Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1467929
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 20 MAY 17, 2022 P131 If you're into motorcycles (and I think you must be if you're reading this), it's hard not to get swept up in the magic of the place. Names like Woods, Agos- tini, Hailwood, Read, Hislop, Fogarty, Jefferies, McGuinness and the immortal Dunlop family are mentioned in the Manx drink- ing establishments with a level of respect normally reserved for heads of state. These riders are gods in this part of the world. I will be taking part in my first TTs this year and thus riding in the wheel tracks of giants. At 39 years old, I know I have missed my chance at becoming a TT rider as a profession but perhaps that was never going to happen anyway. My ride at the TT will therefore be finally me running down that one dream I can always remember having. Growing up, I didn't want to be a grand prix rider, I wanted to be a TT rider. Our house had photos scattered in frames of Dad as Mike Hailwood's teammate on the NCR Ducati in 1978 or on his Yamaha TZ500 in 1980, and if my parents wanted to deter me from wanting to do the TT, they should have taken down the photos. Talk about corrupting a young mind. I have made every step within my power to ensure my two weeks of TT riding are as safe as possible. I've watched so many on-board laps over the last two years I now nearly fall asleep doing so, and I've played the TT PlayStation game ad nauseam, so I know where I'm going, but that's not even half the battle to discovering the course's secrets. The 2021-2022 race season has also seen me in competition more than ever before, and with the exercise regime I've been follow- ing, I feel I'm match fit to be able to undertake this responsibility safely. That's what racing the TT is, a responsibility. You need to be invited to race, and you can't ride the place like a regular racetrack. It's much the same as when I raced Pikes Peak—you're responsible for your own safety, because if you crash, there's no nice, soft air fence to catch you. With that, I'd like to end by thanking a few people who have helped make this dream a reality. My boss, Sean Finley, Kit Palmer, and Jesse Ziegler know how important this is to me and have given me incredible support in the process, and this is some- thing I'm truly grateful for. I would also like to thank Alpine- stars, 5.11 Tactical, Metzeler Road Race Tires, Suzuki North Amer- ica, PRF Racing, Hard Knocks Moto Coffee, Roland Sands Design, and Paul Phillips and Bruce Baker at the Isle of Man for everything they have done to get this project off the ground. Stay tuned to the Cycle News Instagram, Facebook and You- Tube over the TT fortnight as I'll be producing a ton of content so you guys can come along for the ride of my life. Alright, enough chit-chat. Let's do this! CN It's much the same as when I raced Pikes Peak—you're responsible for your own safety, because if you crash, there's no nice, soft air fence to catch you. TT Mountain Course is every racetrack in the world mashed together and wrapped around the Snaefell Mountain, a section of track that when you watch the footage from a helicopter cam- era is about as close to carving fresh powder on a motorcycle as you're ever likely to get. When I went to the Island for my initiation laps in 2019 for a 2020 race start that was eventu- ally postponed until 2022, I was floored at just what the motorcycle means to the Manx people. Every shop I visited, every pub I walked into, there were either hundreds of pictures on the wall of TT he- roes past and present, or a bike in the window, or, usually, both. The Isle of Man is Valhalla for motorcycle riders. That plucky two-wheeled contraption that brings the world together and moves us from point A to point B has given the otherwise sleepy little island, nestled in the middle of the Irish Sea between the west of Great Britain and the east of Ireland, an identity so ingrained it's almost genetic.