What do you do, if Le Tour comes to Town?
This weekend, Karate classes were cancelled in my home town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The big event was "Le Tour De France" or as it was known locally, Le Tour Yorkshire - Grand Depart 2014! We had been told for weeks that the roads would be closed. The place, to be honest, had been a ghost town for two days prior. Traffic is a big problem in Harrogate, not for Le Tour it seems though. All the cars had stopped moving around on Thursday evening, it was brilliant. I had classes in Leeds both Thursday and Friday and was quite worried about my return, especially on Friday night, but it was brilliant and easy to get home.
Saturday morning arrived, and what to do! First things first, visit the Butchers and the Bakers, again, where was the traffic? Then, by the time of Le Grand Depart, everyone was either in front of the Telly, or at the spectator hubs, or at the side of the road, ready to cheer on the Pelaton.
I cooked Spaghetti Bolognase, and a lemon drizzle cake, whilst watching the race on TV. Yorkshire looked fabulous from the Air, the riders showed their metal on our not so big hills. The spectators were out in force, with numbers for the weekend being around 2.5 million people. The climbs on both days were very well attended and the path the spectators made was very narrow!
On Sunday, the race was passing a mere 10 minutes from my house, so we decided to go and watch. We set off and found a place to wait. The anticipation in the air was palatable, and on seeing the 5 helicopters come overhead, we knew they were on their way. Shortly after you could see a helicopter hovering, they were nearly here! Cameras at the ready, the crowd got ready to shoot!
Saturday morning arrived, and what to do! First things first, visit the Butchers and the Bakers, again, where was the traffic? Then, by the time of Le Grand Depart, everyone was either in front of the Telly, or at the spectator hubs, or at the side of the road, ready to cheer on the Pelaton.
I cooked Spaghetti Bolognase, and a lemon drizzle cake, whilst watching the race on TV. Yorkshire looked fabulous from the Air, the riders showed their metal on our not so big hills. The spectators were out in force, with numbers for the weekend being around 2.5 million people. The climbs on both days were very well attended and the path the spectators made was very narrow!
On Sunday, the race was passing a mere 10 minutes from my house, so we decided to go and watch. We set off and found a place to wait. The anticipation in the air was palatable, and on seeing the 5 helicopters come overhead, we knew they were on their way. Shortly after you could see a helicopter hovering, they were nearly here! Cameras at the ready, the crowd got ready to shoot!
I took a video of the leaders, then the pelaton, Jens Voigt, caught my eye as he passed and here is picked out of the video. I was really that close! After they had passed us, we returned home to watch the first climb to Blubberhouses. It was a very pleasant afternoon, watching the end of the race.
Sport is not a big part of my life but, my Granny used to watch the racing, my mum watches fell races still, and gets excited about most sport anyway. It seems that even though I do not look like a likely candidate, I do like a bit of sport!
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