Travel Through the Isle of Man on a Harley-Davidson
By Peter & Kay Forwood
The Isle of Man on a Harley (16/10/98 - 18/10/98)
Distance 150 km (119073 km to 119223 km)
This is part of the fourth section of our around
the world trip.
Complete Trip Overview &
Map
Coming from the Republic
of Ireland
16/10/98 Off to the Isle of Man, that small country
nestled
between Great Britain and Ireland, famous for it's annual TT motorcycle
races.
The gale force 9 – 10 winds cancelled the Seacat replacing it with a
vomitingly
rolly older ferry and doubling the two hour journey giving plenty of
time
to encourage that landlubbers fear. That same wind brought driving rain
when we almost succumbed to a $US 51.00 a night B&B but managed to
find a
sheltered spot in a closed farm tent park for $US 10.00, managing to
divest
most of the saving over a pub dinner.
17/10/98 Wind and rain so bad the ferries aren't
running at all today so it's laundromats, cyber cafes and museums. The
Isle of Man
has the oldest continuous parliament in the world, over 1000 years old,
(strange
I thought Iceland had the same claim) and although a separate country
is
heavily reliant on the U.K. for foreign affairs. Main industry, a tax
haven,
thus finances. It has the usual history of fighting and wars in this
area
and it is funny how a successful coup ends up being a liberating force
300
years on and a failed one becomes a martyr to the cause. Yet coups
happening
in the world today are all seen as being anarchy.
18/10/98 We toured the TT racecourse, taking side
detours
to look at castles and seaside resorts. The course is 37.73 miles long
(60
km) and the race over 6 laps. It has a long history having started in
1907
and the whole island booms to the two-week motorcycle racing event.
Travelling
a circuit around the island's main road through small towns and lead
riders
average over 110 miles per hour (175 km/h). After riding the loop in
bitter
weather we again boarded the ferry for our return to Liverpool. A
friendly
island with lovely Victorian waterfronts and electric trams, that
strange
short tail Manx cat and the four horned sheep, left to the locals and
financiers for the winter.
Move with us to The
United Kingdom