IoM Day 3

I needed to check-in for marshalling at 12 today - an extra “contingency” session had been added to make up for the Monday evening cancellation and red flag last night.

But I had time in hand to do another lap of the circuit, this time in beautiful sunny conditions. The Crusader was running beautifully but the climb up the mountain was relentless and I was in 3rd gear for a lot of it to prevent the engine flogging up in 4th. So the sight of the Victory cafe at the top was welcome to give her a break. 

Before I had my helmet off and ear plugs out, I was accosted by a madly enthusiastic guy whose first motorbike in the late 70s had been a Crusader. He kept me chatting for ages, which was very nice but meant I didn’t have time for my planned coffee and cake! 

Setting off for the final small climb before the long descent back to Douglas, she felt in her element - she actually seems to respond pretty well to a gentle thrashing 😳. What Rob would call “an Italian decoke” 🙂 I particularly loved the gentle popping on the over-run as we came down the long incline to the Creg-ny-Baa Hotel, where a policeman with radar gun awaited us!

I signed on for the afternoon session and was at Transmann again, this time with a lovely guy from the Lake District called Alan. What an interesting life he had lead, including spells as a welder, shipwright, Army reservist, mayor (twice!) and theatre nurse. 

The session ran in perfect conditions until the last 5 minutes when there was just a very slight hint of rain. By the time we had packed up and I was walking back to the campsite, it was full blown rain and the evening session had been cancelled. I can’t say I was disappointed, as I was pretty knackered by then!

As I arrived back, a group were arriving from Galway, including a well used motor home, which subsequently disgorged 2 motorbikes from within(!!), one of which was a '61 Crusader. Roy, the owner, and I spent lots of time over the next couple of days comparing notes on our restorations. He had done a video blog of his, which is way over my head! Watch it here.

I particularly liked his tool store that he'd made out of an old crash helmet, to go on his rack!

With the evening session cancelled, after cooking some tea I headed for a big walk into Douglas and along the prom, returning after dark. Then settled down in the warm evening with a beer to read a book.