England & Isle of Man adventure – part 2
On Tuesday, we flew an impossibly small turbo-prop plane from Leeds to Douglas on the Isle of Man. Our hostess, Geraldine, picked us up from the airport and gave us a grand tour of the island and race course, so we could get our bearings and figure out where we’d like to watch the races.
Isle of Man - part 1
This church is in the middle of nowhere. It's hard to imagine exactly why it was built here 150 years ago. There is nothing for miles around, so people would have had to have walked a long way to get there. It's future is somewhat in question because worshipers rarely exceed 10 people and it is 30,000 pounds behind with its Diocesan quota payments. [img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1020029-edit.jpg]Jurby church's semetary
Jerby church is perched on these amazing seaside cliffs. I imagine all the people who have been buried here must really enjoy the view.[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1030650-edit.jpg]More bikes than cars
Something like 10,000 people arrive on bikes to watch the Tourist Trophy. It makes for a somewhat surreal driving experience.[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1030652-edit.jpg]Lifeboat in Ramsey
[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1030660-edit.jpg]Port entrance and fishing pier in Ramsey
[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1030659-edit.jpg]
[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1030663-edit.jpg]Ramsey's waterfront
[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1030669-edit.jpg]Blackie watches the airshow by the Red Arrows
[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1020051-edit.jpg]Further down Ramsey's promenade, a crowd gathers
[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1020057-edit.jpg]Why are all these bikes lined up?
[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1020060-edit.jpg]Blackie takes a peek
[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1020054-edit.jpg]Street sprints
Hundreds of bikes were given the opportunity to test their speed off the line during the Ramsey street sprints[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1020055-edit.jpg]Warming up the tires
[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1030677-edit.jpg]The course was maybe 100 yards long
Long enough to get up to about 90 mph, but not much faster.[img src=http://nwoutdoorgrrl.com/wp-content/flagallery/isle-of-man-part-1/thumbs/thumbs_p1020068-edit.jpg]One-way traffic over the mountain passes back toward Douglas
We drove slowly in our car, but the bikes took full advantage of the one-way traffic to dial up the speed and exercise their courage.

