TT3D: Closer to the Edge
January 15th, 2012Note: This has absolutely nothing to do with Cryptogon-related topics.
My brother in law gave me TT3D: Closer to the Edge, but when I realized that it was about motorcycle racing, I almost didn’t watch it. I have no interest in motorcycle racing. I had never heard about the Isle of Man TT race before and wasn’t particularly interested in finding out more about it.
But I watched the film anyway…
I’ve never seen a more astonishing depiction of people who were more infected (possessed, addicted, afflicted) by a life threatening obsession than this. A few of you might be smugly thinking that your interest in _________ (fill in the blank) somehow compares to this, but I seriously doubt it. This makes the NASCAR hillbillies and Formula 1 scene look like a church social. Whatever your current understanding of balls to the wall happens to be, you’ll probably have to redefine it after watching this.
Amen. I’ve ridden since 16, to 57 now. This Isle of Man racing is the shit. Stand in awe.
I’ve screened it recently as well. Couldn’t agree more. The helicopter footage of the young Manx racer going off the bike near the end was unreal. What was even more unreal was that he survived.
And Guy Martin. The very definition of a true “character”. His encounter with the security checkpoint with the old fart loyally guarding his domain was a full-fledged character study in all of 30 seconds.
I watch very little proper “cinema” these days, as most of it is either derivative pap chock full of Monarch cues or I can far-too-simply forecast all the narrative twists & turns, being familiar with said same creation and all.
But a tasty documentary like TT3D is well worth the price of admission. Those boys (and girls!) are *genuinely* on the edge, at the same level as my own adrenaline-sport compatriots who these days arc their way down sheer mountainsides around the world considered utterly unskiable until very recent times.
I’ve written about motorcycle cafe racing for various magazines, and ridden in American underground versions of this most extreme sport for decades now. The Isle of Man TT event, which has been running for more than 100 years, is the epitome of adrenaline addiction. You never feel more alive than those times when you could die any moment. Race tracks have safety measures and equipment that dramatically reduce the risk of sudden death. But the IOM TT is run on PUBLIC roads, with minimal protection against collision. I don’t think a haybale is going to help much at 150+ mph. Thank you, Kevin, for drawing attention to this spectacle. Obviously, these riders do this for the love of the thrill, as there is very little fame or fortune for the winners.
Miraculix Says:
The helicopter footage of the young Manx racer going off the bike near the end was unreal. What was even more unreal was that he survived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y07yt87lhEA
The 24-year old sustained a badly broken left arm, two bone fractures in his back, a dislocated knee and ligament damage, bruising to his lungs and a hairline fracture to his pelvis.
Even more insane is that he was back there to race again this year. With 10 steel pins in his spine!
Recovering at present from a badly broken knee joint from a relatively low speed scooter accident and having got thrown off at 80mph a couple of decades ago wearing t-shirt and jeans in the days I used to push everything to the limit, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the wisdom of taking it easy or, at least, easier. Of course, I wouldn’t have considered such heretical thoughts 20 years ago.
I’m sure glad the 24-year old rider in the video cleared that dry stone wall. Sometimes I think we were safer when we pitted ourselves against mammoths and cave bears.
finally watched that, and looking in those eyes i can see what looks to me like withdrawal. i think the high is probably so good that the rest of the time these guys are jonesing for another race. as for teh mammoths and cave bears, throw in some bigcats and i think you have the roots of this madness. i read somewhere that the most successfull people overall were those who took calculated moderate risk/gambles on a consistent basis, rather than the extremes like these racers and some warhorses scattered throughout the worlds warzones. i cant think of anything but addiction to explain this, asides from mental illness, but really theyre synonymous.
“Racing IS life. Anything before or after is just…. waiting.” – Steve McQueen
@ optimistic pessimist
Everyone tends to see what they want to in whatever they observe. You see addiction, obsession. Clearly, these are important issues in your life for one reason or another.
That said, your perspective is lucid and wholly understandable — coming from well outside the obsessive circle of amateur & professional road racers who comprise the TT field and those who love and/or worship such people.
It could also be argued that obsession and devotion are but two sides of the same coin. Or addiction and dedication. And so on. As best as I can surmise, any who chose to FOCUS on a specific pursuit to the point of developing expertise are dancing on that same slippery slope.
Extremes are what they are. Scary to some, thrilling to others. Healthy pursuits taken to sometimes unhealthy levels. But they are also what test us and our limits and ultimately define who and what we are in our individual guises.
Without extremes how would one know where the middle ground actually was?