I've been really excited and looking forward to le Tour de France starting in Yorkshire all year - shame I was full of a cold, but that wasn't going to spoil the fun. The main dilemma was deciding where to watch it from. I really wanted to get up near Hawes for the big Buttertubs climb, but getting there was problematic with road closures etc.
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| Planning stage, where to go... |
Instead we opted to park at Malham Tarn, and mountain bike over Mastilles Lane to Kilnsey and catch it here. Good plan, no traffic problems getting to Malham, and plenty of parking. The ride over was reasonably popular with Tour fans - as expected.
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| Abi ready for Le Tour |
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| Dropping into Kilnsey |
Kilnsey had a cycling festival on (velo fest) and it was busy, and a great atmosphere. Whilst most spectators were 'hanging' outside of the pub listening to the DJ, we had a nice coffee and second breakfast at the quiet Trout Lake (excellent breakfast 'bap' !).
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| King of the..... |
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| They get you in the end - death, not by too many chemicals or sugars, but the crazy Fruit Shoot lorries! |
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| Wiggo, here in spirit.... |
The preceding caravan was great, with loads of sponsors cars throwing gifts to the fans. I got a frisbee, 2 x random green bags, haribo's and some other tat that I have already lost! I was envious of the people who had a cycling cap thrown their way (Jane)!
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| Great atmosphere |
We rode through Kilnsey and the crowds all cheered us as we rode through - weird but great. We ended up having field to ourselves just out of town (well village) to watch the spectacle from. It was dramatic, and due to the narrow lanes, the riders were quite strung out and took a while to pass. The crazy low flying TV helicopter that buzzed above us was excellent too.
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| Waiting for the Pelaton |
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| Allez, allez our kid |
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| My fave team.... BMC! |
We took a longer quiet route back, which had some great trails over a high grouse moor (no idea where we were!), only slightly marred early one when we over took 2 x old men walking in the middle of the road who shouted at us because we hadn't shouted at them to warn them we were approaching. They shouted "we are deaf, one day you'll be deaf, so shout so we know you are coming" !!! Made no sense to me, and I'm sure their vision wasn't impaired.......
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| After the craziness of le Tour, back to proper Yorkshire riding... |
Great day watching Le Tour and getting 30km in on the bike!
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