Mark Miller was pulling off his sweaty leathers when I asked him to sum up racing at the Isle of Man. This was just his second TT, yet he’d finished a respectable 26th in the Superbike event on a stock Aprilia. Because he’s an American and not seeped in Celtic roadracing, his outsider-on-the-inside perspective was beguiling.
“This place is a beautiful blend of street riding, short-circuit racing and the hooliganism of the canyon roads of Southern California,” he said. “There’s nothing cooler than the TT. It’s the most fantastic thing on the planet.”
Miller is physically fit but admits it’s tough to train for the rigors of this event. “I’ve got soreness in my knees that I’ve never had before,” he said. “I got arm pump on the second lap, and then it went away. When I finished my fourth lap, I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve got two more.’”
That’s a substantial distance–75 miles. I asked Miller what he sees when he’s lapping the circuit. Does he have time to look around, or is it all business? “It’s a constant stream of heads and hands and tennis shoes,” he said. “A lot of times, when I’m trail-braking into a corner, I’m staring at a crowd of people eight shoulders deep. I can only imagine the concussion these things make when they come past at 200 mph.”
Miller claims the TT requires every ounce of his motorcycle-riding knowledge. “I used to think the Macau GP was the most dangerous race in the world,” he said. “If you fall at Macau, at least all the pieces will be in one area. At the Isle of Man or the North West 200, there are sidewalks, poles, cliffs, golf courses and off-camber decreasing-radius corners with six crazy Irishmen side-by-side. It’s gnarly.”
Experience isn’t earned overnight, either. “The TT isn’t 14 corners, going around in circles like a monkey performing a trick,” Miller said. “It takes an intelligent person to put together 266 corners per lap without a mistake. You have to build up in increments.”
Miller admires his fellow TT racers, especially their approachable, humble nature. “There aren’t a lot of egos in the paddock,” he said. “These guys don’t walk around like they own the place. The Isle of Man is about riding.”
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