alister667

First untimed practice runs this morning starting shortly. I'm watching it on the TT live streaming service. Weather is a little unsettled, but hopefully they can get a decent couple of weeks. Can't wait.

Had a wonderful weekend on the bike in Donegal. Thought I'd recommend a route for you in case you're ever out this direction. Only a little of this route is on the Wild Atlantic Way, but if you are doing the WAW, I'd strongly recommend you make time for this slight detour.

I travelled from east to west. This route starts to get wild and beautiful near Termon, outside of which, on the left-hand side of the road, is a sword in a stone - so you can have a quick check to see if you're the True King Of Ireland or not...

From there it gets more remote, as you go past Glenveagh National Park, the trees fall away revealing a rocky landscape, then the looming mountains, first of Muckish, then Errigal appearing on your right. The road is wide with fast sweeping bends, great visibility and a good surface, but as you get to the car park for folks climbing Errigal, you'd be wise to slow down as there's usually lots of cars parked on the roadside and people on foot. As the road ducks around Errigal it sweeps down into the Poisoned Glen, with amazing views of Dunlewey on your left and Errigal a constant presence on your right. The road here isn't as well surfaced, but the views more than make up for it.

As the road rolls down from the mountain towards the Atlantic, it joins with the N56, and you'll follow a great road with a lovely surface thought the villages of Gweedore, Crolly and Loughanure, alongside a meandering stream through rocky hills and boggy lakes. It's twisty heaven, with plenty of elevation changes, lovely scenery and flowing lines. From Loughanure it becomes less twisty, but faster flowing lines on a great surface make it ideal for sports bikes. We stayed close to Dungloe (also known as Dunglow, or An Clochán Liath in Irish), so I can't really comment on how the rest of the WAW is, but this 60 odd miles is a spectacularly good ride.

I took some pictures at York Corner during Thursday's (8th May 2025) practise session of the NW200. The bikes with blue numbers are part of the Supersport class. The ones with red backgrounds are Superstock and the black lettering with white background are Superbikes. Very much looking forward to watching the racing today (all live & free on the BBC iPlayer in the UK, and from the BBC NI Motorsports webpage for worldwide access). Racing starts around 10am - the weather looks like it should be beautiful.

The NW200 has great, free, worldwide coverage streamed of all practice and race sessions. Weds 7th May, Thurs 8th May and Sat 10th May. There's also highlights programs available on the iPlayer for folks in the UK. Personally, I'm planning on heading up on Thursday morning.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/motorsport/articles/cq8y44j011eo

Had my annual MOT test today, which Big Suse passed. Very happy. It was held in Ballymena, so while I went via motorways, I came back on smaller roads down the west coast of Lough Neagh. It was a lovely run and I stopped off in Ardboe to get a pic beside the (highly toxic from Blue Green algae) beach there!

Just seen, some live coverage of the first Irish Road Race of the season. Sat 26th April 2025

Does anyone else listen to Front End Chatter? For me, it's the best motorbike podcast out there. UK-centric, likeable, knowledgeable hosts, not just about racing, etc. Any other recommendations?

Picked up a 2016 GSX-S1000F today and got her home in the van and settled down with a bowl of warm milk in the shed. Sorry about the crap photo, no light!

What's that? You want to watch a video where an old man swears his way slowly round a very bumpy motocross track, as the seat pounds his genitals into dust? Boy, are YOU in luck! I went to Ash Farm Racing today.

Featuring Peter Hickman, Richard Cooper and Michael Dunlop from this side of the pond.

Got the big Triumph through the MOT during the week. Really enjoyed the run to and from Cookstown. Now for a deep clean, some nice photos and put it up for sale. What do people use for selling? I was planning on Gumtree, is that what folks still use?