Exiting the town and heading south, we're now about half-way through the course and traveling along the most unpopulated part of the route; wide open, barren and windy countryside greets us. It's marvelous!
Snaefell Mountain boasts the highest point on the Isle of Man
As soon as Neda saw how high the mouintain was, we abandoned the race course for a hike.
The lap timer is still going as we step off our motorcycles...
Near the Snaefell Mountain Tram Station, there's a statue of Joey Dunlop
Joey Dunlop is a legend of the TT, having amassed the most wins on this circuit in his long career in motorcycle racing. At the bottom of the statue is a makeshift shrine to a young motorcycle rider who died in an an accident in England. His mates must have set up this memorial in this place so sacred to motorcycles.
Speaking of which, the TT is the most dangerous motorcycle race on Earth. Over 260 deaths have been recorded here. 14 of them were spectators and non-racing officials... And still, the Manx residents cling to their right to die any which way they please. It makes for the most thrilling and exciting racing on the planet. For the riders and the people watching!
I watched an interview with Valentino Rossi, who they've been trying to get to race the circuit for years. He's always turned them down saying that riders who race here are crazy! On GP race tracks, safety standards dictate that at the high speed corners there must be a hundred of feet of gravel runoff in case a motorcycle goes down. A hundred feet to slow and stop and sliding motorcycle and rider.
At the Isle of Man, there's curbs, buildings and stone walls a few feet away from the road. And spectators...
At Snaefell Mountain, we meet a motorcycle rider who stayed after the races to do laps around the course
Since this is the most unpopulated part of the course, many riders will do runs between Ramsay and Douglas, taking in the beautiful scenery as they zoom down the road, visions of past races playing against the inside of their visors. This guy showed us his official TT race suit. A true fan!
We watched him as he rode back and forth, rounding the corners at speeds a lot less than 200 km/h