Tuesday   6.6.2017       3.12km Total: 56.22km

The migraine is relentless, I can't get out of bed and I'm completely exhausted.
The migraine creates a catch 22 where it feeds itself because when the meds don't take sleep is really the only thing that can break the cycle but the pain in my eyes is so severe that I can hardly get any sleep.
Now the pain is like someone is using an annealed nail in my eyes like you would stir a pot and I'm nauseous just to the point that I manage not to be sick.
I must confess that I felt pretty sorry for myself where I lay in my misery.

I doze of from time to time during the day with one last try with the meds (which must be strictly rationed because if you overdo it they will cause migraine instead of relieve it) and finally it relents and by nightfall the pain subsides.
By now I haven't eaten anything for twentyfour hours so I go for a sure thing, Duck at The Rock restaurant down by the promenade.

I had eaten it before when I was there with Nisse and Anders and with the sauce basically being jam it's just what the doctor ordered, migraine is an extremely diverse and individual disease but for most sufferers sweet things helps with the nausea and so it is for me as well.

By pure chance I meet Fredrik, Jonas and Kent sitting down at the next table from them so I switch over and get dinner companions.
After a delicious meal we head back to Woodburnes pub which is pretty much the next house over from where I live for a small digestif.

Even if I should know better I can't resist a half pint of Guinness.
My head could probably do without the alcohol but my body can definitely do with the calories after twenty-four hours of starvation.

Wednesday    7.6.2017
  91km Total: 1510km    9.58km Total: 65.8km

This is getting ridiculous. There must be some greater being on this Island that's really out to get me because finally free from the damned migraine I wake up to the mancold from hell.
But a cold I can live with so that doesn't stop me from going with the guide and the rest of the gang to a spectator spot at Cronk-y-Voddy (how did they come up with these names?).

We're standing by a farmers entrance to a field during the Superstock race and after a couple of laps I've managed to crawl my way to a sitting position right by the road.
I definitely now have a front row seat of the bikes coming over the brow with their front wheels off the ground at 200km/h.
It's fascinating to see the control they have on the bikes at completely insane speeds.

After the race the guide takes us to Niarbyl Café by the sea outside Dalby where we get tea/lunch with a spectacular view.
I kept sightseeing to minimum though because the wind was chilly as hell and by now my nose is running at pretty much a continuous flow.

After lunch the guide has another little gem in store, a waterfall outside Glenmaye.
A nice stroll through beautiful woods and since we've ridden away from the coast the wind has died down.
This almost enchanted forest was a stark contrast to the otherwise pretty barren landscape on the Island.

After the waterfall the rest of the group intend to head back but we have other plans.
Nisse has read up on the Island and Milners Tower seems like it shouldn't be missed so that's where we're heading.
Jonas, Jan and Per tag along for the ride.
They might have regretted that decision a few times along the way since my GPS leads us onto a rather interesting path with gravel and grass scattered across the road which was in pretty bad shape and was pretty much like a washboard most of the way.
The entertainment value was sky high on the Tiger but I can only assume that it wasn't all that great on sports bikes.

Along the way we come across another strange tower which turns out to be Cross Vein Mine.
I can't resist stopping to take some photos before we continue on to Milners.

The trek up to Milners Tower was steep as hell, in retrospect it was completely worth it but in that moment, with cardiac arrest imminent and snot spraying like two fire hoses out of my nose I wasn't all that inspired to be honest.

TT Race Cronk-y-Voddy

Start numbers: #4 Ian Hutchinson, BMW/Tyco (winner) • #15 William Dunlop, Yamaha/Temple Golf Club (7th) • #48 Björn Gunnarsson, BMW (DNF) •  #77 Rob Hodson, BMW/Hodson Racing (24th)

Niarabyl Cafe

Glenmaye Waterfall

Cross Vein Mine

Milners Tower and the view from the tower

Thursday    8.6.2017       7.28km Total: 73.08km

Un f***ing believable.
The plan was to ride the steam train to Castletown with Nisse and Anders but the man-cold has gotten the better of me and I'm completely down for the count.
The guys will have to make do without me.
There's no racing or practice today so at least I'm not missing out on that.
I'd rather rest up today than miss the racing tomorrow.

I stay in bed and rest up until early afternoon and then go on the hunt for some meds.
My nose is just flowing in a continuous stream as soon as I get out of bed so my hopes for a miracle cure weren't high but damn that was some god stuff I got hold of.
I feel a lot better by late afternoon so I take a stroll down to the promenade.

When the guys get back from Castletown we meet up and get supper together.