When Ian and Niamh left for their lap the rest of us kept ourselves busy cycling around the Grandstand area and helping out with the event. When Ian and Niamh got back from their lap we went to The Caff in Douglas for breakfast before heading to our accommodation and set up for a short sleep - which turned out to be a much longer sleep than expected.
That afternoon we were all back at the Grandstand for a short time before heading to Peel for lunch at the Crabshack. It’s always amazing there for the food and the surroundings right in Peel harbour.
It has been an easy going day after our travels so that evening we were to help out with the Classic Motorcycle Club’s refreshments at the Grandstand before all 40(+) of them went out for a lap. No sooner had they gone, and whilst we were enjoying a break we came back out to find a very happy Calum having a shot of Steve's (one of the organisers) KTM 690’s in the paddock, wheelies and all.
Although it had been a long day we walked back to the Grandstand after dinner to help out with the event organisers finishing around midnight.
On the morning on the Friday we packed up our kit and put it into the minibus as we found out we had been booked into the Palace Hotel on the Douglas promenade by Iliyas because our initial accommodation plans hadn’t turned out quite as expected.
We were soon back at the Grandstand helping gets riders under way before heading to the Sulby Glen Hotel for a couple games of pool and a refreshment. After spending some time at the Sulby we headed to Ramsey to Bilbos, a charity shop and cafe for the Billy Redmayne Memorial Fund. The Sulby is a great location and is of course owned by the family of local racing legend Dan Sayle.
Later in the evening we headed back to the Grandstand. After finding the right size gear I was kitted up and Ian took me for a lap as pillion. At first I found the brakes to be strong but it didn't take long for me to get used to them, the lap was very good with little traffic and on the mountain we got up to about 120mph. After my lap, Ian took Liam out for his first lap which he enjoyed then back to the hotel for the night
On Saturday after a brilliant night's sleep we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant and got ready to head back to the Grandstand. When we arrived Iliyas and Ronnie Russel had left for their lap we got into fancy dress to surprise Ronnie as the night before. Ronnie had surprised Jim Hunter (Travelling Marshal and Organiser of the event) in a rabbit costume so it had been setup with Iliyas, Ian and Mary Rose Trainor to surprise Ronnie on his return. It’s safe to say it worked!
Throughout the day we were doing laps, helping at the Grandstand and had the chance to use the swimming pool, hot tub, steam room and sauna at the hotel.
Sunday was the last day of the event. After breakfast in the hotel we went for a swim whilst Ian spent time at the Grandstand. In the afternoon I got my second lap. The roads were rather busy but we were able to get a good run through Glen Helen and parts of the mountain. Due to the traffic we were only able to reach around 108 mph.
After I got back it was time for Ian and Calum to go for their lap, unfortunately for them it began to rain but they were back in time for the barbecue.
The barbecue had a good turn out and on the run up to nine o'clock at night we counted down the seconds to the hour. On the hour the last group of riders left for the final lap. When they arrived back we had a small celebration and helped pack up and we headed back to the hotel for our last night before the morning ferry and the long journey back home.
It was a great trip with Hedzup and really opened my eyes to working with other people - which is a core value at Hedzup. It has also been a great opportunity to write about it and tell the story here.
Hedzup Racing is an innovative youth development project started by Ian Pert currently running at schools and youth groups in Scotland in conjunction with various and local authorities schools.
We've been assisting Hedzup over the past year and recently had them accompany us to the Isle of Man for the 100 Laps - 100 Hours - 100 Riders event.
John Warden, one of the young lads at Hedzup was kind enough to put together a short
story on their trip to the island.
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