Isle of Man TT: A Dangerous Addiction
The Isle of Man TT is described as the world's most dangerous race, a complicated and unforgiving course. Yet every year more and more motorcycle enthusiasts come to this tiny British island to race in the event. Is it some kind of fatal attraction?
It is a three-hour ferry ride from Liverpool to Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man, which is a self-governing British Crown Dependency.
Year after year in late May more than 25,000 people make this journey to the small island about 70 kilometers off the English coast in the middle of the Irish Sea. The TT race has claimed almost 150 lives in its 105-year history and the course itself has claimed more than 250 lives.
Most of the riders are amateurs with full-time jobs a world away from the megabucks of Grand Prix racing, and for them this is a very expensive business.
This has been on my bucket list for a really long time and I can happily say that I am going this year. Happy 50th to me.
I was there in 200 to see the great Joey Dunlop take the hat trick , wins in three different classes . He was 48yrs old . These guys are Gods of motorcycling !
Good one to watch informative and quick. Guy is fun to listen to and the whole thing is literally amazing...
recommended for anyone who loves Motorsports.
With my online moniker & photo chosen for my avatar it is inevitable that I would comment on this doc. I have been riding motorcycles almost my entire life. Started with mini bikes shortly after I learned to ride a bicycle. 40 some years later (now 49 yrs old) I still ride almost daily. Several major accidents & literally months spent in hospital (probably combined to a total of more than a year of my life) & major surgeries resulting in spinal fusions at several levels, lots of metal hardware in my back along with knee surgeries & most everyone asks the obvious question: "Why do you still ride?" Perhaps it does have something to do with part of the title to this doc. Is it an addiction? I don't think so. I honestly never had the opportunity to rise to the level that these young men in this film are at. Grew up in a very financially challenged home. Started working at a very young age & paid for all my rides myself after getting a taste of riding on neighbor's mini bikes.
Back to the question of addiction. All I can say, & this is what I tell anyone who asks including my doctor whom I see a couple times each month; "Why do you still ride?": Because even after all the pain I am in on a daily basis & the calculated risks involved, it is one of very few things that still puts a genuine & almost uncontrollable grin on my face every time I do it! Now don't have dirty minds while you read this. Unless you have experienced the sheer joy & freedom of riding on two wheels with a powerful engine under you & carving up a back country road or riding down the coast or cross country or just commuting daily, you will not understand what I mean. Fortunately for me, my doctor who is also a pain specialist rides a motorcycle himself. He completely understands & sees that the happiness & silly grin on my face after riding to my appointments go a long way toward my mental & physical recovery from my accidents.
It is difficult to describe or justify to those who don't ride or have an aversion or overly cautious approach to "dangerous" activities. I'll never forget that day when my mother rode home on her first motorcycle of many when I was 8 years old. Cooler mother anywhere on the planet? I don't think so!
The danger? The rush? The addiction? I don't know. It just gets in your blood & you either ride or you don't. I do.
@Earthwinger Thanks for that link. It is a tasty little tidbit to whet the appetite. Perhaps someday I will be fortunate enough to go. Too old to race competitively but hopefully still able to make a circuit of that awesome 60km route.
Thanks Vlatko, etal for another doc worth the time to watch. Cheers!
22:00 "I'm just glad you're back in one piece." Is not usually meant literally, but this is the TT.
There is a fabulous, long history to this race. It's a throwback to earlier times and the long course has a danger level that has become unacceptable to other organizers. Good story, well told. It seems some of the best docs are from Al Jazeera.
Wow. That's a peculiar kind of insanity is't it; but now I understand a bit better. Well done story...I won't give a spoiler...worth the watch. Now I want to drive that road myself, but not at high speed, and not on a motor bike...maybe a little smart car, or a tesla, HA. I do want a trip to the Isle of Man...the story of this place would make another good doc. :)
good lad vlatko.