Tour de Yorkshire !

[Rob H]

The Tour de France, through the Yorkshire dales.

Saturday 7.30am Met at village pub for bacon butties and tea/coffees and for some an alcoholic beverage !

8.00am'ish Set off to walk the 3 miles to Ilkley and amazed at the number of people doing the same ! Shame it's a grey damp morning.

9.30am Drop down into Ilkley to be met by a fantastic sight, huge crowds and an electric atmosphere.

10.00am Into the Flying Duck, a real ale house owned by The Wharfedale Brewery, for a pint of their locally brewed Pilsner lager mmmm ! The sun is starting to peep through.

10.30am Find our vantage point and wait ..... Here I have to thank the entrepreneurs who were going around selling cold beers and food stuff  !! And the excitement was really starting to build.
The caravan, the sponsors strange vehicles manned by folks throwing out freebies, started coming through and the atmosphere builds and builds ! And the sun is cracking flags !!

12.30pm'ish The helicopters start coming overhead and I can actually feel the hairs on the back of my neck coming up, the atmosphere is so electric !
And here they are !!!! I've never experienced anything like the noise and excitement in my life !!

12.32am'ish and they've gone..... was it worth the effort, a huge yes !!!!
Off to The Hub, the local park in Ilkley, a food area, beer tent, huge screens showing the race live and an area with live music, brilliant.

The rest of the day became a bit of a blur but what a fabulous experience. If you live close enough to go and see Le Tour before it goes across the channel please go and enjoy a fantastic event.

Quote of the day, a mates 8 year old son asked me if I was excited yet as we waited for the riders to come through,yes William are you, his response had me in tears of laughter, "it's like waiting for the Chinese takeaway to arrive"

Rob, bit of a sore head but exhilarated !!

[GroupC]

Yesterday: Up at 4am, drive to the Tan Hill Inn (remember the famous Everest double glazing ads?), park there and get the bike out of my car. Ride 10 hilly miles to Buttertubs Pass and wait...

...and after a few hours the publicity caravan arrives: free stuff you never thought you needed until now, like a small plastic cow.

Then the race arrives - superstar Jens in front. Peloton chasing hard. Big cheers and mass excitement all round while the race goes past.

The back on the bike to ride back to Tan Hill, get in the car and drive home. Then watch it all on telly!


Today: Up at a reasonable hour, cycle 10miles up the road, watch the race, 10 miles back home and now watching it on telly. Brilliant.

Amazing weekend.

Go and watch it, anywhere you can!

[Bealman]

Tour de Yorkshire....?

Who sponsored it? Stella Artois? 

[Candy Apple Head]

The views of the scenery are stunning, and the crowds sensational! I'll be watching it in Cambridge tomorrow. Hope the atmosphere's as good as it looks up in Yorkshire.

[njee20]

Great to see Jens out on the attack yesterday, and the crowds looked amazing. Off to that London tomorrow to watch it.