Isle of Man in April

[Bustaspoke]

TLDR-Man gets a 5 day ticket to the IOM & enjoys it.80-90 Mini's doing a event & a couple of groups/swarms of Honda Monkey bikes riding around the island having lots of fun
I'd not been to the island for a couple of years as in 2024 & 2025 the ManxGP/Classic TT had been 'Weather affected',in fact in 2024 my sailing was cancelled due to a storm I decided that rather than play Weather Gods roulette again,as we had a good spell of weather forecast,I'd get back there in the Spring sunshine.
Friday morning,pack the bike,it took a couple of attempts as I'd not been camping for a couple of years but I needed to do a test run before next months trip to France and this would be a good test run.The short journey to the ferry terminal is only 12 miles & nothing fell off or got burned by the exhaust
There were a few bikes parked at the terminal & I got talking to their owners,one bloke had just picked up a Ducati Scrambler,he'd had it delivered to the Ferry Terminal & his first ride on it would be up the Ferry ramp.There was a bloke on a R1 in 'Power ranger 'gear with his girlfriend on the pillion looking to get some runs over the mountain,I got talking to a father & son from near me who were on Monkey bikes meeting other Monkey bike riders for a big meet up in Douglas.
The crossing went well the Irish sea was calm,the visibility was clear you could see for miles.When we docked both me & the Monkey bike riders wanted to get in front of the R1,it had a really irritating loud exhaust,none of us wanted to listen to..
I camp at Glen Lough,for TT fans it's the big campsite on your left just before Balagarey,Ive been there a few times now & recommend it to anyones looking for a IOM campsite.
During TT & Manx GP week it's full of motorcycles but today I'm the only one on a bike .



I got unpacked,set up the tent & went for a ride to Peel,it's one of my favourite places on the island & looks lovely in the sunshine
I went for a walk around the castle despite the heat



In the car park in the bottom left there were loads of Classic & BMW Mini's over on the island for some kind of owners rally.I'd never seen so many Mini's in one place,they were getting marshalled back onto the road.I asked a marshal what it was all about & how many cars were there,she said between 80 & 90



After chilling for a while I went for a ride back to Douglas,I wanted to look at the coast road,Marine Drive,it's closed off where it got swept into the sea.I then went round to the other part of the road near Port Soderick,now it's a big long Cul De Sac it's nice & quietYou can see the gate blocking the road in the background.



When I got back to the campsite one of the Mini's from the rally was there.





The owner was a woman in her early 60's & she'd drove from Switzerland to attend the owners meet.Her husband's into bikes & he'll be over for the TT.it had been a proper sunny day & it was a cloudless evening so the temps started to drop quickly,it ended up being the coldest night camping that I can remember but at least that meant a bright & sunny start in the morning.
TBC

[Skub]

A proper chill out.

[Dodgy69]

That's the way to do it...

[Dodgy69]

[Bustaspoke]

There were two distinct groups on monkey bikes when I was there,all looked like they were having fun

[Bustaspoke]

Saturday dawned bright ,sunny & a little bit 'Fresh'.I knew that the previous week Manx authorities had closed the mountain road from the Gooseneck to the Creg in order to get it right for the TT,hopefully it would now be open & I could have a run over the mountain.They had also closed the road from Ginger Hall to Ramsey for TT preperations.I got to the end of Sulby straight no problem,but then had to take the diversion around to Ramsey,after that it was going to be a run over the mountain,well it would have been if some clown hadn't had a incident & the road was closed.I took the coast road to Laxey..
After Laxey I went up to the Creg & rode to the Bungalow,I noticed that now traffic was coming through from Ramsey so I took one of my favourite roads to Sulby Glen & back to Sulby straight



Years back I did 3 IOM E2E MTB Challenges,it ran from Point of Ayre to the Calf of Man,now every time I visit I go to both locations,here's Point of Ayre.That first E2E was in 2003,where's the time gone



The Belfast ferry gets so close to the coast here that you can hear it's engines as it steams past,(You can see the ferry in the photo) near the Suzuki's mirror.
Next stop was back into Ramsey & try to get a run over the mountain.
This time there were no closures,as I went through Stella Marris up to Ramsey hairpin I'm doing about 29MPH (it's a 30MPH zone) & I'm slowly catching up to a Power Ranger on a sportsbike,he's doing leg stretches & moving the bike from side to side as if he's rolling up to the grid at a club race After the Hairpin the fun starts,unrestricted all the way to Hillberry.I never saw Power Ranger man again,presumably he'd rode off either into the distance or over the edge,I enjoyed my run all the way back to Douglas.It was good to be able to wind the bike up & not worry about speed restrictions I then went to another of my favourite Manx roads 'The Sloc' then to Port Erin.The place was full of people enjoying the seaside in the sunshine.After a while I got back on the bike again,this time taking the coast road to Peel,another favourite.From there on the way back to the campsite a swarm of monkey bikes were heading the opposite way,more of them tomorrow.
At the campsite I parked the bike & took a walk down the Heritage trail to Union Mills.We take push bikes when we visit the TT & this is the route we use,the trail is a old dissused railway line from Quarter Bridge to Peel.A small river runs parallel to the trail,so quiet compared to the road.



This is near the Railway Pub



This is definitely not on the Heritage trail



TBC

[Bustaspoke]

I was awake early on Sunday morning,the plan was to get down to Castletown then to the Calf of Man before it got busy.Sadly for me,the weather wasn't playing ball,it was light rain & drizzle...
By the time I got to Castletown the drizzle stopped.They'd been preparing the Southern 100 circuit so I did a couple of laps,I really wouldn't fancy racing around here.The ribbon of tarmac looks good,but In lots of places it's zero run off with dry stone walls on both sides of the road.



Next stop the Calf of Man,it was windswept & bleak so I didn't hang around,back to the campsite.
On the campsite I noticed something about 1 metre high & 2 metres long under a cover,I was about to find out what was under the cover.
Here you go,never seen one before



I had a good chat with the owner,it's 2 wheels at the front 1 at the rear,he says it weighs approx 35KG & he'd rode it from Berkshire to the Lake district then to Heysham for the ferry.He puts all his gear inside the body & this canopy sits on top.



He said the previous day he got 65 MPH on the run down to the Creg & lots of people were asking him about it.
I went out for a ride again,did another lap of the TT course,still diverted at Sulby Bridge.I pulled in for a stop at the Creg,the Mini owners were there & a bunch of Monkey bike riders were taking the piss out each other.Inevitibley I got talking to the Monkey bike boys,they were from the same town,Stourbridge I think,they told me to buy one & join the fun.



After half an hour or so they fired up the Monkeys,one of them did a doughnut,then they shot of down the hill to Douglas.A swarm of Monkeys..

[Bustaspoke]

Monday was nice & sunny so I rode to Castletown again



After spending the morning back at the Calf of Man I rode up to Ramsey to look at the boat that got beached last week



Then another run over the mountain & back to Laxey beach.This afternoon I met another swarm of Monkey bike riders all having fun.
I went back up the mountain & took a track signposted Balaugh Glen,I then turned off that onto a track to Druidsdale & eventually came out at Balaugh Bridge.No sportsbikes to be seen on these back roads...

[Bustaspoke]

Tuesday morning was spent packing away the camping gear & I went for a farewell spin around the TT circuit.
They'd now opened the Sulby Bridge to Ramsey sector.It's still not smooth but they've been working on the crown of the road along various sectors.As expected,the road over the mountain was chilly,not much sun up there today & I was cursing not wearing my Winter gloves...
I got back to the campsite & loaded up the SV,I was early for the ferry so I rode back to Castletown,I don't know what model plane this is,it was doing 'Touch & Go's' at the airport.



I went back to the Ferry terminal & the Monkey bikes appeared again,so with the owners permission I sat on one & I'mnow looking at buying one.



Next trip,Normandy in a couple of weeks

[Dodgy69]

Get it done.

[Count Steer]

I got back to the campsite & loaded up the SV,I was early for the ferry so I rode back to Castletown,I don't know what model plane this is,it was doing 'Touch & Go's' at the airport.

Atlas C1??

https://www.raf.mod.uk/aircraft/current ... -c1-a400m/