Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Some spectacular crashes


A few weeks ago I wrote about the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race.  This year's event is now over, but I came across this very interesting news report about the race, with comments from a rider who's a frequent participant.  It also has footage of some very spectacular crashes indeed!  I recommend watching it in full-screen mode.




As I've said before, you couldn't pay me enough to get me to do that!





Peter

5 comments:

Panamared said...

But deep down in the recesses of your masculinity you wish you had the nerve too.

Old NFO said...

Oh man... I'd love to just go SEE that... :-0 40 years ago I might have been stupid enough to try to ride it! ;-)

JT said...

I just want to live in a country that allows that level of personal (ir)responsibility.

Peter said...

@Panamared: No, I don't wish I had the nerve! I worked with St. John Ambulance in South Africa as a volunteer First Aid worker at sports meetings, and helped man ambulances at peak periods. I've seen what a high-speed motorcycle crash can do to the human body. It's one reason why I gave up motorcycling when I moved to the high-traffice environment of Johannesburg in the 1980's. It was a question of survival. Sooner or later, I knew beyond any possible doubt that I would have an accident - and when it happened, I wanted as much metal around me as possible!

A cruising bike? Sure. I loved my BMW R100RT, and I'd buy another in a heartbeat. But a superbike, or one of those racing bikes? No way. 70-80 mph cruising speed is more than enough for me, thank you very much!

montieth said...

Kudos for the Manx government sticking to its bikes. One part of the UK doesn't have bubble wrap and swaddling clothes and that's the Isle of Man.