We love helping people check people check things off their bucket list and the Isle of Man is one of those big-ticket items that everyone needs to experience at least once. But before we got to the Isle of Man, we had a few other things to add to the experience throughout the UK.

 

We hit the ground running in England by heading to Woking, England right after we landed for a visit to our friends at the McLaren Technology Center. McLaren are experts at manufacturing amazing automobiles and also happen to be the reigning Formula 1 World Champions and a visit to their facility is something that no one should ever turn down. We got to get up close with a plethora of historic Formula 1 cars, the Le Mans winning McLaren F1 GTR and so many other incredible machines before making our way back to London for the weekend.

 

A day playing tourist in London was a great way to experience the city with some highlights being the iconic Ace Café, the Bike Shed and a visit to the International War Museum at the Duxford Aerodrome. Our next stop in the UK was Wales but not before we stopped at the incredible Silverstone Museum and snuck into pit lane during a private track day for some photos.

 

Wales is one of the most amazing countries in the world, especially when you venture north. We explored a lot of the northern part of the country but every day we found ourselves at the unbelievable Mach Loop where military planes from all over the world partake in low-level canyon flight training through the mountains. We would make the hike up the mountainside and just relax in the beautiful Welsh weather (no really, it was idyllic!) and giggle like children when a Typhoon, F-15, A400M or some other military plane would fly past us at eye-level.

 

After a few days at the Mach Loop, we made the flight to the Isle of Man for a week of TT action. The weather during practice week was some of the best in recent memory and unfortunately, our great luck with weather ended as we experienced the most weather-affected TT in history with race cancellations and postponements more common than on-track action. In the end, we were able to sit trackside for one Superbike race and one Supersport race with the rest of our days spent relaxing with an island full of like-minded people. Even without racing happening, the vibe of the entire island made the trip absolutely worth it!