This past weekend, I finally got around to watching the DVD One Man’s Island. This is the story of Canadian road racer Mark Gardiner who quit his job, sold all his belongings and moved to the Isle of Man to compete in the annual TT races back in 2002.

The DVD itself is very well done. Video quality is fantastic and the documentary was shot by someone that understood camera angles, video production, building a story line and developing characters. But its the contents of the DVD that really make it a worthwhile watch. Gardiner’s story is compelling on a number of different levels.

First and foremost is just the thrill of watching someone chase their dream. Mark got into racing late in life but went on to successfully compete in Canadian club racing, then Canadian national racing and then on to the AMA 250GP series. (As an aside, it was wild that I didn’t recognize his name but immediately recognized his leathers from all my time following the AMA series…). Ultimately, Gardiner decided that his real goal was to race the Island of Man TT. Realizing that he didn’t have the funding to chase this dream on the side he had to make a drastic decision. He sold everything, quit his job and headed for the small island in the Irish Sea. The story is guaranteed to be interesting when it starts like that…

Second, Gardiner faced a couple of different challenges which add another interesting ingredient to the story: He is pretty old to be starting real “road” racing. While most of the road race specialists are in, like Gardiner, in their 30s they got their start at half that age. Its quite a daunting proposition to start learning the 38 mile long circuit at an age when most racers are retiring. Gardiner also has lupus which saps muscle strength and endurance. Racing 150 miles over dangerous public roads taxes the body of even the most fit racer. He is very humble about this issue and its just a small part of the overall story line but I think is something that amplifies both this dream and his accomplishment.

The story itself is very well laid out talking about Gardiner, the history of the TT, the famous TT course, the components which came together to help him compete and finally his results. Great on-board footage is used, including an entire lap which is available as a DVD “extra”. There are also a few short interviews with a few famous IoM legends including nine time winner Dave Jefferies (this interview being done the year before Jefferies lost his life during the 2003 TT). The DVD really holds a lot of little gems like this which combine to make for a very enjoyable film.

If you’re looking for something to add to your DVD collection, this one is worth picking up. Its available from both Aerostich and White Horse Press.

[image from the Aerostich web site.]