Isle of Man - Riding Day!

This is the Isle of Man route we rode - only 17 miles or so, starting and finishing by the TT Grandstand in Douglas, but with some resonably tough climbs, not steep, just irritatingly tricky terrain. We probably could have done it faster if we'd been racing for something but we were just taking it easy and soaking up the scenery. Some great tarmac on the TT course sections though, really smooth.

Part way through a 3 mile rocky climb - not steep, but hard to go more than about 5 feet at a time without hitting something or clipping a pedal. Matt fell off several times, once in a ditch, fortunately all soft landings but it was a frustrating bitch. Not very tiring though as there was very little cycling involved!

Nice view though.

Cutting our losses and having a break before finishing the climb. With no speedo or time constraints it was a leisurely ride and quite enjoyable.

Terrible gulleys mid way up made riding even more tricky, with wedged pedals almost kicking me off repeatedly.

Looking back down a relatively smooth section of climb.

Same again.

Trek 3700 which served as out steeds for the day. Shitty RST forks and mediocre brakes made the downhills less enjoyable than they should have been and wrists ache.

Right at the top of what could have been a wicked downhill section had we had forks and brakes that worked. As it was the loose rocky surface limited my speed (as did the fact that I almost stacked it about 5 times on the way down just the first section! And it got worse!!)

The ride was excellent and I really want to go back and do some more. Some nice country roads with 3 fairly long off road sections meant that it felt like the roads were there as a means of transport rather than a major part of the ride and didn't detract from the trails. The second and third o/r sections were mostly downhills with the second having a very loose gravelly surface at the top, degrading to large stones, making it a tricky descent at speed (especially with dodgy braks and very little suspension). The final o/r section was pretty straightforward and a lot more fun - God knows how Matt did the whole thing sat down though I almost crashed several times without being sat down as well! The first and longest o/r section was by far the trickiest, which covered the major climb up into the mountains, about 3 miles of rocks, gulleys, gravel and more rocks. The most frustrating thing was trying to pick cyclable paths as water had cut some areas away so much that the paths were not wide enough to pedal through without jamming your pedal and having to stop or get thrown. We got there though, eventually. The downihll on the other side should have been more fun than it was, but again the narrow gulleys made it more dangerous, not that that slowed me much(!)

The End 2 End race sounds like a major challenge though, apparently there is a section right at the end like a wall. Great. Some of the route I think follows the Millennium Way also only the other way, which might be interesting to say the least! Defo need my own bike next time though - forks, brakes and tyres that grip are a must.