1001 Things to do in Waterproofs

I kinda like the idea that some biker somewhere would have taken the trouble to write a book about things one can do in your waterproofs. If they have though, Google hasn't found it yet. Such a book might be useful, as I look to plan what Grizzly and I can do, when we're not watching practice or the races.

The schedule for the event is below.

Tuesday 15th May      Practice                                  9.15am – 3.00pm

Thursday 17th May    Practice                                   9.15am – 3.00pm

Thursday 17th May    Evening Racing                       5.00pm – 9.00pm

Saturday 19th May     Race Day                                9.15am – 7.00pm

We arrive on the Sunday, 13th, probably fairly late in the afternoon, so I expect all we'll be doing then, is finding somewhere to eat and sink a few pints. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we're going to need something to keep us busy. If we're lucky, the weather will be fine and we can ride out somewhere but where?

We've been round these parts before, when we stayed in Balintoy back in 2012, see http://wildhogsuk.blogspot.co.uk/, so we've done the Giant's Causeway and the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. No need to do them again. I'd love to ride that Antrim coastal road again though, so that might account for one half day. The others I'm still thinking about. I'm a Game of Thrones fan, so maybe a trip to some of the film sites could be in order. Not sure Grizzly will be up for that, though he's usually happy just to get his leg over! There's the Bushmills Distillery I suppose but we did the Ben Nevis one back in 2012 too, so do we really want to do another? I'll have to get my finger out though and come up with some ideas, as it's not much more than 10 weeks away.

Aside from the  'rest' days, I also need to give thought to what we'll do on the practice and race days, i.e. where we will view the action from. Saturday, main race day, is sorted. I've bought us 2 seats in the Grandstand but for the other days, I've not really given it much thought. The website gives all the information on places to watch from, so I'll just have to pick one or two with facilities and work out how we get there. I'd love to watch from alongside one of the fast straights, just to get the rush, as the bikes flash by, side by side, at over 200mph.

Anyway, that's all I've got to say at the moment. I'll be back when I have more pieces of the jigsaw in place.

Welcome

Welcome all, on board another travel blog from yours truly.

It was a little under 4 months since the Wild Hogs had returned from the Scandinavian adventure in July of last year and my feet were starting to itch. Winter is a great time for bikers to sit and contemplate what they shall do once the winter has moved over the horizon and I'm no exception. I had already given some thought to the Wild Hogs' next tour and mapped out a couple of rough routes but that won't be until 2019 and I wanted something to do in 2018 as well.

I had made up my mind that I would try and get to more race meetings this year, MotoGP and World Superbike mainly but decided to resurrect an idea my brother and I had a few years back now, to go to the North West 200 Road Races in Northern Ireland. For one reason or another, it never happened and we instead went to MotoGP at Le Mans, where we spent almost the entire trip getting wet through (in our waterprooofs , of course). The irony of that, is that it nearly always rains in Ireland for the NW200 but that year they had glorious sunshine! C'est la vie!

As with the Isle of Man TT, finding accommodation for the NW200 can be very difficult. If you can't find anywhere to stay, then the trip is off, so accommodation is always the first thing to look for. Having a look on Booking.com, I was lucky to find a place (Breezemount Manor) still available and at not too exorbitant a rate, not far from the southernmost tip of the 'circuit', in Coleraine. I booked it.

Next up, came the route planning. How was I going to get across to Northern Ireland? There are several options but all are a fair ride away, so in the end, I settled on going via Wales, cadging an overnight stop with my daughter Jen, catching the ferry from Pembroke and up through Ireland. At this point it occurred to me that I could drop in on Grizzly but not only that, I could also see if he wanted to tag along for the races too, on a mini Hogs trip. Well, there's nothing Grizzly likes more than getting his leg over his bike and travelling with his Wild Hog chum, so he had no hesitation is accepting my offer.  With that agreed, it meant I could get serious about the planning and booking phase of the trip.

Check back soon to find out how, what, when, where, etc.

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