On a race day you need to get up and decide where to move to in order to watch the racing. Campers can just stay put if they want, as the bikes scream by, just a few metres from your tent.


However, the campsite is not the best place to watch the racing from, so you normally go somewhere else to get a more spectacular view.

In some respects, if you don't leave the campsite before a race or practice session begins, you are "locked in" as the road outside is closed off. There is a back road exit through the woods, but it's only really suitable for dirt bikes!

The circuit does not pass right though the centre of Douglas, but the Grandstand, and start and finish line is at the upper limits of the town, about a mile from the coast. Most people use their motorcycle to ride to a viewpoint of their choosing in good time for the first race of the day. Between races there is sometimes a frantic movement of bodies to locate an alternative spot before the roads close again for the next event.

At many points of the course you are stranded while the race unfolds, but in some locations you can begin viewing from one location, then take a succession of tiny back roads to find an alternative spot for the remainder of the race.

On a none-race day, you can have a lazy start if you want, particularly if you are feeling the effects of the party the night before. There are published programmes telling you about events across the island.

There are the obvious bike events like the Ramsey Sprints where people run their own bikes down the drag strip.

On the other hand there are often off-road events, track sessions at Jurby, autojumbles and classic bike displays at Castletown.

Motorcycle journalist & Bike Tours UK guest, Andy Cherney, pictured left with with Phil Read at TT 2003.