Tomorrow is Mad Sunday

I grew up on the Isle of Man. As well as Manx cats, the island is also famous for being the home of the TT (Tourist Trophy) races. This coming week, the annual TT races will be held on the island.

Tomorrow is Mad Sunday, when a large proportion of the 40,000 visitors (the island’s population is only 70,000) to the event will take to their motorcycles and ride around the racecourse. But this is not a specially-built racetrack – the course is run over ordinary roads. The course runs for almost 38 miles, and is extremely dangerous – if you come off the road, you are likely to have your speed stopped dead (literally) by a stone wall or a telephone pole. These days, everyone taking part in Mad Sunday has to go round the course in the same direction. A sensible development – at one time, people could ride around in either direction, with the inevitable result of accident carnage.

Every year, riders taking part in the races are killed – but presumably they know the risks, and no-one is forcing them to take part. And with the advance of motorcycle technology, the race is getting faster all the time. I grew up in the 1950s, when riders such as Geoff Duke were doing laps with an average speed of under 100 mph. Geoff Duke almost broke the 100 mph average speed barrier when in 1956 he did a lap at 99.97 mph. In 1967, Mike Hailwood set a speed record that would last until 1975 when he did a lap at an average speed of 108.77 mph. The current lap record stands at 125.69 mph.

Remember, these are average speeds – that means that on parts of the course (such as the Sulby Straight), speeds of the bikes will reach up to 180 mph.

I recall growing up when "doing the ton" – that is, riding your bike at a speed of 100 mph – was seen as a rite of passage, and an achievement. And certainly, the first (and last!) time I did it on my own 650cc Kawasaki, it was both scary and exhilarating. But the superbikes of today are capable of almost twice that speed… I’m glad I don’t have to prove my manhood today.