As I said in the previous post, today was the day that was supposed to redeem the races... It dawned pretty nice. Sunny, clear, everything you want for piloting your motorbike round the course at average speeds in excess of 135 mph. But before the roads were even closed, someone had had an accident on the mountain stretch, delaying the start time yet again...

We were not planning to watch anything. After an iffy week of weather, we wanted a decent walk, and as we'd got lots of ideas for further permutations the last time we did a Port Soderick expedition, we thought that was definitely the direction to head in.




At the crossroads of footpaths beyond the Fairy Bridge, we took a different route this time, emerging briefly onto a coast road, and then dropping down into Port Soderick Glen:





Eventually, we hit the beach, which was WAY warmer than it was last time. We lingered quite a while, having lunch, watching the birds, watching the fishing boat, feeling the sun on our backs...





Then back up the cliff, just in time to see a steam train go by. Yay! Steam train!




And finally home, via the strawberry shop...

So, a good day. And a good day on the course, too.

But as I'm writing with hindsight, I can tell you that this was the last of the TT racing for this year. It was announced on Saturday 6 that the remainder of the meeting had been cancelled. The week had offered "an unprecedented run of conditions in recent TT history", with rain affecting seven of the nine potential race days.

Such a pity.