Mad Sunday 2

Went out for another ride. Mountain road has been closed all day, so it was back on the coast road towards Douglas. I’d noticed on my first pass through a sign for The Gooseneck, It’s a very curvy and banked bend that signals the climb up over the mountain. A popular viewing spot. I decided to take a look and see what was what, how easy to get to, parking, facilities, etc. Down a narrow lane and over 2 cattle grids you arrive right at the corner. The lane actually comes out on the exit to the bend. It’s not huge but the viewing spot looks quite good. You can see the road for a few hundred yards before, so should be quite a good spot. I just need to decide what time to get up there. It was sunny when I got there and very pleasant, though I can imagine it gets a bit chilly when the weather isn’t so good. It is a bit exposed. There is a lovely view down to Ramsey and the sea from there too.

From there I carried on again into Douglas and parked up at the end of pit lane. I then had a walk up to the grandstand and the merchandising area. Behind the grandstand there was a big table with the TT trophies on display. They are massive things. It’s a wonder the riders can lift them after hanging onto a bike for nearly 2 hours! I wandered down into the paddock area. Some of the teams were fettling the bikes ready for tomorrow, other are clearly happy with their setup and were all shut up.

I headed back to the bike and setup the Gopro, facing backwards. The camera can film upside down if required, you have to change a setting. That way it is the right way up when played back. Initially I’d thought it would be upside down and changed the setting. Then as I tried to fix it in position, I decided it needed to be right way up. I forgot to change the setting though. No matter, coz when I got back I managed to delete the darned thing by accident, anyway.

The ride back to Ramsey was quicker than the first time round. There wasn’t so much traffic on the roads and I felt a little more confident having already done one ‘lap’. Confidence though, round this place can so easily be misplaced. I almost found out to my cost through a section called Glen Helen. There are a series of bends, nice and sweeping, nothing too taxing at the 60mph limit. I was getting into a nice rhythm, nobody in front, nobody behind, sweep, sweep, I went. However, on the outside of one of these bends is a pub or hotel or something, I’m not sure what. As I came round the bend, a Rover started to pull out from the car park. My initial reaction was to roll off and cover the brake but he hesitated and I thought he had seen me. A split second later, I realised he was still going to pull out. Now ABS is quite useful but there was no way I was going to be able to stop. My only course of action then, was to head for the kerb and pray I got to that point before he did. I’ll tell you now, I wasn’t convinced I would make it. I’m not sure if he did see me late on, or I was just lucky but I got to the gap and through without impact. A wake up call, that’s for sure….for both of us. I got back without further incident, the mountain road still closed, so I guess I'll just have to wait for that experience. 

Anyway, it’ll soon be time for tea, so I need to decide what to have. Not that there is much choice. Pizza, burger, fish, that’s about it.

I’m having a few problems uploading pics at the moment, not sure why but they will appear at some time or other. Keep checking.