Absolutely incredible. I can't even picture myself racing something like that, but I'm glad that such a race exists, and that "normal" (if I'm correct) people are allowed to compete in it.
Thing is, you have to recon the course, and "practice", so you are probably endangering people all througout the year.
Can't imagine onsighting that race !
Had a friend who raced there, back in the late 70s. Tom Hurley. He had a Yamaha 350, 2 stroke, water cooled, as I recall, very light and very fast. Before the race, he'd take it out, race around his home-town--no muffler, no lights, no plates. But it was fast enough, and he knew the streets and back-alleys well enough, he could get away if the cops saw him (or heard him!).
He came close to winning in his size race on the Isle of Man, once or twice. Once he ran out of gas, just a half-mile or less shy of finishing first.
He was given the nickname Suicide Hurley by other competitors because, poor as he was, he would ride on stock (rear, at least) drum brakes, which of course would heat up and not work so well after braking hard (from around 200mph to maybe 50 or less) into the curves.
A great friend, fun climbing partner of the old school, not very fit, did not care about ratings or numbers, but utterly fearless, a fun-loving daredevil. He eventually died in the Alps, a careless slip during a bivouac.
Watching that video, now, in 2013, it all looks crazy dangerous. But forty years ago that was the appeal of climbing, too, which was an inherently dangerous sport, and the best climbers were daredevils, who would risk their lives for the sheer fun of it.
Been on my bucket list to take in the TT in person. It is such a cool remnant of times past. Great to see a community stand behind the tradition that exists here. Liability be damned.
Anybody who Free Solos could do this if they wanted to.
It's all in your head, Free Solo or Go Fast.
In climbing you must believe in YOUR SKILLS
In racing you must believe in YOUR SKILLS
When the time comes to race or to climb, you just gotta push the fear of death out of your head and get down to the busness at hand.
And at the TT... the really outragious stuff goes on between the heats when they open up the roads for a while so you can ride to another bar and have somemore beers.
The Crane stuff is all perspective - 5.0 free solo at best..
I was doing sh#t like that off of bridge cat walks when I was 11 year old.
Hard to believe climbers would find that scary considering we often have to slam gear in while hanging of a shitty finger locks etc..
The kid is rocking one thank god hold after another and can pull to safety at any time...pfftt
That Bike racing is sick - I watched it twice..just awesome!!!
the real beauty of this race is that it's done for nothing but love of sport.
the winners take home a max of only ~$48k per class won, or barely enough to cover the cost of running just this race [pit crews, bike costs, transportation, etc].
and as someone else mentioned almost 250 deaths in the 105 years that it has been run.
i have a friend who races targa in newfoundland [a closed circuit time trial format car race run through and between small towns in newfoundland]. this is not him, but is from the same course:
just watching his dash cam videos make my hands sweat. but at least he has a co-driver to help with navigation.
otoh, the isle of man competitors are racing essentially blind until they are able to memorize the 200 bends and 38 mile course. this article says racers take an average of 3 years just to get to know the course. jesus f*#king christ.
oh well, another place/event to add to the bucket list - and i have no delusions that i'll be doing anything but happily spectating! thanks for the initial post T.C.
[and if you've got 50 min. to kill, the same article linked above has a good documentary with interesting interviews and stories from behind the scenes of the 2012 race.]
Ha, Ha, Ha........Lance Amstrong would have those guys for breakfast.
Impossible. He only has one ball and it's filled with fake old hardened silicone. First turn (Turn 1 Bray Hill) he'd impact the Post Office straight on and be history. Dead! The only thing left would be the old hardened left nut rolling down the road.
If your just realizing this race is taking place you've been living under a rock.
Any motorcyclist who knows anything about a motorcycle knows about this race. It makes those guys on tracks look like children.
How about a Yos TT start at the mobile station race through the park to the 120 entrance and then hang a right to angels camp hang another right go over Sonora and back to the mobile station.
Wide f*#king open winner takes all.
Check out the side cars and yes people die doing this race and while sad they die, what do you expect when you hit a rock wall at 140 plus
One of the few "Track" Grand Prix Champions that also rode and won the IOM, 10 times. This dude was and still is a master of the bike. A humble living Legend!
King of the Road’ Joey Dunlop OBE MBE first saw the course in 1976 as he set off for his first practice - he went home with two replicas. The first of his record breaking 26 wins came in the 1977 Jubilee Classic Race. He won the TT Formula 1 Race six years in a row between 1983 and 1988 and was Formula 1 World Champion five times. He is the only rider to have three hat-tricks to his name - 1985 F1, Senior and Junior, 1988 F1, Senior and Junior and in 2000 the Formula One, Lightweight and Ultra Lightweight. He has lapped the course at over 110 mph in races 256 times and has more 120mph plus laps to his credit than any other rider in the history of the races. He started in 100 races on the TT course, 98 TT and two Classic MGP Junior Races. His astounding record of successes speak for themselves. Altogether Joey’s 26 TT wins include 7 Formula 1, 4 Senior, 3 Junior, 5 Lightweight and 5 UltraLightweight Races, plus the 1977 Jubilee Race and the 1980 Classic 1000. During TT2000, at the age of 48, Joey counted the magnificent win in the Duke Formula One as one of his most rewarding. In his final lap of the TT circuit – the sixth lap of the Senior Race - he set his fastest ever lap at 123.87mph to become joint fourth fastest man around the course.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing. Great day today. 7 pitches and some riding. The canyon had pretty much no sand and was very sticky. Perfect turns! Felt like a fresh powder day.
And I wasn't much over 45 mph! Just a great day...
Just from the photos that guy looks like somebody you really wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of in a bar. And when you consider that insane and fearless racing record...whoooeee. Hard to imagine anyone equaling that in any other high-speed racing discipline. But of course someone will post up to the contrary inside of 10 minutes, I suppose.
Let us know!