Friday 21 May 2010

2010 Isle of Man Tour




Douglas -------------TT-------------Laxey Wheel

Biggles & Baarbra are comming too.

Nick, Anthony and Daniel Lojik are off again... This time the plan is to ride from Leeds, over to the Isle of Man where we will visit the world famous track and perhaps put in a couple of laps. Last time we raised funds by sponsorship for Cash for Kids and I'd like to thank everyone who contributed. This time we're just going for the fun of it but if you want to donate something to any of the Cancer Research charities please do so and let me know so that I can pass on my thanks.

21st May 2010


Well here we go again! We had a little run up to Skipton this afternoon and the bikes didn't miss a beat. All's well in that respect. The wind shield on the bikes looked like the killing fields, they were that covered in bugs! Looks like a wash is in order. It was a great ride though, the weather was perfect as we took the road through Harogate to Fewston and beyond.



Blubberhouse Moor

The bike's will need a service before we go as I felt mine didn't have that pull it had last year. Also we have our tests booked in June so we may be able to ditch the "L" plates.


The Bikes. Anthony's Piaggio at the back, Daniel's Vespa in the Middle and my Suzuki at the front.

25th May 2010

Well our tests are comming up. They're booked for the 7th & 8th June and with a bit of luck we should get through them fine..! We might also look to upgrade our bike communications by getting better fitting headsets.

29th May 2010

Pouring with rain and the TT races start today! I'll be watching the coverage on TV though, it'll give me an idea of what to expect on the Mountain Track.

According to the race records, the lap record for the Ultra-Lightweight TT is 19 minutes & 18.2 seconds at an average speed of 110.52 mph (177.86 km/h) set by Chris Palmer during the 2004 Ultra-Lightweight 125 cc TT Race. The track is 37.73 miles long and somehow I cant see us beating that record!


7th June 2010


Today I take my test...!!! Module one at Wakefield @ 2:08pm. We had a practice day on Saturday and I managed to get through everything ok. Now I have to do it for real! Bit nervous but that's to be expected.

Tomorrow it's Anthony and Daniel's turn...

Wish us luck....


At 02:08 pm I was on the pad of the test centre. I passed the maunal handling from one box to the other and sailed through the cones and figure of eight. Then came the first of the speed tests, the avoidence through the blue cones at 50kph. After that was the U-turn, easy. The slow ride, not so easy, and finally the second speed test, the emergency stop. I was told I had to do both speed tests again as I didn't get the 50kph required. This time I gunned it and flew through the speed trap for the avoidence and again for the emergency stop. Then we returned to the test office. My examiner had the best poker face known to man and gave nothing away. I nailed it all, or so I thought then came the let down. "I'm afraid you've failed" she said. everything was ok except the aviodence test, I'd only reached 46kph. Gutted and crestfallen I left the test centre. All I had to do was really go for it on that one thing and would have been in the bag. I hope the lads have better luck tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

9th June 2010



Well would you believe it Anthony didn't pass either, he made exactly the same mistake as me! Daniel, on the other hand sailed through it and passed! WELL DONE! I'm really proud of him. Anyway Anthony and I have re-booked for the 28th June to take it again and Daniel is taking the Module 2 on the same day. Good Luck everyone.. Watch this space.


23rd June 2010


Well England finally won a game today 1 - 0 against Slovania. Maybe their luck has changed for the better.

Anthony & I are re-taking our tests on Monday next week hopefully our luck will show a similar improvement. Daniel is taking the Module 2 which is a half hour ride round Wakefield with an examiner following giving instruction by radio link. I'm sure he'll get it passed too.

27th June 2010

Oh dear, er, Germany 4 - 1 England, oh dear!

Well, its the eve of the re-takes for Anthony & I and of course it's Daniels Mod 2 tomorrow as well. I'm confident we'll do fine, with all the good weather we've had lately, we've used the bikes for work etc so we have had pleanty of practice.

We have just about everything ready for the trip now and I've put together a list of all the pubs etc which are on the track and we hope to stop at each one (just for a photo, honest!) as we go round.

28th June 2010


Phew, I'm glad to say Anthony & I passed the Mod One. I was shouting to myself not to back off the revs as I charges towards the speed trap and happily I got through without any Problems. Anthony did the same though from where I was watching I didn't think he'd made it. So I'm please to say he sailed through. Daniel, on the other hand was landed with an extra long wait as theye'd changed his time from 1pm to 3pm. Unfortunatly he didn't get through. and I must admit I feel for him, he really felt confident he could do it. Oh well better luck next time. At least we're all a step closer to loosing those L plates.

7th July 2010



We're getting close to setting off now, just a week to go. Had a call from the owner of the apartments we're staying at and he had a bit of bad news for us, we are double booked! However as luck would have it he's offered us 2 rooms at another place nearer to the Promannade just behind the Marnia and he's knocked off a bit from the price as a good will gesture. Worked out in our favour so no complaints from me!

I've got everything ready so it's just down to getting going...

12th July 2010

Wouldn't you just know it, for the last two weeks we've had the best biking weather you could ask for, sunny, dry and warm. Come the time for the trip and guess what the forecast is? yep, rain, showers and drizzle! Oh well you have to take what comes in this game. We're really looking forward to our first "international" trip and come rain or shine we're going to do the Lap! (hope the crossing on the ferry isn't too lumpy, 3 hours, ugh!)

The Crag Ny Baa where we hope to get some lunch on the lap.

The bikes get a once over

14th July 2010


Well its the eve of setting off and we are all packed. The bikes had a once over tonight and all is well with them. We'll be off early in the morning and hope to get to Haysham for lunch time in time for the 1:30 sailing. We have to be there for no later then 12:30 to check in. Sally Sat Nav is all set just in case and my camera has fresh batteries!

Now, as we're only away for a short time I won't be taking my laptop so I'll update this blog when we get back. Expect lots of photos.

18th July 2010

WE MADE IT!!! What a trip that was, we had a great time. We set off on Thursday 15th at 8:30 and followed the road all the way to Haysham without a single problem. We even managed to get a short break at Skipton as I'd suggested. The road was clear all the way without a single hold up. We actually arrived early (which is a first for me!) and had to wait for about an hour before it was time to queue up to get on the ferry. Thats when we had a little problem, Daniel's bike wouldn't start. It wasn't lack of petrol, it wasn't electrical in fact it wasn't anything we could see from the manual. So we called the AA. He was there in no time at all and cured the problem in a moment. "It's the ignition key" he said "sometimes the micro-chip in the bike refuses to link up with the chip in the key". Of course there's nothing in the manual about that. Anyway, we were off.


Us on the Ferry..

crossing the Irish Sea...

past the wind farm!

The Promanade at Douglas

On Friday we did "The Lap" it took us all day and was fantastic. We broke from the course a few times to see some of the views and to visit Ramsey and the great wheel at Laxey, there are two actually..

The Laxey Wheel...

and further down stream...

The Snaefell Wheel.


Looking down on Ramsey from the start of the "TT Mountain Course"


We took to the mountain course which was realy testing. My little 125cc bike struggled to get up the hill, it was quite steep and seemed to go up for a really long time. The road twisted and turned for mile after mile as we made our slow progress up and finally we reached the summit. How those racers manage to take this at the sort of speeds they do is beyond me, they must have nerves of steel. Comming down the other side in the middle of a very long sweeping curve, where bikes reach mind boggling speeds, is the Crag Ny Baa, a really good pub and vantage point during the race. Yes we did have lunch there and yes it was really good, as expected.

Crag Ny Baa

View from the road heading down to the Laxey Wheel
The Electric Railway
The Fairy Bridge on the way to Castletown

The War Memorial, Duglas
(and perching seagull)


Biggles & Baaabra have a rest after walking along the Prom.

That's all folks, for now.....
PS: I've passed my module 2 test today 19th July 2010 and am now a fully fledged biker. "L"Plates binned...! Now it's up to Anthony and Daniel to do the same.....GOOD LUCK!
22nd July 2010
Daniel took his bike test yesterday and I'm happy to report that he's passed too. His "L" plates have gone the same way as mine. Well done son. Anthony's test is on the 27th July. GOOD LUCK !

2nd August 2010
Daniel and I were in Italy on the 27th July and so wern't able to update this at the time.
We sat around my mobile waiting for a text from Anthony to let us know how he did on his test and at just after 2pm it came through, he'd passed! We lept up from our chairs and cheered! He'd done it, we could all now throw away our "L" plates.