Glen Duff to Ramsey Bus Station
Competitor Guide with Steve Hislop
In that race me and Foggy had, you should be in 6th gear; 5th hooking 6th just as you get onto Glen Duff straight. Past the Highway Board yard, there's a bit of a rise in the road, now that should be flat stick in 6th. A few years ago, but since about 1992 on the Norton, I was having to shut off through there and I was having to shut off in 1994 with the RC45. It's too bumpy and the bike's just all over the place. The funny thing was about the TT in 1992, I was going through there in the Senior Race, dicing for the lead of the race, I was having to shut the throttle, otherwise I would have be spat through the hedge. I was thinking to myself "I bet Foggy's pulling away from me now up this bit", but I thought it was not worth dying for! That night after the race me and Foggy were out for a meal, he says "I was having to shut that Yamaha off along Glen Duff"! I thought at the time when I was riding the bike, "I'll be losing out here" ... but even Foggy, nerves of steel, he was having to shut the throttle!
That should be flat out through there - it's wicked bumpy. Then you come round the fast left, roll the throttle, hard on the brakes, back 2 or 3 gears, keep yourself in because the camber of the road approaching Glen Tramman - it falls away - and if you get sucked over onto the other side then you'll get sucked into the kerb. You've got to work hard at keeping yourself down the right hand side, back another gear to 3rd gear just before you go into Glen Tramman, and then just let the bike run right out and use all the road. There's a wall there. You can nearly let the wheels run right up under there because the wall is sort of stepped, then flick back just where there's the fork in the road and along past Churchtown - that is quite bumpy.
On the big bike the front end starts to kick up a lot. There are two or three little lips in the road and it's always noted as being dangerous. On the next blind left, the kerb is supposed to jump out at you, but it has never ever bothered me in the years I've raced, so I must have just been far enough across. But all that section along there is very very bumpy. Then you approach Sky Hill wood where you really have to work hard again just on the very first right hander, to hold yourself in because of the camber. You hold yourself into the right, which then just bounces you out to the white line and it allows you to get round the left with ample road to just hook back a couple of gears. Sometimes you're going that fast through there and it's bouncing around that much that you should be using the clutch to down shift, I mean you hardly ever use a clutch up the way because of the straight cut boxes on a road bike.
Sometimes it's that hard to recover from Milntown Cottage that you just ram the gear lever, you just hook it up. Quite often I'm just holding the bars, because you can't even use the clutch - it was a bit of a worrying thing with the Norton because it was such a lash up in a way and I was a bit frightened I was going to wreck the gearbox on it, but it stood up to it. There was a few times I had to just back shift - I couldn't use the clutch on that bit. You then go through Milntown, and all that you have to watch there is that you don't touch the kerbs because they're monsterous steep. Just as you get through that little right and left and then you're not too bad once you get through there. You just save top gear. You know Glen Auldyn Bridge - I love it across there. What I intend to do is save a gear, rather than do a big wheelie, because to get through that right hander there, I usually try and kill it just as it starts to lift over Glen Auldyn. I'll hook up into top and then you're in top gear all the way along to School House.
That corner is a funny one, again with the likes of the RC30 and 45. Just as I was saying about Dorrans, you come towards School House corner, it's so bumpy on the brakes it's kicking you up out of the seat because of all the ripples. You brake and back shift 2 gears. You're down to 4th gear through School House, but it's got a real sharp dip in it, and if you actually just pitch it in too much then it will flatten the bike again. It's another one similar, so you actually just have to pick it up a bit and sort of ride it higher. It's quite handy, because there's that big Bus Stop there and you can just run into that; it's quite handy.
You'll come off out of there in 4th gear. You'll probably just hook 5th and drive it another couple of hundred yards and then at the crossroads on the approach to Parliament Square - whatever bike I'm on, it is a bit like Ballacraine again. I've got used to my braking points. I use them whatever bike I'm on - whether it's a 250cc, 600cc or 750cc - I just shut off there at the crossroads and then if it's a 750cc I'll be on the brakes instantly, and if it's the 250cc I'll wait for a little bit and then I just count back my gears, right back to 1st gear because it's amazing how slow Parliament Square is. Again, it's a bit like Quarterbridge because of all the traffic using it normally, it's quite slippy there. You tend to actually want to lay it on its side, turn the hairpin really and then drive it hard out, but you can't because the road is so slippy. What you have to do is let the bike roll through the corner. You tend to struggle a little bit to get past Raymotors, there's a little flick there, but it's the safest bet to get through there because it is quite slippy.