While channel surfing the other night, I was pleasantly surprised to see some all-too-brief highlights from the Isle of Man TT. Now, for some reason or other I’ve rarely been in a position to watch whole races but this year, thanks to the miracle of the internet, was my chance.
But what were my options? The highlights lasted all of a minute and basically told me who won the superbike race. Nothing about the sidecars or the supersports or any of the other myriad races that take place. If you’ve never seen this, check the attached video to get a sense of just how rich this event is.
Anyhow, my interest piqued, I now wanted to watch at least some of the races, but what to do? Regular TV is out. Sports channels here only seem to recognize a sport as being valid if it’s sponsored by an american beer company and like american beer it’s all show and no substance. 
I could call my cable provider and have them add yet another 10 channel package to my already overstuffed bill. The trouble with that is the coverage would likely be little more than extended highlights at 4am. The extra $ s would invariably go to providing more riveting coverage of maintaining 1937 Fords and reality shows about building drag racers from old concrete mixers. Perhaps not. 
So, it was down to the power of the internet. Five minutes later, I’ve found coverage of the superbikes and sidecars, plus a couple of decent introductions to the island and the spectacle that is the greatest race on earth.
Aside from the asinine presenters who looked and sounded as if they had been borrowed from some particularly annoying kids channel (it was ITV coverage from the UK, what did I expect?) the racing was decent if not spectacular, characterized by most of the favorites suffering bike failure. The TT isn’t so much about passing as line and concentration. But what was so great was the sensation of speed you got. It’s a road race so a lot of it is through towns and villages, so seeing camera work from the vantage point of someone front yard gives you a real sense of the speed often lost in other forms of racing (Moto GP). That and you know that being real roads, they are covered in diesel spills and farm detritus and who knows what else.
In other words you can’t help but admire the skill level involved and more than that the sheer balls of the riders. The course is 37 miles long and it’s not even worth counting the corners as there are so many of them. Seeing them lap the island at 130mph or thereabouts is just frightening and exhilirating at the same time. The bikes are constantly wheelying, shaking and, at least at one point, actually airborne. I’d love to see Rossi and co try that one – would they be so quick knowing the edge of the track is a pub wall instead of a nice wide kerb and sandy run off? I doubt it. 
So next time you settle down to watch the MotoGP, do yourself a favor. See if you can’t find a roadrace instead – NorthWest200 is a good one. Even the Macau GP is more exciting and they do that on scooters too…

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