Some I'm on the Isle of Man..

[SVbadguy]

and less than 24 hours from taking my first 'hot' lap around the famed Mountain Course.  It's the Manx GP.  You've probably seen some press releases on the RRW site lately. 

Got a controlled lap around 5pm local and the first practice session kicking off around 7pm.  Not sure if Manx Radio does any broadcast of the practice, but they do for the races. 

[JOHN 3:16]

Thats great I"ll be praying for safe ride keep us posted.

[SV88]

Fantastic.  Wish I was in your boots.  My wife told me that she'd divorce me if I ever planned on doing that race.  Be real careful.  This course does not forgive mental lapses...

[tug296]

What a great event to participate in, do well, have fun and return safely.

[SVbadguy]

http://www.mgpfestival.com/News/2011/08/20/Bad-weather-leads-to-first-MGP-practice-of-2011-being-cancelled.aspx


Chris' bike






The setup





My bike

[apriliaman]

looks good hope you do well.

[Cowboy 6]

Go Travis!   

[mikendzel]

Kick ass and BE SAFE!  Chris's bike looks awesome!

[SVbadguy]

Title was supposed to be "So I'm on the Isle of Man.." in case you haven't figured that out.  That was a long day and I was worn out from getting everything sorted.


As far as today, things didn't go so perfectly. Second-hand info from Chris is that Tony Baker got dazzled by the sun at Ballacraine during the controlled lap. He went straight and got yank off the bike by a rope used to block off the road.  Caught him by the neck so he had to go the hospital to get stitched up.  Apparently he's now hesitant about continuing.


Between Brandish and Hillberry on my controlled lap a rock holed my radiator.  At first I thought it may have overheated and spewed over since I got splashed with water, but it wouldn't happen like that since it's a 2nd gen.  With the help of mechanic Tony Mcphillips, Ben Wylie and some steel putty stuff we got it fixed and it held for the timed practice lap I got in. I  wasn't so sure I wanted to do another, it was getting dark and it was  cold on the mountain and my hands were cold.  But the checkered flag was out when I reached the  grandstands.   I lapped in 24:55.35, averaging 90.834mph.   I had a  pretty good idea I was averaging around 90mph.  I'm pleased with that,  before ever riding the course I was figuring I would be pretty  comfortable at that speed.

5th fastest Newcomer B.

[MELK-MAN]

awesome! my hat is off to anyone that competes in the TT. Love the HDTV coverage every year.

[SVbadguy]

Monday August 23

My practice session was the first group today. Only made it to Kirk Michael when I came across some waving yellows and then reds. Had to stop on the side of the road for awhile, then a 'slow' ride to Sulby bridge were we waited even more. A bike had crashed and burned at the Schoolhouse Corner on the way into Ramsey. I saw it when I went by, it was burned up real good.

We 'slowly' made our way around the rest of the course under yellow and that was it for all practice. The second group never even got started. I was having a really good lap until it got stopped.

Before practice Chris and I were interviewed by Charlie who does the Manx Radio broadcasts for the TT and MGP.

Blog of Manx Radio's Charlie Lambert
http://charlielambert.wordpress.com/

One picture here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/northline/6072523478/in/set-72157627498597324


More
http://www.manxphotosonline.com/2011-MGP-Photographs-Practice-22nd-August-2011/slides/220811-065.html

http://www.manxphotosonline.com/2011-MGP-Photographs-Practice-22nd-August-2011/slides/220811-253.html

Chris
http://www.manxphotosonline.com/2011-MGP-Photographs-Practice-22nd-August-2011/slides/220811-077.html









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Tuesday  August 24

The day started out with John McBride, a TT and MGP traveling marshall, who drove me around for a lap with advice.

After doing ~90mph during the first practice, my goal was to drop about a minute for a 95mph average with a subsequent goal of dropping another minute and change to break 100mph average.

Thanks to good weather and starting on time I was able to get in a full three laps for practice (race distance for the newcomers race). For the first lap some clouds were in the right place to prevent being blinded by the sun in the usual spots, but I had to deal with it a little on the mountain. On the second lap the sun was blinding me in the area from Greeba to Ballacraine. Third lap I don't remember it being an issue and it was getting dark on the second half of the mountain because the sun was behind it and some clouds.

It wasn't nearly as cold on the mountain today, but early in the first lap I had a runny nose for a bit. Once I got warmed up it wasn't a problem.

I managed an average speed of 96.48mph with a 23:27.83 time. Mission accomplished! I had some pretty good jumps at Ballaugh Bridge, so hopefully I can find some pics online somewhere.

My upper body is already feeling sore so I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. I don't think there is a total body workout that is more fun than this.

[SVbadguy]

Wednesday August 25

I wasn't real keen on going out on a wet course since I've got the laps I need. So I kept the bike in the paddock with warmers on until everyone in group 2 had rolled out. Then I went straight to tech and out for a single lap just to keep the course fresh in my mind. It was damp everywhere except for about Sara's Cottage to a few turns past the Gooseneck. Still managed an 84.6 mph average and a good speed at the Grandstand speedtrap indicating a really good drive out of Governor's. I only saw one other bike the entire lap, a lightweight 400 of some sort passed me at Cronk-y-Vody.

Finally someone got me launching at Ballaugh Bridge.
http://www.manxphotosonline.com/2011-MGP-Photographs-Practice-25th-August-2011/slides/250811-207.html

http://www.manxphotosonline.com/2011-MGP-Photographs-Practice-25th-August-2011/slides/250811-208.html

I met Graeme Crosby earlier in the day too when he was strolling through the paddock.

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Thursday August 26

Today was really fun. I was one of the last out in my group and it was like a closed circuit race compared to my other practice laps. I was constantly passing bikes on the first lap. A pack of about 5 bikes was getting in the way after Doran's, but I manage to work through all of them by the time I got to Sara's Cottage.

Then at Cronk Urleigh there were waving yellows for what looked to be a wreck that was getting cleaned up. Didn't notice a bike but a foam block was getting moved around. I had new tires on for this practice so I was taking it easy in the first few turns. So adding up all the lost time probably amounts to at least 15 seconds.

I'm feeling really comfortable on most of the course. Up on the mountain is where I'm really giving up time.

We were interviewed and photographed again today. I don't know who it was though.