Kiva!

I’ve been meaning to do this post for a few months now…

Part of getting to and competing in the TT earlier this year was the Indiegogofundraising campaign. 50% of all donations that weren’t for tyres, caps or tee-shirts was given to help others in need of financial assistance through the Kiva micro-lending site. The campaign raised £340 whichworked out to $450 in loans. This is where the loans went:

 Armando (Mozambique) – helped fund a chainsaw (we like chainsaws :-) for his woodworking business

Aurora (Mozambique) – helped fund materials and labor to build a home for her family

 Caesar (Zambia) – to help grow his money transfer business and provide employment

The Kiva micro-lending system is not perfect. But I believe it helps people that are less well off than most of us and that are normally excluded from financial systems work their way out of poverty, be able to provide for their families and add value to their communities. Hand-outs through charity is a short-term solution and does little to help the millions of people around the world break out of the cycle of poverty. You also have very little idea of where your money goes with these big organizations.

These micro loans help the disadvantaged help themselves. Sign-up and you can lend as little as $25. All the loan repayments from Armando, Aurora and Caesar will be continuously re-lent to help others – so your donations will keep giving

Thank you for your generosity :-)

TT Day 16 - Looking Back

A well overdue post...written shortly after we got back more than a month ago but not published. I've been hiding out. Post TT blues I guess. Here it is...

On Sunday, we packed up and loaded our gear from Bray Hill then headed over to the garage to pickup the bikes. By 08h15 we were all loaded up and at the ferry port. Soon we were boarding the Ben My Cree. 3½ hours on the ferry to Heysham and then the 5 hour drive home through traffic jams and rain. Nic was meeting a friend in London that evening so after our farewells, I dropped him at the train station en route. I arrived home after 20h00, unloaded the bikes and van and then got ready for an early start at a new job on Monday. Exciting prep like ironing a shirt. Knackered.

A look back on the 2 weeks on the Isle of Man…

Our goal was to compete in the TT. We had 3 race entries; Supersport race 1, Supersport race 2 and Lightweight. Both the Supersport and Lightweight bikes were new to me and I had only done a few shake-down sessions at Mallory on them. The Lightweight bike was all setup and good to go after my friend Warren successfully campaigned it at 2014 ManxGP. I was also used to riding VeeTwins - so it should be easy. The Triumph was a newly built bike that needed some development. This was telling during practice.… and I had never ridden a three cylinder bike before. They are different.

To compete in a TT, first one must qualify. The grids are limited to only 72 starters. With 96 Supersport entrants and 72 Lightweight entrants, we had work to do just to make the start line. There would be attrition, but we needed to be fast enough during the qualifying/practice sessions.

On the Lightweight Kawasaki, wechanged to a different tyre size. We made some changes to gearing and geometry to compensate and we got it pretty much spot-on. Just a few tweaks here and there and we were on a good pace by our second practice session – this is what you need when racing on the Isle... get up to speed quickly. We had a few issues with the clutch and an oil leak later in practice week which hurt our qualifying time in the end… but still managed to qualify in 40th place and were happy with the bike for the race.

The Superport Triumph Daytona 675 was a different story. We started at a fair pace, but the handling wasn’t good for the TT Mountain course. We improved it with every session, first changing the geometry and then the suspension settings. Unfortunately, the improvements were too small and due to one reason or another (a faulty fuel pump, incidents during sessions and short laps) our pace didn’t improve as quickly as it should have. This left us with poor qualifying times and only just scraping onto the start line in 65th place with a bike that still didn’t handle well enough to go quickly. But… we had qualified - this was the main objective. We were going racing!

For the first Supersport race we made more changes to the suspension. This time they were bigger changes than the small increments we made during practice/qualifying. The changes worked and the bike was better. It still had problems that didn’t allow me to use that beautiful silky smooth power… but it was better. This enabled us to do a 114mph average on the last lap. Just a few seconds off my personal best (set at the Manx GP 2014 on my old Aprilia).  I was also starting to get the knack of riding a three cylinder around the Isle. We finished in 51st place. Our race time 1 hour 21 minutes 2 seconds. There were quicker laps in the bike.

So, for the second Supersport race we made more changes in the same direction that we’d been going. The bike felt better than it did all fortnight… I finally felt that I could go fast on it! I could hold the power over the bumps and jumps without fear of it throwing me off. 115mph from a standing start on lap 1 and a similar time for the second lap which includes slowing down for the pit-stop. Personal bests. Another good pit-stop helped our third lap times.

Unfortunately, the clutch started slipping during the race. This cost us time on acceleration and top speed. In practice we were running consistently around 165 mph top speed through the Sulby speed trap. In the Superpsport race 2 our speeds through the trap were only in the high 150s… it doesn’t sound like a huge amount, but extrapolated over a 37.7 mile lap and it cost us a bit. Despite this, we still managed a 116mph average on the fourth and final lap. This was my target lap time for the TT . Our decent race pace brought us home in 39th place… but unfortunately…  we missed getting a replica by less than 2 seconds. 2 seconds over a 1 hour 19 minute race! We were really happy with the finish… but disappointed to be so close to that replica. Too little… too late. Shouldda, couldda, wouldda.

We needed to make amends in the Lightweight class. It was always my stronger class – a class I was used to riding in and on a proven bike despite it being new to me. We knew we were better than our 40th place qualification and got the bit between our teeth from the start flag. 110mph opening lap form the standing start… including coming in for the short pit-stop. We were on it! Our second lap had our short pit-stop added to the time so it wasn’t too fast… but that’s when the clutch started slipping again. I adjusted it on the move… but reached maximum adjustment halfway through the race. As with the Triumph, we were losing acceleration and some top-end speed. Despite this, we still managed to bring her home with a final lap of 111mph average, 25th place and earned a bronze replica. Considering the top 4 riders smashed the race record this was an awesome result.

As with all riders and teams, we had our issues to deal with. With just Nic and I working on the bikes, we were a bit stretched at times. It was hard work and we only just managed it all. It was brilliant to come away with 3 finishes from 3 entries… with a cherished replica topping off our efforts.

My Best Man Nic was an absolute champ. Neither of us have a technical/engineering/mechanical background or training and have just figured bikes out by tinkering. A photographer (Nic’s day job) and an ‘office worker’ (as Deebs put it so succinctly) doing something we are passionate about. We work so well together and I trust him working on the bikes… it was like having me times two. I could never have done it without him. THANKS CHIEF!!!!

Thank you to all those who have given so generously through Indiegogo. Your contributions have gone a long way in helping us climb this Everest. I’m now looking out for a Kiva beneficiary – I will let you know where the funding has gone. Also to all family, friends and racers that have given support and encouragement… and all the ‘likes’ on Facebook. It may be small… but every little bit helped us along the way. Thank you all for this wonderful opportunity. It's been an absolute privileged.

TT 2015 - an incredible adventure that we could never forget. It's been EPIC!

TT Day 15 - A Bit of R&R

After the Lightweight race on Friday, we hung about the paddock and grandstand for the Senior TT. Up on Glencrutchery Road I wished all the riders I knew to have a good one and to go fast. It's a privilege to be up there.

Team Herbertson

Dom giving a thumbs up to the crowd

Marco Pagani

Queue for the toilet before the race

John McGuinness focuses before the race

James Hillier

Michael Dunlop

Bruce Anstey

Brandon Cretu

Cameron Donald

Ian Hutchinson

Guy Martin

Gary Johnson

David Hewson

Michael Rutter

Guy Martin

McGuinness is first on the road

Sam West had a fantastic TT on only his second visit to the Isle

James Cowton

AJ Venter from South Africa

Unfortunately, the Senior race is red-flagged after an incident near the 11th Milestone. Our thoughts go to Jamie Hamilton for full recovery.

The restart is over 4 laps. After a mistake by Ian Hutchinson on lap 1, John McGuinness showed why he has 22 TT wins. McGuinness and Guy Martin both breaking the lap record as they came into the pits and the Grandstand cheering them on was memorable. After the Senior, we had a prize-giving in pit-lane. Much better than the Villa Marina affairs where one has the hassle of getting tickets and getting down there.

Unfortunately Dom retired with a failed clutch

John McGuinness comes into the pits after smashing the TT lap record

Dean Harrison getting a wheel change and refuel

Unfortunately Lee Johnson retired

McGuinness takes his 23rd TT victory

Cheering crows up the return road

Fabrice Miguet ran out of fuel and pushed the bike home... then collapsed exhausted after crossing the line. Well done Dood!

Winner gets a lift to the podium

Selfie with Whitham and Plater

Our result form the Lightweight race was 25th place and a bronze replica. Uber-chuffed about that! A fantastic win for Ivan Lintin in the Lightweight and again, it was an honor to receive a trophy at the same prizegiving as some of the TT legends; John McGuinness, Ian Hutchinson, Michael Dunlop, Bruce Anstey and many other TT winners. Surreal.

Lightweight and Senior Prizegiving

After a few beers and the prizegiving, we were knackered. We hauled the bikes back to the garage then had a quiet reflective beer back at Bray Hill before hitting the hay, absolutely exhausted.

Guy Martin's podium Smiths Triumph

With Dave Johnson... the fastest southern hemisphere peep to ever lap the IOM

I have seen the future... and this is it

Single-speed... the way to go

Sarolea joined the 100mph club in the TT Zero

With James Hillier after his Senior podium

Dan Cooper

Nic meets McGuinness

With Ryan and Dan Kneen

Davy Morgan

Dave Hewson

On Saturday we slept in. Well earned. Later in the morning we went back to the garage to clean the wee bike and organise our tools, equipment, gear and the mountain of used tyres for packing later that evening. We then headed up to the Cregg for some pub scran. Then up to Snaefell to visit the museum... my fifth time to visit the museum and the fourth time it has been closed in the middle of the day - is it ever open? On to Onchan to find the Steve Hislop statue and have a walk around Port Jack in the sunshine.

Getting the garage sorted

It was grim on Snaefell Mountain... but Joey didn't mind

We then went down to the Sound and Calf of Man - no trip to the Isle is complete without some coffee and the best scones around (with cream and stawberry jam of course) down at the Calf. There was a cold wind whipping it up and while Nic went down the rocks to take some photos at the shoreline. I found a great little sheltered spot where the mossy grass was dry. It was so comfy that I caught 40 winks in the sunshine. Bliss.

Port Jack

Steve Hislop memorial

Both looking pretty knackered

Good place for a snooze

The Calf

On our way back to Douglas, we watched the last race of the Post TT races on the Billown circuit. I have always wanted to race the Billown circuit and had I known earlier in the fortnight that these races were on, I may have entered. But then again... we were so tired... probably not.

Post TT Road Races on the Billown circuit

Back to the garage and we had the van loaded within an hour. We then went down to Douglas Marina where we managed to get a table at a good restaurant. I little treat for two weeks hard graft. Every day for the fortnight we were just about non-stop for 12 hours a day. It takes a huge amount of energy and effort. It takes it out of you.

Funfair on the Douglas Promenade

That morning we were so glad we didn't have to prep bikes... but driving on the course later that day... I was already missing going out for practice. Racing on the Isle of Man is like that. It's tough on man and machine... It challenges you. It tests you. Physical, mental, emotional. The next morning we'd be on the ferry home.