NW200 Ferry Booked!
Discussion
That's me booked up for Sat 16th May, bit of Man Logic involved in getting from Glasgow to Colraine and back in a day........
Alarm 04.30 and leave house at 05.00
07.30 Ferry from Cairnryan to Larne
09.30 Arrive Larne and ride up to Colraine
10.30 Watch the races for most of the day
20.00 Ferry Back to Cairnryan
23.59 Back home and Tucked up in Bed
Man Logic says this is all perfectly doable.......proper day out though!
Alarm 04.30 and leave house at 05.00
07.30 Ferry from Cairnryan to Larne
09.30 Arrive Larne and ride up to Colraine
10.30 Watch the races for most of the day
20.00 Ferry Back to Cairnryan
23.59 Back home and Tucked up in Bed
Man Logic says this is all perfectly doable.......proper day out though!
Wish it was that simple when we went:
Wednesday: Cornwall through Wales to Anglesey.
Thursday: Holyhead Ferry to Dublin, Ride through Ireland to Portrush - watch Thurs night racing.
Friday: Recce course, find good viewing spot, go to Joey's bar/Ballymoney Graveyard. Evening in pits.
Saturday: Watch racing near University Corner. After racing down through Ireland to Dundalk.
Sunday: To Dublin, Holyhead Ferry & back to Cornwall.
Great few days, you'll love the atmosphere & the racing is amazing. North Wales on Wednesday afternoon was a blast - Sunday morning it was totally different - rammed with cyclists,caravans and classic car groups.
Wednesday: Cornwall through Wales to Anglesey.
Thursday: Holyhead Ferry to Dublin, Ride through Ireland to Portrush - watch Thurs night racing.
Friday: Recce course, find good viewing spot, go to Joey's bar/Ballymoney Graveyard. Evening in pits.
Saturday: Watch racing near University Corner. After racing down through Ireland to Dundalk.
Sunday: To Dublin, Holyhead Ferry & back to Cornwall.
Great few days, you'll love the atmosphere & the racing is amazing. North Wales on Wednesday afternoon was a blast - Sunday morning it was totally different - rammed with cyclists,caravans and classic car groups.
The roads open very soon after the last race each day, especially compared to the TT where there's still riders completing their race long after the winners have finished.
If you want to leave before the racing finishes, park & watch 'outside' of the course but it really isn't an issue.
If you want to leave before the racing finishes, park & watch 'outside' of the course but it really isn't an issue.
jimbobsimmonds said:
Can anyone suggest a good viewing spot on the outside of Portrush? Coming in from Ballycastle so would rather stay outside. Or would you recommend Metropole? Near a beer supply would be good 
Most of the interesting stuff is out in the country & I couldn't remember seeing any pubs on the circuit.The best thing about Metropole is the big screen opposite the railway embankment but I would guess you'd need to be on the approach to there to be able to get to anywhere outside of the course.
You have various spots between Portrush & Portstewart as a footpath runs along side the track but there's only the sea on that side.
TBH the event didn't really come across as a p1ss up like the TT although the pubs are buzzing Thurs & Fri evenings, come Saturday people want to start heading home after the race.
A lot of action seems to happen at the Magic Roundabout & I would imagine you could do a spot of hedge hopping to go towards Mathers Cross.
graham22 said:
jimbobsimmonds said:
Can anyone suggest a good viewing spot on the outside of Portrush? Coming in from Ballycastle so would rather stay outside. Or would you recommend Metropole? Near a beer supply would be good
Most of the interesting stuff is out in the country & I couldn't remember seeing any pubs on the circuit.The best thing about Metropole is the big screen opposite the railway embankment but I would guess you'd need to be on the approach to there to be able to get to anywhere outside of the course.
You have various spots between Portrush & Portstewart as a footpath runs along side the track but there's only the sea on that side.
TBH the event didn't really come across as a p1ss up like the TT although the pubs are buzzing Thurs & Fri evenings, come Saturday people want to start heading home after the race.
A lot of action seems to happen at the Magic Roundabout & I would imagine you could do a spot of hedge hopping to go towards Mathers Cross.
Tbh I would prefer to be slightly in the country. As much as I'm sure watching people dive onto the brakes and race through the rounadbout is thrilling; there is a childing bit of me that just wants to see people whizzing past at 200 mph. I can see corners at Brands, very rare that I get to see a bike approaching vMax on public roads!
jimbobsimmonds said:
I'll save the beer for the evenings then
Tbh I would prefer to be slightly in the country. As much as I'm sure watching people dive onto the brakes and race through the rounadbout is thrilling; there is a childing bit of me that just wants to see people whizzing past at 200 mph. I can see corners at Brands, very rare that I get to see a bike approaching vMax on public roads!
Field on left just before University will fit the bill nicely then - OK it's inside the circuit but it's slightly higher than the road plus you can see the riders heading up the link road to the roundabout.Tbh I would prefer to be slightly in the country. As much as I'm sure watching people dive onto the brakes and race through the rounadbout is thrilling; there is a childing bit of me that just wants to see people whizzing past at 200 mph. I can see corners at Brands, very rare that I get to see a bike approaching vMax on public roads!
A lot of the locals will be watching it there so plenty of radios to over-hear what's going on.
The best place in my opinion is to get within the triangle. Check out this map -
http://www.northwest200.org/nw200-circuit-map/
From the little b-roads inside the triangle you can move between view points between each race which is really good.
http://www.northwest200.org/nw200-circuit-map/
From the little b-roads inside the triangle you can move between view points between each race which is really good.
graham22 said:
jimbobsimmonds said:
I'll save the beer for the evenings then
Tbh I would prefer to be slightly in the country. As much as I'm sure watching people dive onto the brakes and race through the rounadbout is thrilling; there is a childing bit of me that just wants to see people whizzing past at 200 mph. I can see corners at Brands, very rare that I get to see a bike approaching vMax on public roads!
Field on left just before University will fit the bill nicely then - OK it's inside the circuit but it's slightly higher than the road plus you can see the riders heading up the link road to the roundabout.Tbh I would prefer to be slightly in the country. As much as I'm sure watching people dive onto the brakes and race through the rounadbout is thrilling; there is a childing bit of me that just wants to see people whizzing past at 200 mph. I can see corners at Brands, very rare that I get to see a bike approaching vMax on public roads!
A lot of the locals will be watching it there so plenty of radios to over-hear what's going on.
This is probably asking the obvious, but I assume they allow you to cross the track between races?
This is the field. Its not a bad place to watch from but as I mentioned if you park anywhere within the main triangle you can move between vantage spots using the b-roads.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/55%C2%B009'22....
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/55%C2%B009'22....
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=university+corner...
Hopefully this link will work, field on the left.
Plenty of parking either in the field or the road to the right at these cross-roads. This is facing the direction in which the bikes are racing, they would have just gone under the cherry picker with the TV camera on it at this point and are starting to brake.
I think they do let you cross the road between races but I can't see the point really, as I said before, there isn't the hanging around between races like there is at the TT. Also as posted above, you could use some of the minor roads to get between vantage points but again, little time between the races - it's well run.
Hopefully this link will work, field on the left.
Plenty of parking either in the field or the road to the right at these cross-roads. This is facing the direction in which the bikes are racing, they would have just gone under the cherry picker with the TV camera on it at this point and are starting to brake.
I think they do let you cross the road between races but I can't see the point really, as I said before, there isn't the hanging around between races like there is at the TT. Also as posted above, you could use some of the minor roads to get between vantage points but again, little time between the races - it's well run.
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