Tour de Man - Cycling around the Isle of Man 142 km

This grand tour of the Isle of Man takes you all around the island. It is suited for the racing bike, and offers beautiful seascapes, cliffs, heritage tramways, steep hills, quiet countryside, pretty coastal villages, grand Victorian boulevards, and much more. Most of the trip is on quiet roads, apart from the boulevard in Douglas, two stretches of the A5 near the airport and Castletown and a stretch between Peel and Ballaugh partly on the TT course. The trip involves about 2000 m ascent, partly on steep roads, and I classified the trip as difficult for the combination of length, ascent and for having to frequently change gears.
I started out in Ballaugh, across Raven Inn. From here you follow the A10 through the north of the island, past among others the church in The Cronk and the prison towards Bride. This part of the island is relatively flat, consists of quiet countryside, and starts to undulate a bit close to Bride where you start having great views towards the Point of Ayre, Scotland and the Lake District in England (the weather was extremely clear on the day I did this trip). In Bride, you follow the A16 towards the Point of Ayre, the most northern point of the route. After having a look at the lighthouse, the heathland, and the shingle beach, you return to Bride, and continue on the A10 towards Ramsey with good views of the Snaefell and North Barrule hills. In Ramsey you follow the boulevard, cross a bridge across the harbor (one way traffic), and continue to follow the boulevard past the Pier towards the A2 in the direction of Laxey. You climb out of town and then turn left towards Maughold where you can have a look at the church/graveyard before continuing south. You are going up and down here on small roads and get to a very steep road (with grades more than 25%; see waypoint) which has recently been tarred and covered in grit: a nice challenge. You get back to the A2 near Doon Glen, and then continue on the A2 towards Laxey. Here you can have a look at the Laxey Wheel (turn right for 100 m at the waypoint marked turn-off for Laxey Wheel to get a view), and the station with the Snaefell Mountain Railway, before you go steeply down to Old Laxey at the sea. From here you climb back to the A2 and follow the Manx Electric Railway via the A11 to Douglas. From Onchan you get your first glimpses of Douglas harbor and boulevard and then go down all the way to the boulevard where you also have a chance to see the Horse Tramway. You continue past the promenade to the ferry terminal, cross the drawbridge across the inner harbor, and climb to Douglas Head where you have a good view of the capital. You then continue on Marine Drive, a road partly barred for cars, which gives excellent views of sea and cliffs. Via the A37 and the A25 you continue inland towards the A5, which you join just before Ballasalla. On the A5 you continue past the airport towards Castletown, the former capital of the Isle of Man. You cycle past the inner harbor and Rushen Castle and continue towards Port St Mary on the A5. Just outside town, you choose a small road close to Bay ny Carrickey before again joining the A5. In Port St. Mary, you cycle past a lookout point for the beach and the bay and then continue on a climb on A31 towards Cregneash. Cregneash is a kind of open air museum with traditional crofts. You can cycle through the village and have a look at the Manx Loaghtan sheep with the four horns. You then cycle down to Calf Sound where there is a great lookout point for the Calf of Man, the seal colony on Kitterland Rock (you do not need binoculars to see them, or hear them), and a café-restaurant, a great location for a break. After the break you cycle back up to Cregneash, and turn left to Port Erin. Approaching the town from this way, you have a magnificent view of the town and the Bay as well as the tower on Bradda Head. In Port Erin you start the longest climb of the day on the A36 to a pass at 365 m near South Barrule. The climb takes you through heathland and gives you excellent views of the south of the island towards Castletown. The way down to Peel gives you excellent views of coast near Niarbyl Bay and across the sea towards Ireland. Peel is a nice coastal town, with among others a kipper factory, a marina, a castle and a sandy beach. From Peel you continue on the A4 to Kirk Michael, where you join the A3, which is part of the TT course. This is one of the busiest roads on the island, but you stay on it for only 5 km before arriving back in Ballaugh.
Of course, you could start this tour anywhere near where you are staying. The best spots for finding something to eat or drink (including coastal views) are Douglas, Castletown, Port St Mary, the Calf Sound Café, Port Erin and Peel. The whole route is on asphalt, with a few bad stretches between Maughold and the A2. Route Ballaugh-Bride-Point of Ayre-Bride-Ramsey-Maughold-Dhoon-Laxey-Onchan-Douglas-Marine Drive-Ballasalla-Castletown-Port St Mary-Cregneash-Calf Sound-Cregneash-Port Erin-Dalby-Peel-Kirk Michael-Ballaugh.