Tour de France meet

Members Present: Ann and Steve Waters, Rob Allen, Dave Shotton, Laura Collier, Heather Driscoll, Max Driscoll, Christine Beeston.

Guests: Jemma Waters, Carl Whinham.

Also somewhere on the mountain:  Ruth Ashton and Rick Kruze, Midge and John Castick, Graham and Sue Harkness

 

The roads were due to close at 7am on Saturday, so an excited team gathered on Friday night at the meet HQ in Askrigg – Ann’s parents had kindly volunteered their garden and facilities as a free campsite for the KMC, with another “pop-up” campsite nearby in case of overspill.  Late arrivals saw a huge bicycle gleaming in the twilight on the hillside near the climb.  We were delighted to find our very own yellow bicycle on the HQ walls, and a wonderful yellow-iced cake with its own yellow bicycle topping made by Ann’s Mum to greet us!

We all rose early on Saturday, day 1 of the Yorkshire Tour.  Steve and Carl enjoyed a traffic-free bike ride up Garsdale Head into Dentdale on a beautiful morning.  The rest of us breakfasted and watched some Peppa Pig.  We set off for the Côte de Buttertubs on foot – a lovely 6 mile walk along the north side of Wensleydale, partly guided by a mysterious trail of small Yorkshire puddings.  I had imagined this might be a popular route, but in fact we only met two people – heading in the opposite direction!  From Sedbusk we headed up North Rakes Hill, then skirted around the edge of Abbotside Common until we could drop down towards the route.  As we reached the edge overlooking the road, a BBC helicopter flew overhead and suddenly we could see the crowds – and the bicycles!  More bicycles than you’ve ever seen, fields full of bicycles and masses of lycra-clad spectators lining the race route. 

A recce before the meet had identified the steepest part of the climb, south of the Côte and near a cattle grid.  We struggled through the spectators and headed down the road to see if there was any room – it seemed the ideal place, with two mounds either side of the road allowing a good view downhill.  Our mission was clear – we bought icecreams, picked our spot and settled down to watch the publicity caravan. 

The next two hours flew by in a jolly mixture of cheering the trucks in the caravan (most of whom seemed to be just as excited as we were to be there, hanging out of their windows taking photos of the huge crowds), Mexican waving, admiring the view and trying to work out what the announcements made by the race cars were saying.

And then at last we heard the first TV helicopter, marking the tête de la course.  Thrilling stuff!  Jens Voigt of Trek Factory Racing was three minutes ahead of the peloton, we cheered madly as he raced past, flanked by motorbikes and followed by his team car.  Then three minutes later, another helicopter and the wonderful and surreal sight of the peloton – in Yorkshire!  It was hard to tell where the crowds ended and the peloton began.  Heather and Max got close enough to recognise Chris Froome and Richie Porte.  Reactions varied, one of us was inspired by the sight of “all those fit men working their way up the hill”, Rob compared the brightly coloured spectacle to a Jackson Pollock.  Jemma thought the man with a tail (Scooby Doo) was brilliant.  The team cars followed with spare bicycles and finally, the voiture balai.

We regrouped and slowly headed down the hill towards Hawes in a quiet and friendly bicycle traffic jam, stopping to buy a cup of tea (and a hotdog for Steve) from a local’s garden.  Heather and Max headed off to watch stage 2 on Holme Moss, we tried to find the Casticks’ camper van but they had already left, ahead of the traffic, so we walked back to Askrigg for a communal meal and the day’s highlights on TV.

On Sunday, we were delighted to recognise most of the meet on page 2 of the Sunday Times!  After a slow start myself, Laura and Dave managed to tear ourselves away from the live coverage of stage 2, and managed a climb at Trowbarrow before heading home for fish and chips and the day’s highlights, including the exciting racing on the Cote de Jenkin Road. 

This was a brilliant experience in a great atmosphere and I for one would certainly try to watch the Tour de France again – thanks very much to Mr and Mrs Woolley for their generous offer to let us camp in Askrigg.

Christine Beeston