Watched 60 Minutes (Sunday TV show) story about the Isle of Man TT Motorcycle Race. 160 guys race in 5 classes, some doing 200mph over a 37 mile "street course". Said people die every year. Last year 6 (out of 160). This year 1. Showed a former racer that "clipped' a stone fence/wall with his shoulder, AT SPEED, and ripped him from the bike and blew a 6 foot chunk of the wall away. He lived (looked fine) and now doesnt race but instead shows rookies around the track, again at speed, to see if they are "up to it". Race is in May. I'm gonna be in Liverpool (England) for a wedding next year in May. Would be a bucket list to take a ferry over to the island (between UK and Ireland - both larger islands) and see the race.

There's a series call "REAL ROAD RACING" and the Isle of Man TT for sure is REAL ROAD RACING along with the other events in the series. Not for me, don't usually say this about motorcycle racing and events but that's just REAL CRAZY too scary for me and I've ridden a motorcycle once or twice.

Never been a big fan of motorcycle racing but I've seen pics and videos of the riders laid over in a turn with their knees 1/4" off the track surface and found out that the riders actually have steel skid plates on their knees...shudder.

I caught it , going fast on that course ..

Was a great story on the event along with history of Isle of Man. Liked that simulator shown for course familiarization/practice. Just can’t imagine 195mph on those narrow streets and spectators feet away….. living on the edge 😳

Actually the knee dragging was something that American road racer and dirt track racer Kenny Roberts pioneered back in the '70's and early '80's and since then has been the style and fastest method of road racing. They actually drag or touch the track with their knees and with their elbows in the corners. The pads are a sort of plastic/rubber and are replaceable as the pads or discs are attached by Velcro to the knees and elbow on the leathers. They use a "steel shoe" or steel plate attached to the bottom of a left foot boot for sliding in dirt track racing.

Isle of man.

Aka

Balls of steel.

Love to watch it.
And
Would love to ride it...but not anything near the speeds these guys do


A ride along. https://youtu.be/5KzBnuxDnYQ

There are two types of motorcycle racing I'll watch: Isle of Mann TT and Formula One sidecars. Imagine climbing back and forth across the back of that bike, totally free to fall off at stupid fast speeds on a Grand Prix track. Then think about doing at Isle of Mann. Yes, they do sidecars there. Talk about trust between partners...

I watched that segment on 60 minutes also. Those racer's do have balls of steel
to go out on public two lane roads on that island, and do that at up to 200 MPH!!!! Insane!

I've watched a lot of clips of the Isle of Man race over the decades; probably the most death-defying event on the planet.
Quite a list of guys who've been killed there, not surprisingly.

IIRC, the Isle has no speed limits for regular folks who just want to drive through gorgeous scenery.