Whatisit?
TheIsleofManisbobbingaboutinthe
IrishSea,asif a chunkoftheLake
Districtbrokeoffandfloatedtowards
NorthernIrelandbeforedroppinganchor
halfwaybetweenHeyshamandthe
coast ofCountyDown.Theislandis 223
squaremiles,with 99 milesofcoastline,
32 milestoptobottomand 14 milesatits
widestpoint.There’sa 37.73-mileroad
whichyoumighthaveheardof
occasionally,loopingtheisland.
Whatmakesitgreat?
Goodnessme,howlonghavewegot?
Youmeanapartfromnonationalspeed
limit,thevarietyofspectacularscenery
— fromcoastalcliffstotranquilbays,
frompebbledbeachestomoorlands,to
woodedhillsidestobustlingVictorian
promenades.Andthenovera centuryof
bikeracinghistory— ofheroicvictories
andtheultimateprice— ontopofit all.
Let’sassumewealreadyknowenough
Must-ridesection
Obviouslythecourseitself.Earlymorningisquietestbut
it’ssonotworthgoingnuts— justletthebikegoatitsown
pace.Butsomeoftheisland’sbestridingisintheparts
no-onetalksabout;there’ssomuchmorethanjusttheTT
course.There’sthemoorlandrunontheA36inthesouth
loopingaroundSouthBarrule;thewestcoastridealong
theA27towardsPeel,stoppingoffatthecharmingNiarbyl
Baytowatchthesunset;orthesimilarlyscenicridealong
thewestcoastA4,withseaviewsandDevil’sElbowto
catchyouout.OrturnofftheTTcourseatBarregarrow
andfollowtheB10asit windsupto themarshal’shutat
Brandywell.OrtheA1 4 betweenSulbyandtheBungalow,
climbingpastSulbyreservoir.It’sso,sopretty.
abouttheTTandtheClassicTT,and
whatwereallywanttoknowisthis:is
theIsleofMana worthwhilesports-
touringdestinationforthe46-oddweeks
oftheyearwhenthere’snobikeracing?
Theanswerisyes— infactif youwant
to go there fortheriding(andyes,it
sounds crazy to have to say it, but it’s
worth it), you’re much better off going
when there aren’t 30,000 other riders
thinking the same thing, and when the
roads don’t keep closing to let some
race bikes charge round it instead.
Famously, the mountain section of the
TT course — the A18, to be precise — is
unrestricted. In fact, anywhere you see
a national speed limit sign is unlimited.
The only other places you can ride with
such inhibition, legally, on public roads,
are sections of German autobahn. And
Distancefromferryterminal 64 milesfromHeyshamtoDouglas(ontheBen-my-
Chree),or 78 milesfromLiverpool(ontheManannan)
Timetogetthere3h48m(Ben-my-Chree),2hr45m(Manannan)
MakesureyouvisitNiarbylBay:a peaceful,jaggedbeach
StopoveratPortErinforitscharmandrelaxation
HOWWESCOREDIT
Scenery........9/10
Roads...............8/10
THE FACTS
4 The Isle of Man
Some reckon it’s the biking
centre of the universe
Pictures Jason Critchell
36 | JULY 2019
RIDE’S BEST
SPORTS-TOURING
DESTINATIONS
The most famous
stretch of mountain
road in motorcycling
