Saturday, June 05, 2004

Do You Have Anything.... Rubber?

I smell of burnt rubber.

Tonight was stunt-bike night on the promenade. This consisted, as far I could tell, mainly of grown men behaving like children while riding 200mph motorcycles.

This is a good thing.

Huge wheelies, something called 'stoppies' (basically, stopping and getting the back wheel in the air for as long as possible) and Newton-defying wheelies where the rider puts himself into various unfeasible positions.

And then there are the burn-outs, where the back wheel is spun with the express intention of bursting the tyre. After spending some quality time drinking beer and listening to the band in Bushy's (the blue and white striped tent in the background on the webcam), this is utterly engrossing.

And the TT Races have yet to start proper (although the annual cull of insane bikers appears to have commenced with the practices). The riders all have a 'hundred yard stare' about them. I guess taking part in a race on little country roads (replete with picturesque villages and flint walls) riding 200mph+ superbikes will do that to you. Just watching the 'bikecam' footage gives me the willies.