Show me £$%" on't town hall steps - TDF 2014

CycleOfViolence

Now the route has been set and the organisers have agreed the road past my house would be perfect for the 2014 TDF I think us Yorkshire folk should provide some phrases for visitors to our wonderful county so they feel immediately at home.

chuffed - I am happy ' I'm well chuffed that bike race is coming past my house '

fettle - fix or repair ' better fettle me new brakes before t' peleton arrives '

throng on - very busy ' it's throng on down there you'll not see any of the racing '

flummoxed - confused ' these team tactics have really flummoxed me '

show me ar53 on't town hall steps - it is unlikely to happen ' If that guy in yellow thinks he'll win then I'll show me ar53 on't town hall steps '

If you hear someone ask 'are you not coming out' or 'can you not move' then they are from Lancashire and should be given a wide bearth.

All things considered I'm really quite excited about the whole thing

ben@31

Is there anywhere on the Internet with a detailed map of the stage route yet?

CycleOfViolence

Yes

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... -Mall.html

On a side note if any Yorkshire folk fancy making a few quid out of the event then can I suggest listing your home on https://www.airbnb.co.uk/ if your home has the right position then you could collect enough for a couple of bags of coal. I'm already on with a Pie & Pea stall at this moment, no discount for CTC members sorry.

nickyboy zz

No official announcement on the route until later, but presumably Telegraph have it right?

Shame it gets to Holmfirth and then doesn't go over Holme Moss. Is this because the south side of Holme Moss in in Derbyshire I wonder?

Edit - the Telegraph map is incorrect it seems. It does go over Holme Moss, then heads towards Sheffield over Woodhead Pass

madtam

Interestingly the local cycling officer (Huddersfield) has just commented that they will go through Holmfirth and over Holme Moss.

Either way, they are going to go over a few of my Strava segments where I might not be top but at least have some reasonable placings. I hope none of them use Strava otherwise my times are likely to look pretty crap.

stage_fright

Being a 'southern softie' as my manager from 'oop north' used to call me - I've just booked two nights in a hotel about 100 yards from the route to fulfil the promise I made to my good lady about taking her to a stage (or two in this case).

Had to explain to the hotel that it was passing them by and they might get a bit busy - in return they have guarenteed me the room at today's prices and not at any special TdF rates they may introduce. Nice people, and looking forward to next year!

Mccaria

I knew that it would eventually come in useful having parents living in Holmfirth. Have just confirmed the deckchairs

rolf_f

CycleOfViolence wrote:

Yes

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... -Mall.html

On a side note if any Yorkshire folk fancy making a few quid out of the event then can I suggest listing your home on https://www.airbnb.co.uk/ if your home has the right position then you could collect enough for a couple of bags of coal. I'm already on with a Pie & Pea stall at this moment, no discount for CTC members sorry.

Day three looks good - it's touching how there is an out and back to Epping Burial Park presumably to deal with those softy pro cyclists who can't hack two days in Yorkshire

Cleat Eastwood

"Let me buy you a pint" = oops I've left me wallet at home so its your round.

tiredofwhiners

nickyboy zz wrote:

Edit - the Telegraph map is incorrect it seems. It does go over Holme Moss, then heads towards Sheffield over Woodhead Pass

Source please ? I hink they are all guessing based upon town to town names ..... but would be happy to have the definitive route as my sister in law lives on the route I think.

I just cannot see them going over Holme Moss as it would need them to close the Woodhead Pass and thats more than just busy on a weekday. The telegraph route actually looks more likely but hat do I know.

nickyboy zz

tiredofwhiners wrote:

nickyboy zz wrote:

Edit - the Telegraph map is incorrect it seems. It does go over Holme Moss, then heads towards Sheffield over Woodhead Pass

Source please ? I hink they are all guessing based upon town to town names ..... but would be happy to have the definitive route as my sister in law lives on the route I think.

I just cannot see them going over Holme Moss as it would need them to close the Woodhead Pass and thats more than just busy on a weekday. The telegraph route actually looks more likely but hat do I know.

This is the best I can come up with

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/others ... --MAP.html

Looks kinda official, maybe someone has a better link? Seems Telegraph et al initally just stuck the announced towns into routefinder and went with that, the twonks. If this map is to be believed, Holme Moss, down to Woodhead, over to Flouch roundabout, first part of Strines (!!) and then into Sheffield

All this is regular riding for me. I am nowhere on Strava on the climbs, it'll be interesting to see how fast the top pros go. If I was KOM I'd be looking worried now

nickyboy zz

madtam wrote:

Interestingly the local cycling officer (Huddersfield) has just commented that they will go through Holmfirth and over Holme Moss.

Either way, they are going to go over a few of my Strava segments where I might not be top but at least have some reasonable placings. I hope none of them use Strava otherwise my times are likely to look pretty crap.

Have a look at Gun Hill in Staffordshire that ToB went over last year, gives you an idea of how much faster they are.

http://app.strava.com/segments/921757

Be interesting to see how much faster they will be over, for eg. Holme Moss. This is a hill climb route so the best times there are all one-off efforts by specialist hill climbers

madtam

The route seems to be confirmed over Holme Moss as a number of locals including a council official who was involved with the Yorkshire bid have confirmed this.
I am not sure I will head to Leeds for the start but I think I might be heading somewhere through Holmfirth for day 2.

essjaydee

I'm looking at riding to Leeds to watch the start, then nip across to Harrogate to see stage 1 finish. Then a ride out to watch the spectacle go by before riding home again

OP...no reference to any 'ecky thumps' :?

tiredofwhiners

madtam wrote:

The route seems to be confirmed over Holme Moss as a number of locals including a council official who was involved with the Yorkshire bid have confirmed this.

Thanks.

I must admit I am still dubious about the willingness to shut the Woodhead Pass for a cycle race. It'll be well advertised but will still put a lot of cyclists right in the sights of enraged motorists and lorries who have to make a pretty long detour.

rolf_f

tiredofwhiners wrote:

madtam wrote:

The route seems to be confirmed over Holme Moss as a number of locals including a council official who was involved with the Yorkshire bid have confirmed this.

Thanks.

I must admit I am still dubious about the willingness to shut the Woodhead Pass for a cycle race. It'll be well advertised but will still put a lot of cyclists right in the sights of enraged motorists and lorries who have to make a pretty long detour.

What long detour? It almost doesn't matter how many or few alternative routes there are - as soon as you start changing your route to avoid the race you'll be losing more time than if you sit and wait and follow. The closure should only be short at any one spot and it should be well advertised in advance with approximate timings. And if you do get stuck behind it, OK it will be slow on the climb but the descent will be fast and still quicker than diversions.

Besides, it's a Sunday.........

madtam

It's true that the descent will be quick. I have been known to wait at the top until there is a decent gap after the last car as otherwise you can catch it up and have to slow down to wait behind. I might be daft enough to hit 50+ on the descent (58mph maximum so far!) but even I won't try overtaking a car at that speed.


Wouldn't fancy tackling it today. Down in the Holme Valley we had around 15-20cm of snow overnight and it has been snowing steadily all day. With the wind blowing it's drifting nicely in places. It would be pretty grim on the top if they hadn't already closed the road anyway.

rodgers73

I'm always wary descending to Woodhead - the surface is too bumpy for me to feel confident enough to let it run beyond 35-ish

madtam

It seems pretty reasonable to me but maybe it's because I have ridden offroad a reasonable amount and am on 28mm tyres.

BelgianBeerGeek

One of the benefits/legacy should be some nice smooth tarmac for the route.

'Swot happens in France, anyway. Although inviting the TdF to get some roads re-surfaced is a bit OTT. Why not write to your local council?