Unfortunately I never made it to the 2017 Skerries 100, however that shouldnt stop you getting all the results… and it wont!
The event was dominated by Derek Shiels’ Cookstown Burrows Engineering Suzuki with a hat trick of big bike wins. Derek McGee’s performance can’t be over looked either with a further three wins added to his tally and the seven laps of 2.9 miles Grand Final (on it’s second attempt, the first being halted by a red flag due to rain) went something like this :
Shiels started in pole and surged off to an impressive lead winning overall by 10 seconds, second place went to Derek McGee, followed by Michael Sweeney. Newcomer Davey Todd was fourth, Davy Morgan fifth and Graham Kennedy in sixth.
Derek Shiels at the 2017 Skerries 100 on the Cookstown Burrows Engineering Suzuki
Whilst at the Isle of Man TT Races in 2016 I called into the Roadskin pop-up store in Douglas and picked myself up a couple of bits of kit, namely a pair of their jeans and one of these hoodies. The hoody at the time was on special offer at £99 including the armour – a saving of £30.
I had fancied such an item for quite some time. Something lighter than the usual motorcycle jacket, something a bit more casual for when you are off the bike and something that still offered some protection. The problem was the hoodies that I had seen seemed to offer two out of my three requirements, the one that seemed to be always missed was the protection – probably the only one that actually matters!
On January 27 & 28th 2017 the ArenaCross UK Tour graced Belfast’s Odyssey Arena for two rounds of the UK Competition. With everyone from 7 year old kids to Europe’s finest indoor Motorcross Racers and a ridiculously skilled Freestyle Team this really is a high octane, completely flat out show from start to finish – and it’s a format that works and this is its fifth year on the bounce in Belfast – and my second.
Check out the official website here for all the results, upcoming events, news and photos… http://www.arenacrossuk.com
So this is it for this trip, the final day. The boat is about 7pm so unfortunately that means no viewing of the practice session tonight. That’s one of the bad points on coming over for Practice Week from Northern Ireland – the sailings aren’t perfect, but I suppose there is no way round it unless the Steam Packet put on an 11:00pm sailing – Hint Hint…
On getting packed up the hotel kindly offered to look after my gear and panniers so I could go and enjoy the mountain again – just another reason why I absolutely will go back to this hotel without any qualm.
The Rosslyn Hotel – Isle of Man
After a meet up with the guys in Douglas, some breakkie and a quick walk around the town and a catching of the sights it was time to head out back out towards the track.
The Legendary Isle of Man Horse Drawn Tram
It was on this walk around the town that I called into the RoadSkin pop up store and purchased myself a nice Roodskin motorcycle hoodie (which I have been wearing regularly ever since) and a pair of jeans (which I have yet to pull on) – the pop up store saving me well over £100 on these two items alone, oh and I picked up a couple of neck warmers too.
(Long Term Review to follow on the RoadsSkin Gear)
As mentioned on my Isle of Man 2016 : Day 3 post I visited the Isle of Man Motor Museum. Quite simply this is an outstanding collection of motor vehicles that is well worth a visit the next time you are on the island.
The Isle of Man Motor Museum
The Museum was founded and funded by father and son team Denis and Darren Cunningham to act as the public home for their collection of over 130 vehicles. The Museum also hosts over 150 other vehicles on loan from other enthusiasts and collectors.
The Isle of Man was chosen as the location for the Museum due to the unique place the Island occupies in motoring and motorsports history. The Island is the motorcycle road racing capital of the world and has hosted the famous TT races on the public roads annually since 1907. The Southern 100 and the Festival of Motorcycling are also fantastic opportunities to see road racing here.
For 2016, the Museum is proud to host the Joey Dunlop Collection featuring many of his trophies, leathers and race machines. Joey is the most successful TT competitor of all time with 26 victories to his name earning him the title “King of The Mountain”.
Rallying and enduro are also a huge part of motorsport on the Isle of Man and the Museum features a Ford Zephyr which competed in the London-Sydney Marathon rally and World Enduro Championship winning KTMs from local hero David “Knighter” Knight OBE.
Another well rested and early start this morning and I meet up with the guys at a local pub for a bit of a breakfast fry up…
It’s hard to recommend places on your first visit, simply because you have been to so few but that won’t change the fact that if a place is good – it’s good, and this places was. A nice breakfast down the hatch and it was time to make a move.
The guys I was with were keen to hit the Mountain Road again and get some fast miles under their belt, I however decided to go off the path less travelled and explore the Island a little more.
(There is a path much less travelled element to the ISle of MAn, with hundreds of miles of green lanes all over, and you will see lots of guys on scramblers and enduros coming off the countryside. The path I travelled wasn’t their path although to be fair they looked like they were having an absolutely outstanding adventure!)
An early start after being well rested in my super comfortable hotel room!
A bit of breakfast down the hatch and the sun is already shining! The Start / Finish Line seems like the perfect meeting place…
Isle of Man TT Races – Start Finish Line – Practice Week – 30/05/2016
To start of with a trip to one of the Island’s regular tourist attractions, The Laxey Wheel…
Laxey Wheel, Laxey, Isle of Man
After the obligatory photo off we go to the mountain road.
This time however the road gets closed due to a collision. It actually happens twice today, 1 rider is unfortunately critically injured, 3 others are hurt coming off their bikes, and unluckily for them were only wearing tracksuits at the time!
It’s better late than never, and this whole video editing lark is a lot harder and more time consuming that I initially would have anticipated, however after far too long a wait here is the footage from Day 1.
I literally had to trawl through hours of footage but the fact that it is over a year old is pretty irrelevant, the route itself is still very much there, it took 10,000s of years to for the earth to make the coast, hopefully it has millions more years left for us to enjoy, so once again apologies it took so long, and apologies for the fact I am a supreme novice when it comes to video editing, however hopefully you can enjoy the scenery, (and the soundtrack) and maybe even be inspired to pop over to Ireland to experience this epic route!
The remainder of the videos are coming and will be uploaded as soon as I can piece them together, if you want to make sure you get notifications when they are available make sure to follow this blog or me on Twitter or Facebook.
Scotland’s North Coast 500 GPX Route File – NC500 GPX:
UPDATE : I have again completed this route in 2019 and have uploaded some videos recorded on the Hyperlapse (time-lapse) setting of the GoPro Hero 7 Black Edition.
These videos will hopefully give you a little taste of what to expect or something to wet your appetite with so you can start planning your NC500 adventure…
A link to the Ride Report is also included further down this page along with the direct link to the GPX file of the NC500 route.
UPDATE #2 : I have completed the NC500 again, this time in 2023, and this time in a car. If you are curious about fuel on the route, specifically E5 / Super Unleaded 97 Ron, then this is the post for you : https://tbni.blog/2023/09/16/nc500-super-unleaded-fuel/
Day 1 : Inverness to Ullapool :
Day 2 : Ullapool to John O’Groats :
Day 3 : John O’Groats to Inverness :
I have now uploaded my galleries and Ride Report of my 2016 trip around the Scotland’s North Coast 500 (NC500). You can find them all here :
One thing I did notice (for example in comparison to the Irish Wild Atlantic Way) was the lack of signage. Unless you knew you were actually on the NC500 you probably wouldn’t know you were on it.
UPDATE : As of 2023, having completed this route again I can now confirm that the signage situation is now infinitely better. You will now see frequent signage and directions that include the NC500 markers. It is not quite as frequent as the WAW however there are far less deviations from the loop.
The GPX file is available from the official North Coast 500 site, along with a printable map however my Sat Nav (a Tom Tom Rider V) found it far too complex, there are thousands of way points on it, and the sat nav just just refused to load it. The printable map is nice, but let’s be honest an A4 map covering 500 miles isn’t an ideal solution either.
Thankfully there is a good solution. This GPX file is sat nav friendly and guides you perfectly around the route.
(This GPX file will not take into account local diversions, road closures etc etc. Use it for guidance, but ensure to follow all local laws and rules of the road. TBNI.Blog is not responsible for the accuracy of this GPX file, it has not been updated since 2016 and should be used as a tool to assist your navigation and no warranty or guarantee is made or implied by its use. The use of this GPX is entirely are your own risk.)
(If you have any trouble downloading the file just Contact Me and I will email it to you.
If you found this file useful please consider a small voluntary donation to the site, which helps keep things online and up to date. Thanks.
North Coast 500 : Scotland : NC500
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