New Zealander Bruce Anstey continued his form around the Mountain Course in tonight's SES TT Zero 2nd Qualifying session. The New Zealand rider followed up his stunning outright lap record around the Mountain Course with an unofficial lap record for the TT Zero class, posting a time of 112.355mph (20:08.914).

His Mugen teammate also took the opportunity for a lap and was marginally outside Michael Rutter's lap record (109.675) set last year. Robert Wilson (Sarloea Racing), Mark Miller (Vercarmoto) and George Spence (Kingston) also completed electric bike laps this evening.

Earlier in the evening, Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson opted to give the riders a chance to practice on their Superstock machines ahead of Monday's race as well as their Supersport and Lightweight and a number of riders took up the option.

Guy Martin again emphasised his quality after his Superbike podium with a 127.22 mph lap in the Superstock qualifying while Bruce Anstey, Lee Johnson and Michael Dunlop were all over 126 mph.

In the Lightweight qualifying session Ryan Farquhar was the fastest on the night with a lap of 116.84, still outside Ivan Lintin's time from Tuesday evening, with Olie Linsdell powering the stunning Paton to a similar speed (116.23).

Gary Johnson posted a pair of quick laps in the Supersport class (125.72 and 125.16) with Josh Brookes, William Dunlop, Ian Hutchinson, MIchael Rutter and Dean Harrison all posting 123mph+ laps

The 2014 Isle of Man TT races got underway today with Honda Racing’s Conor Cummins securing a podium finish in the opening Superbike race. His team-mate John McGuinness – who is still recovering from a broken scaphoid – completed the six-lap outing in seventh place.

The race began at 11am in warm and sunny conditions and by the end of lap one, Cummins was in third aboard his Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine. A smooth and confident performance saw the Manxman putting serious pressure on second-placed rider Guy Martin, with a gap of less than a second at the halfway stage.

Cummins eventually crossed the line just under three seconds behind Martin to take his fifth TT podium – his first on a Superbike since a serious crash on the Mountain course in 2010, which threatened to end his road racing career.

McGuinness, meanwhile, dug deep and got his head down, climbing from eighth to fifth by lap four. The 20-time Isle of Man TT winner was in the battle for fourth place until the end of the penultimate lap, when a late attack from Bruce Anstey coupled with a wave of backmarkers saw him drop down to seventh come the chequered flag.

In what turned out to be a spectacular opener, a new outright lap record of 132.298mph was set by Bruce Anstey aboard his Padgetts Motorcycles Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

The Honda Racing team will reconvene on Friday 6 June for the Senior TT.

- Molyneux/Farrance top the board in Sidecar Class
- McGuinness looks to make up for last year's disappointment with fast opening SES TT Zero lap

After the trials of tribulations of recent evenings, conditions were perfect for the final qualifying session of the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, and it proved to be a rapid night of action on the Mountain Course as Michael Dunlop threw down the gauntlet with a lap of 131.501mph, not only his personal best but also just 1.3s outside the outright lap record.

Gary Johnson set the pace on the opening lap on his Superstock bike and he was the only rider to break the 130mph barrier first time around with a lap of 130.207mph although Guy Martin wasn’t far behind on his Superbike with 129.992mph.

Second time around and Bruce Anstey went quickest at 130.642mph on his Superbike with John McGuinness lapping at 129.790 which saw him end up fourth overall. Dan Kneen slotted into a superb fifth place at 129.107, comfortably his best ever lap of the 37 and ¾-mile course while Michael Rutter placed sixth (128.883) with William Dunlop, Josh Brookes, James Hillier, Ian Hutchinson and Dean Harrison the other riders to lap in excess of 127mph.

However, Dunlop waited until the closing stages to really set the track alight as he ripped round the course at 131.501mph to end the week top of the Superbike leaderboard and surely heading into tomorrow’s Dainese Superbike race as favourite. Anstey remained in second overall with Guy Martin the third Superbike rider over 130mph with a lap of 130.102mph.

Cameron Donald had his best night of the week on the Norton with a speed of 123.095 with strong performances also coming from Jimmy Storrar (124.286), James Cowton (123.247) and Michael Sweeney (121.039).

Johnson’s superb 130mph lap saw him top the Superstock class although Harrison was also flying on his Superstock Kawasaki with a speed of 128.662mph, which was his best ever lap of the course. Michael Dunlop went slightly quicker at 129.333 to place third with Hillier in fourth and Rutter putting in a late quick lap to go fifth.

Meanwhile, newcomer Peter Hickman put in three laps in excess of 121mph but his fourth was his best of the week at an excellent 123.329mph. Fellow debutante Martin Jessopp just missed out on his first 120mph lap at 119.918mph with Alan Bonner (117.499), Vick de Cooremeter (116.741), Phil Crowe (116.738), Danny Webb (116.510) and Callum Laidlaw (112.058) all improving on their previous bests.

With most riders opting to get out on their 1000cc machines, there were few quick laps in the Supersport class but Johnson had a busy evening with two laps on the Triumph, the quickest of which, 125.934, was the fastest of the week. William Dunlop (124.475) and Keith Amor (124.356) placed second and third respectively on the night although Michael Dunlop’s lap from Thursday, 124.530, means he ended the week second overall. There was a notable performance from Daley Mathison who moved up to 22nd fastest qualifier from an original start number of 81.

In the F2 Sidecar class Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance were fastest on the night at 113.422 closely followed by John Holden/Andy Winkle (113.039), Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott (112.333) and Tim Reeves/Gregory Cluze (111.651).

Karl Bennett/Lee Cain put in their first ever 110mph lap whilst a stunning lap came from newcomers Alan Founds/Tom Peters with a speed of 107.291mph. Fellow debutantes John and Jake Lowther also recorded their best lap of the week at 101.246mph.

All eyes then switched to the SES TT Zero class as fans were treated to their first look at this year's Electric bike class. The eagerly anticipated showdown between Mugen teammates Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness was put on ice when Anstey pulled in at Quarterbridge leaving McGuinness to post a stunning first lap of 20.:13.202 (111.904mph).

Buckeye's Rob Barber and Italian outfit VercarMoto also completed laps to get their qualifying campaigns underway while Paul Owen (Brunel) Rob Wilson (Sarolea) and Russ Mountford (Arc Ev Engineering) all set off from the grandstand but failed to complete their laps.

Neal Champion (Greeba Castle) and Calum Laidlaw (Governors Bridge) were both reported off in the Superbike session but while Laidlaw was reported OK and later went out again, Champion was taken by airmed to Nobles Hospital. Sean Anderson was also airlifted to Nobles in the Supersport following an accident at Guthries while Frank Lelias and Paul Knapton were both taken by airmed for further assessment.

Conditions for the fourth qualifying session at the 2014 Isle of Man TT races, fuelled by Monster Energy, were again cool and overcast with damp roads reported from Guthrie’s to Kate’s Cottage. Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson opted to only send out the F2 sidecars, and Supersport and Lightweight machines but, with conditions improving as the evening wore on, a late lap by Michael Dunlop of 124.537mph saw him top the Supersport times.

The sidecars got the action underway at 18.27 with Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance first away followed by Ben and Tom Birchall, Tim Reeves/Gregory Cluze and Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott and conditions could be seen in the lap times with Reeves quickest at 106.527 followed by Harrison at 105.324 and Greg Lambert/Kenny Cole at 105.108.

Molyneux had stopped at Ballaugh with a punctured rear tyre while John Holden/Andy Winkle also pulled in at Ballacraine. However, at around 18.45 the session was stopped due a civilian emergency in the Quarter Bridge area unconnected with the racing. When it re-started at 19.15 the roads up on the Mountain had dried considerably and Holden put his early problems behind him to go to the top of the times with a lap of 111.586, followed by Birchall (111.280), Reeves (108.306), Carl Fenwick/Phil Knapton (107.586) and Frank Lelias/Paul Knapton (107.069).

The newcomers were also showing well with Alan Founds/Tom Peters and Dwight and Noel Beare lapping at 101.981 and 100.951 respectively.

In an incident at Pinfold Cottage that delayed the start of the solo's qualifying session, Ewan Walker and Dickie Gale were taken by airmed to Nobles Hospital. Walker sustained minor injuries while Gale was reported to have back and knee injuries.

At 8.05, the solos finally took to the Mountain Course and although the light was fading and the roads on the Mountain were still damp, they were drying all the time and the Supersport and Lightweight contenders were able to get three good laps in.

Guy Martin and Michael Dunlop led the field away followed by Michael Rutter and William Dunlop but Ian Hutchinson was out of luck and was soon reported as having retired. Most riders opted for their Supersport machines but Lee Johnston, Keith Amor, David Johnson, Ivan Lintin and James Cowton all took out their Lightweight mounts.

William Dunlop was quickest on the opening lap with a speed of 120.683mph with Rutter, Josh Brookes and Gary Johnson also over the 120mph mark but Brookes improved further second time around to 122.011mph. However, Bruce Anstey went slightly quicker with a lap of 122.290mph although team-mate John McGuinness’ lap of 118.039mph didn’t tell the whole story as he was the quickest rider up until Ramsey, the Morecambe rider easing off through the damp patches.

Right at the end of the session though, the leaderboard changed again with Michael Dunlop lapping at 124.530mph, the fastest Supersport lap of the week, with Dean Harrison only five seconds slower at 123.886mph. Conor Cummins and James Hillier also posted 120mph plus laps.

In the Lightweight category, the SGS International/KMR Kawasaki machines of Keith Amor and Ryan Farquhar were fastest, with the duo lapping at 116.206 and 115.593mph respectively as they circulated together for much of the second lap.

Jamie Hamilton was also on the pace at 114.212mph and following him, in quick succession, were Gary Johnson (113.843), Ivan Lintin (113.478) and Dean Harrison (113.062). Manx GP winner Michael Russell lapped at an impressive 112.508mph to place seventh on the leaderboard.

Due to the disrupted qualifying during the week tomorrow's session will now see Superbikes, Supersport and Superstock machines out between 18.20 and 20.00, Sidecars between 20.05 and 20.35 and the TT Zero qualifying between 20.40 and 20.55.

One of my favourite routes is the Woodhead Pass (A628), which is not far from Manchester and crosses the Pennine chain of hills through a wood cladded road within the Peak District National Park and ultimately leading to South Yorkshire.

The trick here is to get up early to experience the awesome scenery, atmosphere and lovely views at their best, with less traffic and to avoid the snarl of traffic around Hollingworth and towards Glossop.   At the end of the M67 motorway you take the A57 road towards Glossop.

At the crossroads I always smile as I pass the sign on the right to Broadbottom and then enjoy the ride down the hill with the backdrop of the Peak District National Park in the distant. Stay on the road for the A628, rather than take the right to Glossop and the Snake Pass (another popular road with Bikers) and keep an eye out for the signs to the village of Hadfield on the right; Hadfield is probably better known to people as Royston Vasey, the fictional town featured in the cult BBC dark comedy series 'The League of Gentlemen'.  

One of the main reason I love this road is the many Reservoirs, which in the morning are so tranquil, flat and glass-like. There is a few mile stretch of Reservoirs, which are part of the Longdendale chain, starting with Bottoms, past the mammoth Torside, which the road crosses and ending at the Woodhead Reservoir. From here the road climbs to the summit at Salter's Brook Bridge with open countryside all around. Admittedly it is maybe not the best road for twists and turns, however I love it as it is not far from the city of Manchester and the scenery can be stunning!

Whilst working at THE BIKER GUIDE®, some clients in Northumberland had mentioned that Bikers stay with them as they want to visit The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, with a varied history which dates from the 6th century, as an important centre of Celtic Christianity at the monastery and the place where it is said the Vikings first came to our shores. Accessible by a causeway at low-tide and cut off from the rest of the world by fast-moving tides twice-daily, I liked the idea of riding over a road chasing the tides and I wanted to visit… So a trip was planned, with a ride across the causeway as a must do!

We left our accommodation early as we had to cross and return before 11am, otherwise we would be there until the evening. Just off the main A1, you ride through country lanes until you reach the causeway and then it is a single lane road raised over the sand to the island for a most enjoyable three (ish) miles. 

For our final top biking route in the UK, we asked our visitors to the website and we have the following; The Hardknott Pass in the Lake District, Bala to Trawsfynydd in Snowdonia, the Applecross Pass in The Highlands, the dark hedges at Armoy in County Antrim, the single track road that takes in the coast of the Isle of Mull and this… ‘Anywhere and everywhere so long as I am riding’.

When riding, our top safety tips are to read the roads all around you, presuming (I am sorry to say) that others have not seen you and that vehicle indicators are not always correct (!), make sure you are visible on the road, with your headlights on, wearing hi-viz gear, etc… and when riding take regular pit-stops to stay alert, refresh yourself and to enjoy the scenery, your surroundings and a have much needed cuppa.

Article by Sharon Rollisson-Slaughter, THE BIKER GUIDE®