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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127275
BOOKREVIEW
TT Course Guide
For many road racing enth usiasts ,
competing in the Isle of Man T'T is a
life-long dream whi ch will most likely
remain unfulfilled.
. Fort una tely for them there is the T'T
Co urse G u ide by Mac McDiarmid.
McDiarmi d, the edito r of Englan d 's
Bike magazine, competed on the Island
fro m 1983-88. T herefore, his insight into
what is the. fast way around the 37.73mi le, 214-turn public roads circu it wh ich
he calls " the most physically punish in g,
mecha n ica ll y ta xin g , tec h n ica l ly
dema nd ing , exh ila rat ing and . .. unfor giving in the world, " is not at all secondha nd.
Even more credible than McDiarmid's
perspective is that of racer Steve Hislop,
who owned the lap record of 121.99 m ph
when the boo k was wri tten in '89, and
who improved tha t mark to 122.63 mph
this year. Hi slop's th oughts acco mpany
McDiarmid's, and are found un der the
head in g "T he Racer's Line."
Presents
The MOYUI.
cuNIT
EDSl:
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Glen Helen OHV Park
San Bernardino, California
August 25 & 26, 1990
New 1991
Yamalra Yls andAWs
OnDisp/ay
atMotoExpo
One-day ticket: $18.00
Two-day tickets $23.00
T he du o's words, in conjunction wi ll,
Don Morl ey's photographs, bring to life
the locales behind the storybook names.
T he 104-page, handbook-sized guide
begins with a short foreword, followed
by a chap ter entitled "T he 'TT: A Brief
History," which in our estimation is
entirely too brief. However, since there
ar e already a number of books on the
'TT's lengthy (since 1907) history, and
sin ce this is clearly not the point of the
'TT Course Guide,' its sket chiness is
most ly excusable.
The book then begi ns an actua l lap
of the course, dividing its length int o six
sections, each of which is detai led in its
own chapter. The layou t is a little
awkward as the reader must constant ly
jump back and forth from McDiarmid's
to Hislop ' s commentaries, bu t th e
know ledge gai ned is worth th e effort
expended .
Hislop 's insight is especially fascin a ting as, for instance, he tell s of reaching
speeds of 190-195 mph on the wor ks
Honda RVF750 whi le p iurn meting dow n
the h ill to Bra nd ish !
British lin go is found throughout,
with such term s as lay-by (turn o ut), grid
(sewer drain), parapet (ston e wall) and
"bottle" (bravery ) req uiring some dis cerning though t.
The boo k concl udes with a chap ter
ent itled " Mind and Machine," in which
the author offers hea rtfelt advice to firsttime 'TT competitor s.
If we can offer one criticism, it would
be the boo k's lack of an overall track map,
wh ich if it were included would provide
a much-needed overvi ew of the legendary
Mountain Circui t. Additionally, dividing said map into sections to accompa ny
each of the six chap ters wou ld help
prevent the reader becoming " lost" in the
text.
A few typographical errors also crop
in (five laps of a 526-mile course for the
1904 Gordon Bennett Cup? Perh aps it
was 52.6?), but none are overwhelmingly
alarming.
If you 're a true roa d raci ng ent husiast
there's a p lace for the T'T Co urse G ui de
in your book col lection.. righ t between
the Giacomo Agos tin i biogr aphy and the
history of MV Agusta.
The T'T Course G uide is not curre n tly
being distribu ted in the U.S. To order,
send a bank check or internationa l mon ey
order for £8 Sterling to 650 Publication s,
P.O. Box 28, Altrincham, Chesh ire WAl5
8SH , Engla nd; Ph on e: 011-44-61-9283480, FAX: 011-44-61-941-6897.
Brian Catterson
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