Spaghetti Posted January 5, 2014 Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 I'd like somebody (maybe some of our Brit friends) to explain me this. It's beyond any comprehension I have of bike racing passion: Why in this world would somebody decide to race on streets rather than track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khp Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 To paraphrase the mountaineer George Mallory: "Because you can?" Because it gives other challenges than racing on the track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Although I'm too old now - besides lacking the required talent - I will say that proper road racing really appeal to me, whereas track riding does not. Exactly why is hard to say, but the experience on a narrow, winding road lined with whatever is far more intense than what you can find on a track. I think it comes down to preferences; if you want to learn to ride a bike at the absolute limit with a minimum of risk, you will prefer a track. If you like to challenge the road itself, a track will hold less apeal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogogusgus Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 ... Rossi feels the same way you do ... google Surtees, Murray Walker, Joey Dunlop, Mike The Bike Hailwood, Stanley Woods, Agostini ... long deep history of the IOMTT ... has been said that some of the early racers were World War 1 veterans looking for PTSD trench warfare adrenalin generators jg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchase Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I love the TT. What I find hugely appealing is the purity. A single rider battling the track itself and nothing else. While it is technically a road it's not much different than the Monaco Grand Prix where F1 cars are raced in very tight quarters with no run off areas. Some great footage of Aryton Senna at Monaco bending his car around the tight corners. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh6bwZ4ooTI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warregl Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 I would quote JFK: "We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard". And I think that true road racing demonstrates that difficulty (and the startling consequences of failure) much more clearly than track racing. I'm not saying it's right, wrong, or even sane, but as human beings we are attracted to danger, albeit in varying degrees. And races like the TT allow some to live that danger and many more of us to do so vicariously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Try this for danger - my hands drip of sweat from just watching this video. I'll passenger a lap around IoM any day over this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BimKi9x2e4 Sorry for taking this off topic, but warregl put me onto the danger direction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 This explain a bit of the allure of IoM as well as give a historic view that many will find shocking compared to what we see as the reality today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakespear Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 I'd do the TT...only in my wildest grandiose dreams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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