Isle of Man Night Ride

Caught the ferry across the the Isle of Man, and with the time of arrival very close to the Manx MTB Thurs night ride, I was getting dressed into lycra as we docked. A gent was waiting for me as we drove off the ferry, I parked up and got my bike, waved Marnie off to drive the motorhome home to the campsite and I was off.

No more than 20 mins of being on the island, I was sitting in someones house eating cake and drinking tea. The smile on my face was huge..
We have 7 guys turn up for the ride, and as the End to End challenge is up on Sunday, the numbers were a bit down as people were tapering. The event here is huge, as bragging rights stay around for a year if you are a local. So everyone is keen to race hard. What was going to be a just a quick ride, slowing got longer as they showed me around the island. The climbs are hard, but the views....well, amazing.

The sun was started to fall, and some 'singletrack' was going to be presented to me to ride. The group split soon, and three of us continued on, taking in the race course for Sunday. Fast, Open, Rocky and headwinds will be my four words to use on Sunday, but that's a whole day away.

Riding on the Isle of Man, and riding along roads that still have all the protective padding on them from the moto TT last weekend was good. Even driving along the roads in the motorhome with the padding made me feel safer.

Anyway, it was time to ride some local known singletrack....and I was ready.

I stopped taking photos, as the singletrack was a natural flowing section that I would have been happy if it went forever. Slightly damp but not muddy, and the steep off-camber corners were still alot of fun.

With around 3 hours riding in my legs, I was pointed down a road towards the campsite I was staying at (I just hoped Marnie found it as well), and with 30 minutes riding along the moto TT course, I found the campsite.

The Isle of Man is an amazing place, and the friendly nature of the MTB crew have made me already feel like a local. I have alot more exploring to do here, and in a first on my journey, I have to buy myself a MANX jersey to remember this place.