UKC

i can't believe how boring the tour has been this year so far. im hoping it will get better but i cant really see it happening. anyone else feel teh same as me? it's just a bit disappointing really

In reply to Trevers:

Only gets good for me when they reach the mountains

In reply to woollardjt:

but surely the Côte de Buttertubs is a mountain

In reply to Trevers:
Went to watch it in Hawes yesterday. The whole day was superb helped by the weather and masses of cyclists heading to and back from the event. The tour it self was a bit of an anti-climax. A load of anonymous fast cyclists flashed past, with a circus in their wake of vehicles carrying a ridiculous amount of spare kit. They should change the rules and make it so that you have to finish on the bike you started with.

In reply to Phil1919:
What did you expect? It was like that when the Tour de Suisse passed my house in the early 90s when the local boy Tony Rominger was doing well. The expectation, the circus, then the stars whooshing by in a flash, then more circus. If you knew who was who, it meant more, and it was quite amazing when the news came that they were at such and such a place and would be here in, excuse me, HOW QUICKLY?, an unbelievably short time along a route I had cycled a few times. You always see more on telly than in the flesh, but then you just don't get that buzz of actually being there.

In reply to Phil1919:

Had two great days out - yesterday, rode up a traffic free Wharfedale to Kidstones (or Cote de Cray as the French will have it) with no real knowledge of what to expect as I've never spectated at a Grand Tour before. Great fun though the riders were a little fresh and fast even on the first major climb.

Today we went to a short steep pull up to Penistone Hill just outside Haworth. A much better experience and both the breakaway and the peloton went past at a pace that you could pick out and name several riders in the main bunch.

Both days finished with a mass ride back along the still closed to motor traffic roads which made you realise just how noisy and generally unpleasant they normally are.

Unless you happen to be spectating at the precise points that breaks or crashes or other major incidents happen then you get the best overall view of the day's racing on the TV but as an experience I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

In reply to mbh:

I agree. I took my wife to watch it at Reeth, she's not a cyclist but was still blown away by the 'circus' that preceded and then followed the riders.
There's probably no chance if it coming back to the north in our life times so it was an experience worth seeing, even if the riders did pass through too quick to identify.
What was disappointing was the speed at which the 'caravan' came through Reeth. It must have been travelling at over 20mph so any goodies thrown from the cars were missiles capable of causing injury. I did read that a little boy was injured earlier in the day after being hit by one of the vehicles.
Compare it say to the Olympic torch relay, granted the pace was far slower, but the Sponsors then travelled slow enough to be seen, in view of the fact that the 'caravan' came through an hour before the race itself, I'm sure they could have slowed a little when passing through built up areas.

In reply to didntcomelast:


They had to get a wiggle on in case the McCain's chip wagon conked out again.

In reply to Trevers:

Getting the ferry across to Calais on Tuesday and a ride down to St Omer for a quick lunch then see them flying through Stage 4 towards Lille

In reply to Trevers:

made a late decision to head over last night, aided by a kind UKCer's offer of free parking in Oughtibridge (thanks Derek!)
It was definitely worth the drive. The highlight was riding part of the course this morning up to the beautiful plateau above Bradfield and being cheered up the steep climbs with cries of allez allez