you were there? Did you do the ferry or fly in from

Heathrow?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top