My European Vacation this summer....

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

Thanks to some shrewd investments this past year, I was finally able to take a vacation (my first ever REAL vacation in 42 years of working). One of my bucket list items was the big motorcycle race in the middle of the Irish Sea, the Isle of Man TT race. I have wanted to go to that race for over 15 years, and it finally happened. it is without a doubt the greatest race in the world (take that, Indy Racing League). A 37.5 mile course, ALL public roads, speeds in excess of 200mph in places, (lap average 130mph or more), and one of the biggest crowds ever at a single event. There are tons of places to watch along the course, many free, some grandstands and pubs (Creg Ny Baa being the most famous) and the riders are the most accessible and friendly of all motorsports. 20220611_145642.jpgAs you can see, shaving was not on my list whilst there....The rider on the right is Peter Hickman, who was having quite the year there, 4 Races won, and the fastest average lap time. I indulged myself with a nice new set of leathers, and as you can see I have a badge..I also joined the official Course Marshalls crew: 20220610_121339.jpg
The medics photobombed us, I didn't even notice until I uploaded the picture to my computer....this is at Creg Ny Baa, and here is shot of where I was standing, with bikes charging down that hill at around 130mph, slowing to 80 to make the corner... 20220610_150711.jpg

The weather was actually good by Manx standards, mid to upper 60's every day, a mix of overcast, sun, some wind and rain. The second race of this day (the Senior TT) was bumped to Saturday because of the rain that moved in shortly after this pic was taken.

Mere words cannot describe what I felt at the race...it was a full 10 days of total sensory overload, and the crash of emotions when it was over had me crying like a baby in my hotel. I have already booked my flights and hotels for next year...I came to the race on the last two days of practice and for next year I will be there the week before the race and two weeks after, to see more of the Isle. I will also be bringing my latest sport bike over so I will have more freedom to move about, but the Isle does have a great transit system (bus and electric trains) that covers the main parts of the Isle.

The Isle and the Manx people were both awesome, I have over 200 pictures and some videos just from the race, and over 100 more from Ireland. (I will put up some of Ireland pics in a later post in this thread.)

Oh, as for the food... three days before I was marshalling at Creg, I was enjoying my VIP ticket for the second day of races at the pub, with a balcony view of that same corner. The food provided was fantastic, including FRESH Manx lobster... (I was going to upload a pic, but the one I took of my plate there only had turkey on it, which was still awesome.)

To be continued.....

[John Eickhof]

i hadnt noticed the backboard and neck brace in the picture you sent me! is your adrenaline settling down to a crawl yet?

[Marcel Birgelen]

Thanks for sharing! You've choosen an interesting destination for your first vacation in almost half a century.

The Isle of Man TT is a pretty legendary motorcycle race, one of the most dangeous if not THE most dangerous in the world. I've had the pleasure of attending it once, in 2008, as one of our customers was an official sponsor back then... Great times, great people, great scenery... simpler times.

20220610_150711.jpg

If such a picture is accompanied by the remark that "the weather was good", you surely know it was taken on one of the British Isles.

So, you went on vacation for the first time in 42 years, but ended up working as a volunteer race marshal, but it was still a vacation? :P

Any plans to visit the mainland next time you make it all the way over the big pond?

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

John: You already know what I am up to next week, don't think the "a" levels will be down for a while.

Marcel: Thanks, and glad you got a chance to see it in person yourself. I was told by many there that the weather was exceptionally good this year, a break from the usual. in fact, my second marshal point (Race Day 1) was at Marown Church and the day was perfect: 20220604_104137.jpg 20220604_102730.jpg

And you are correct, it is the most dangerous race, and sadly this year we lost 5. Three in the sidecars and two solo bike racers.

I had the pleasure of meeting one of the solo rider's teams, they shared a lot of good stories about their racer, so it was a mix of sadness but mainly a lot of laughs as he was quite a character. The team owner's daughter told me that I would have gotten along great with him, as we share the same wicked humor.

Being on the marshals crew is great, we are all volunteers, but they do take great care of us and many vendors, pubs, some hotels and airlines all offer discounts to us. I did not feel like it was work, as we had some fun as a crew and got to see (and be part of) the race from some unique vantage points. And they are very flexible and accommodating with scheduling, as long as they have enough marshals to go around. (It takes over 600(!) marshals to cover the course.) There are also days off between races and practice days, so there is still time to see other sights.

The marshals do have some huge responsibilities, including spectator control, course cleanup, accident response, advanced first aid, signalling (with flags) and more. We are in fact granted the same authority as a police constable and some spectators have learned that the hard way. (Luckily at my three posts this year no such incidents or even crashes happened.) That said, the marshal I spoke to (on my very first day in Douglas IOM in fact) DID caution me about the very real risks marshals face. Thankfully the Association offers up excellent insurance coverage at no cost, including illness, even if I am off duty.

I do plan on hitting the mainlands at some point, if not next summer (I plan on getting out of Dublin this next time and seeing the REAL Ireland) but future trips include Scotland, New Zealand, Italy (Sicily to be more precise) and Germany. Possibly Australia, Denmark and even your part of the world too. It will all depend on how things work out for me financially, as I am kinda retired right now.