ABC Tour – Castletown, Classic Bikes

FRIDAY TO MONDAY

When we come to the Isle of Man we stay at Castletown, which is at the south of the island.  The TT Races are in the northern half.  Castletown was the old capital, and of course, there is a castle, which is still used as the courthouse.

The cottage we stay in is from the 1700s, but you wouldn’t know it, as it is rendered white and has a modern fitout.  It is the perfect place to base ourselves, with everything we need and being in walking distance to shops and for Mick, most importantly, the Glue Pot pub.  This photo of the Gluepot was taken a bit after 10pm.  The days are getting really long now with sunset just before 10pm.

It is so nice to be able to sleep in, hang around the cottage in our tracky dacks and just have cereal and toast for breakfast.  It is lovely to eat out all the time, but it is also nice to have simple fare at home.

The motorcylcing fortnight kicks off with the Pre TT Classic Races, which run on a 4 mile course at Castletown, just a short walk from where we are staying and practice started on Friday night, after we arrived.

This was followed by more practice on Saturday afternoon and racing on Monday.

It’s really hard to take photos.  You get lots of a track with no bike.  Or the bikes are going so fast that they are just a blur.  You would need an extremely fast shutter speed to catch them side on.

The sidecars are always spectacular.

I just love the way this passenger swings out his leg.

There were no events happening on Sunday so we had a really lazy day. 

Apart from the motorcycle racing, the attraction of the Isle of Man is to catch up with friends we have made.  Mick had a rather late night at the Glue Pot with his mate Al on Saturday and then on Sunday we made the trek to Ramsey at the top of the island for roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with Lou and Tony and their family.  It was so nice to see them again.  Of course, we forgot to take a photo.  Another time.

Monday was a busy day, as after the classic races, the first evening of practice for the TT took place.  How it works is that during the first week there is practice from Monday through to Friday each evening from 6.30 to 9.00.  Then there is racing the following week on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  This is followed by another day’s racing at Castletown by the TT riders on the Saturday. The races are scheduled for every second day to allow for inclement weather.  There are heaps of other events planned for the non racing days, so it is a very busy fortnight.