What's up everybody? I'm Marko and I'm Alex
and we're the Vagabrothers. This week we're at the
world's greatest motor cycle race, the Isle of Mann TT.
Alex and I are amateur motorcycle enthusiast,
but the dream of every biker is to make the pilgramage
to the Isle of Mann for the TT Race.
The tourist trophey or TT is the world's greatest
and most dangerous motorcycle race.
Breaking speeds of about 200 miles per hour,
that's almost 300 kilometers per hour,
going through narrow villages around hairpin turns
and inches away from spectators, stone walls,
and possible death.
Thankfully our good friends, Raquel and Ollie
live on the island and invited us to stay with them during
TT week.
So we took a one hour flight from London to the
Isle of Mann and read up on the island's history
along the way. The Isle of Mann sits in the middle
of the Irish Sea, And on a clear day from the top of Snaefell Mountain
you can see England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
Originally settled by Celtic tribes, the Isle of Mann
was conquered by the Vikings a 1000 years ago
who set up the Tynwald the world's oldest, continuous
parliament which still makes laws today.
Why is that important? Because the IOM is autonomous from the UK
and makes its own laws,
like the speed limit, or lack thereof.
Which is exactly why they started the TT over 100 years ago
in 1907, and the race
has only been getting faster since.
So first things first, we headed to the nearest pub,
had a pint, and bumped into the Purple Helmets.
We've been here what, like an hour?
Yeah, we've met up with a bunch of locals,
and they're telling us there is a performance of a
comedy group called the Purple Helmets.
Why are you guys called the Purple Helmets?
Because we all have Purple Helmets, don't we boys?
Only boys.
How long have you guys been doing this?
Twenty years. Twenty years? Yeah
Is that why you're so good at it?
Yeah
The TT's dangerous. What about this?
Really dangerous.
You guys are like the Harlem Globe Trotters
on motor bikes. Yeah, something like that.
How did it all get started?
In a pub. Just taking some ideas
about how to have more fun.
Well you guys are killing it. Keep it up.
Those have got to be the coolest dickheads I've ever seen.
We've just getting started, and we've already
seen the Isle of Real Men.
Men!
After the show we met a local named Richard and his
son Bart who offered to show us around the course the next day
One lap around the course is 60 kilometers.
They're multiple races each day
for one week, and they close the roads
from 10 am to 6 pm on race days,
which means you've got to find your spot
and stay there all day. We've chosen this spot here
Kirk Michael in Rhencullen
We're literally not allowed to put our foot on
that pavement there. Oh look at this.
See what I mean?
That is why we don't put our foot on the pavement.
Yeah, exactly.
The race starts in the island's capitol of Douglas,
where you often see families kissing riders goodbye
because any lap around this course could quite literally be their last.
Then the race makes its way over to the west coast
where riders go ripping through stone villages
at mind boggling speeds and past spectators
at only a few feet away.
Then riders catch air
at the last bridge. But this year one rider
actually died. He lost control and flew into a brick wall.
The reason this race is so intense is that it's on
public roads, and there is no margin for error.
So much so that there is an average of 5 deaths per mile
of the race circuit. Then they fly down the Solby Straight
reaching top speed of almost 200 miles per hour.
But we saw the side cars almost break the sound barrier.
Finally riders wind their way
around the north of the island, through Ramsey
to Snaefell Mountain, the most legendary
section of the race before making their way
back down off the mountain, around the hairpin turn
and back to Douglas.
But as much as this is about the course, it's
also about the crowd.
So we asked a few people why they traveled so far
to witness this race.
What, for you, is the job of the race?
The atmosphere and the racing.
Incredible. It takes your breath away.
Brilliant. Still fresh every time.
It's cooler than road racing because it is a street course.
There are bumps, there's oil, there's everything.
Parlez- vous Anglais? ( Do you speak English?) A little.
It's phenomenal The speeds they go past you.
It's a whole other world when you come out here.
In Germany we have no race like that.
Tell me an other motorcycle race in the world where you can race like this.
There isn't. You can't go anywhere else in the world.
We also staged our own TT on the go cart tract,
although we both got a taste for how
mentally and physically demanding the real TT must be.
But when the races are over, most people catch the first
ferry back to England and Europe.
But we stuck around to see what else the IOM has to offer,
One of the highlights of the week was going on
a road trip with Ollie and Raquel.
Hello. Raquel is our good friend from all of life.
and she's a local here on the IOM.
and Ollie is her fiancee. So say congratulations to
these two who are getting married next year on the IOM.
It showed us how much the islands has to offer
from beautiful castles, beaches,
port towns, excellent seafood,
hiking and so much more.
I love coming out and going on walks after it's rained.
The earth is fresh; the air is clean.
All the birds are out. It's great.
I was totally not expecting
the IOM to be like this. The mountains,
the forrest, and all these amazing hiking trails.
We went to a house party at a mansion.
Not a bad pad.
Well I feel under dressed.
And introduced flip-cup to the locals.
And we met up with one of our viewers,
Isla, who told us a bit more about the island's culture
and language, Manx Gaelic
So can you tell us a bit about
Manx Gaelic itself? How many people speak it on the island?
In 2000, people got together and set up a Manx primary school
So now, they're are people like me
who went through the primary school
and now can speak it fluently.
There's quite a few adults, as well.
It's not like Irish or Scottish.
A lot less people speak it,
and it's quite sad because
a lot of people now don't even know about the culture.
It's such a beautiful island. It's got
wonderful culture and
the language is brilliant,and we
also have traditional music. Isla, thank you very much
for teaching all of us all to speak Manx.
I'm going to have to say, Gura mie ayd
Close enough. That's thank you in Manx.
Guys, make sure you check out her music.
She plays traditional Manx music, and she has a YouTube channel.
Go check it out in the info box below. It's in there.
Goodbye.
Well those were our adventures this week
on the IOM for the TT races.
Pretty crazy stuff.
Let us know what you guys thought about the race
in the comment box below.
And don't forget to give us a thumbs-up, share the video
with friends. And of course, subscribe.
See you next week on the road.
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Meanwhile, hopefully this will be the ride.
Oh yeah. See you guys later.