Sun. Sea. Mountains. An endless sky. Trees. Walls. Hairpin bends, hump-back bridges. Everything's a blur when big motorbikes hit 320km/h through the Isle of Man's picture-postcard villages.
Watch the famous TT races held there, and all other motor-sports seem tame by comparison. Get a TT-winning rider to take you pillion round a famous section of its 60km circuit, and you're on a breathless journey to the land of brown-trouser.
It's a fresh January morning, and Richard "Milky" Quayle is quivering with excitement as we leave Ramsey on his Suzuki GSX-R1000. I'm shaking with pure fear.
Ahead lie seven kilometres of the toughest, fastest and most dangerous motorbike circuit on God's earth.
I'm instructed to hold tight, and we leave the pretty town on the island's north-east shore.
The empty road snakes through a series of tight bends and out into the stunning highlands of the TT's "mountain section". Now for serious, ball-breaking speed; Milky drops his elbow and opens the throttle.
The bike roars. It wheelies. We fly to 260km/h, then throw down the anchors to corner at 140. Headwinds knock me backwards; braking throws me forwards like a rag doll.
Here's a brick wall; there's a flock of sheep. It's a real-life roller-coaster. If we fall off, we'll fly over a ravine.
This, then, is the high-octane reality of the world's most famous road race. At the end of May 2007, the Isle of Man TT will celebrate its 100th birthday.
On the streets of Douglas, they're putting up the bunting. For two glorious weeks, the world of motorbike racing will decamp to a patch of greenery in the middle of the Irish Sea.
Visitors will arrive in their tens of thousands, doubling the population to nearly 150 000. They come for the beer, and to watch the finest road-racers in the world.
They'll see cutting-edge machines and staggering derring-do. Most of all, they'll take part in "Mad Sunday", a 24-hour free-for-all when any member of the public is allowed on the course.
Guy Martin, one of the top riders, says: "You can push like hell on a circuit and if it goes wrong you're in a nice gravel-trap. Push too hard here, and you're going home in a box. I like that. It makes it real. No other sport gives you the same buzz."
The Tourist Trophy, to give it its full name, was launched in 1907 on a course of public roads closed by an act of Tynwald, the Isle of Man's parliament. Give or take a few minor changes, the course is exactly the same today, making it the oldest circuit in the world.
Highest
Races work by time-trial, with riders setting off every 10 seconds. You win by achieving the highest average speed over six completed laps. In 1907, one Charlie Connell took the spoils, managing 61km/h. in 2006 John McGuinness averaged a staggering 207.122km/h.
When you find out that McGuinness's time included a pit-stop, you start to appreciate the astonishing levels of skill of today's riders. They throw their machines round narrow, twisting roads and lanes, and along streets flanked by trees, walls and buildings.
"We're on what gets called the ragged edge," Martin says.
For the spectator, it adds up to a cracking spectacle. It's also a free one, as access to the course is by way of public roads and verges, policed by a friendly collection of marshalls. Roll up and enjoy a picnic.
But there is a catch
The catch, so to speak, is the TT's safety record. Each year, a handful of visitors (both racers and spectators) lose their lives. Over the 100 years of the annual festival, 223 entrants have gone home in a box, as Martin puts it. Hundreds more have met their maker on a Mad Sunday.
Last year, though, the TT was applauded for its safety improvements. Just one entrant was killed, a Japanese rider called Jun Maeda (though two others died warming up for a sidecar event a few weeks earlier).
Race authorities have now reduced the size of the entry lists, limiting them to highly proficient riders.
Regardless of the inevitable spills, centenary year ought to be vintage stuff. It'll be even bigger and brasher than usual, with fairgrounds, stunt riders, parties and free concerts by The Stranglers and Madness (on Mad Sunday, natch).
Booked up
If you fancy riding to the festival (May 26 to June 8), forget it; ferry places for two-wheelers have been booked up since 2006. Flying and driving are still an option, although hotels are full - so bring a tent.
Finally, if you want to watch Milky in action, be prepared for disappointment. He retired from competitive racing after a nasty accident a couple of years ago involving a brick wall at 200mph.
"My wife was pregnant, and I decided that was it," he says. "It's a total commitment sport. You can't do it by halves, and that's why it's a single man's sport.
"But I do miss it. I think about the TT every second of every single day. It'll always be the highlight of my life."
On a Manx hillside in May, there'll be plenty saying amen to that. - The Independent, London