Having an early supper at our campsite. Neda is making her single-pot stirfry specialty. Mmmmm!


After dinner, we walked into Peel to do some sight-seeing


Like most sea-side towns, Peel is a fishing port

The most popular tourist attraction is Peel Castle, in the background above. The town of Peel is a popular vacation spot not just for tourists, but local Isle of Man residents as well. However, the town is deserted. This is the first week of school and we wander around the streets and shores of Peel, devoid of people, cars and motorcycles. It's kind of nice having the place to ourselves, and not having to fight any crowds.

Most of the businesses here have also shuttered their doors for the season, with only some restaurants open during the weekends. Glad we had dinner at our campsite.

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Peel Beach, one of two in the town


A statue of Fenella, a character in a book called "Peveril of the Peak"

Although the book was written in 1823, and the statue looks old, it was made just a few years ago by a local artist, Nick Barlow, who carves these sculptures out of wood. With a chainsaw! Parts of the book were set on the Isle of Man, hence the connection.

Apart from the motorcycle races, the Isle of Man is also notable for having a large community of artists.


The fortress of Peel Castle overlooks the harbour

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Gingerly scootering up to the edge of the harbour


Peel Harbour


Fenella Beach, named after the character in the book. It's a sheltered cove right beside Peel Castle. Peel Beach in the background

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After wandering through the castle, we climb around the rocks outside of it, braving the strong winds coming off the Irish Sea


Rocky landscape outside of Peel Castle


Town of Peel

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We were told that there is an amazing view from the top of Peel Hill, beside the castle. We weren't the only ones walking up. It's a long climb, so there are benches at various points along the way...


Neda's wind-swept look


Peel Castle from half-way up Peel Hill

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Proof that I was there too


It was super-windy up on Peel Hill!


At the top of the hill: a marvelous view of the Irish Sea 500 feet below us!

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Back down the hill, we ventured into town

None of the local vehicles have a UK plate. I did some research and while the Isle of Man is not technically a country, neither is it part of the UK. Nor is it part of the EU, pre or post-Brexit. It's a British Crown dependency, so it belongs to the Crown, but can pass it's own laws.

Not sure what that means exactly, but if we're not in the UK, then to me we're in a new country!


Peel Collage

The flag of the Isle of Man is a triskelion - three armored legs with golden spurs against a red background. It's very similar to the flag of Sicily, when we passed through a couple of years ago. Wow, this trip has legs.

The Isle of Man triskelion was first used in the 13th century around the time of the Scottish takeover of the island. You can see the symbol alongside the Royal Banner of Scotland on the back of a van in the top left. We saw the three-armored legs everywhere on the island, not just on flags.

The origin of the design is unknown, but the triskelion has traditionally been used to represent the spokes of a wheel. The flag was around long before the motorcycle races were held here, but it was a nice two-wheeled Segway.

The bottom right you'll see a blue British hovercraft. Actually, it's a three-wheeled car (one in the front, two in the back. Shocker!) called a Reliant Robin, built in England. The Peel Engineering Company put out its own three-wheeled car called the Peel Microcar back in the 60s, manufactured right here in the Isle of Man! That was a three-wheeled segue.

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

One of the buildings in town was a little museum dedicated to the TT races

Of course it was closed, since the races were over. We peered inside at all the motorcycle memorabilia. I thought back to all the videos I watched of the sound and fury of Superbikes hurtling at (literally) break-neck speed through the tiny villages of the island; defying death on every lap by zooming inches past buildings, curbs and spectators. The triumphs and spectacle. The horrific crashes and the heart-breaking defeats.

Hmmm.


Vintage Honda two-stroke RC race-bike. #35!

35 just happens to be English MotoGP racer Cal Crutchlow's race number. Coincidentally, he currently rides a Honda in this year's championship. Slightly more power than this one above... Neda also informed me that he now lives on the Isle of Man. Another coincidence. We should try to find his house and ring the doorbell...

I love motorcycle racing!

We called it an evening and slowly wandered out of Peel. As we were walking back to our campsite, I mused out loud, "Maybe I am a little bummed that we missed the Classic TT..." When we arrived to our tent, I glanced at our motorcycles parked patiently on the patchwork grass.

I turned to Neda: "We're going to have to fix this."

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Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/359.html



The Isle of Man the week after the races is like Times Square on New Years Day. Everywhere, there's evidence that there were a lot of people here very recently - signs, barricades, etc., but the place is quiet, save for the locals going about their routine, commuting to work or buying groceries.


Weather is damp. The cold of the north has followed us from Scotland!

From Peel, we head north-east on the A4. This is part of the ring road that makes up the Snaefell Mountain Course, the circuit that all the motorcycle racers run for the TT. The route is entirely on public roads, different than the closed circuits of the races that we normally watch. Given that there are buildings and spectators lining both sides of the road in close proximity, the 60.75 km loop is run at insane speeds - over 200 km/h *AVERAGE*. Along the Sulby Straight, racers can reach a top speed of over 330 kms/h!

The outright lap record is just under 17 minutes. I wonder what kind of lap-time the slow riding team of RideDOT.com will post. I mentally make note of the clock on my dashboard, as we enter the course. I actually just make note of the hour, not the minutes...

We thread our way through light traffic on the road as the A4 skirts the edge of the Irish Sea. In every video of the TT that I've seen, a wall of spectators would line the road on either side, at a close and very unsafe distance away from the speeding motorcycles flying a few feet away from their noses.


Neda rounds the corner on the Snaefell Mountain Course

We round the top of the island at Ramsay, keeping up with the speed of traffic. Although there are no speed limits here - the residents steadfastly cling to their freedoms and rights here - the locals still putter around the roads in normal fashion. Ramsay looks like any small English town, pubs and shops line the both sides of the race course.

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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

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"Hey Neda, this tram goes all the way up to the summit of Snaefell Mountain!"

As you probably guessed, we end up climbing the mountain on foot instead.


The view of the Isle of Man countryside from half-way up


NatureGirl is just breathing in the scenery like air. I am breathing in the air. Barely.


And doing what I normally do

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This guy is wondering why we didn't take the tram up to the top. So am I, Mr Ram. So am I...


I found a quicker way up

There's a little restaurant up at the top of the summit. They sell very expensive food, so we walked back down again towards our bikes. The lap timer is still going on my dashboard...


Back on the course. Little reminders of the races last weekend

These signs alert the racers to which way the upcoming corners go. It would be very difficult to memorize all of them - there are over 200+ corners on the TT course, only 60 of them are named. Mostly after people that have died on the course...

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We round the finish line in Douglas and our elapsed time for the loop so far is 4 hours. A far cry from the 17 minute lap record. And we haven't even done a complete loop all the way back to Peel yet! That hike up Snafell Mountain didn't help!


Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man


Tower of Refuge on St Mary's Isle. Just off the shores of Douglas

This mini castle was built in 1832 after many ships crashed into the submerged reefs of the small island. The tower is meant for the survivors of the ship wrecks to wait until a rescue party was sent out. How hospitable!

After killing time in Douglas, we headed over to the Tramode Estate, just outside of town. The Isle of Man Film Festival is on this week and we scanned the itinerary looking for interesting (and free) things to do.


Lynda Reiss, Prop Master of the TV show Stranger Things was doing a talk

We tend to fill our time in between travels by reading books and watching TV shows and films on our laptops. We're huge fans of the program, Stranger Things (poor Barb). Mainly because it's set in the 80s, which we remember fondly. It was really interesting hearing Lynda talking about scouring eBay looking for period-specific clothing and paraphernalia to put on the show. And it all had to be correct, otherwise the Internet Sherlocks would be all over it: "That model Casio watch came out two years after the time the show was was set!" <insert eye roll here>

Although Stranger Things wasn't filmed here - Lynda is a resident of the Isle of Man - they have shot a lot of films on the island as a stand-in for other places in the UK.

While doing research for our ride through the Scottish Highlands, I watched a movie called Decoy Bride (yes, Doctor Who is in it). It's set in the Outer Hebrides and we were originally planning to take a ferry over there. Turns out the movie was actually shot here, on the Isle of Man. Cheaper than traveling all the way to northern hinterlands, more infrastructure here, and very generous tax breaks.

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The night air is cold as it seeps into our vented gear on the ride back to our campsite in Peel. The temperatures are a constant reminder that although we'd just like to set up camp for longer than a few days, it'll have to wait till we get ourselves to warmer climates. And there's still so much more to see in the British Isles.


Next day, we venture off the TT road course and visit the southern section of the island. We stop for a scenic break at Port Erin


Chilly and windy at the cliffs overlooking the circular bay of Port Erin


Further south we venture

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To the southern tip - the National Folk Museum of Craigneash

Craigneash is a traditional Manx village preserved to show the way of life in the 19th century. The Manx people are the local indigenous ethnic population, descended from the Celts. Farm animals traipse around backyard pens, enticing Neda to pet them.


The horns on these guys look menacing. Not petting material...


Neda finds one that's more suitable to petting and feeding


It's so beautiful and peaceful here!

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com