a stroke of luck
caradale
Posts: 34
just been looking at the stages and routes of a few races this year and wow how lucky am I.
First stage of the Tour of Britain is going within 100 yds of my caravan (Benlech on Anglesey) on a weekend when We would be there anyway.
A few days later its passing the office where I will be at work that day (Nottingham).
To cap it all off just realized that purely by coincidence the Tour de France TTT is passing through the town in Brittany when we are there on summer Hols (didn't even know it was going to Brittany when hols were booked)
First stage of the Tour of Britain is going within 100 yds of my caravan (Benlech on Anglesey) on a weekend when We would be there anyway.
A few days later its passing the office where I will be at work that day (Nottingham).
To cap it all off just realized that purely by coincidence the Tour de France TTT is passing through the town in Brittany when we are there on summer Hols (didn't even know it was going to Brittany when hols were booked)
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Are you the people from Sightseers?I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles0
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Well, at least you'll have 3 chances to be rather deflated !
A gang of us went out to a vantage spot to watch the Tour de Yorkshire come past us in East Yorks, and all I can say is,.......what a waste of time !
Cycle races are ok to watch on TV perhaps, where you can get the full picture, and aerial shots etc etc, but watching 100 bikes come past you at speed, or not, is hardly riveting in my experience.
Sorry !0 -
Zak3737 wrote:Well, at least you'll have 3 chances to be rather deflated !
A gang of us went out to a vantage spot to watch the Tour de Yorkshire come past us in East Yorks, and all I can say is,.......what a waste of time !
Cycle races are ok to watch on TV perhaps, where you can get the full picture, and aerial shots etc etc, but watching 100 bikes come past you at speed, or not, is hardly riveting in my experience.
Sorry !
It will be slightly difference in France, its usually a great celebration/ atmosphere when the Tour passes through your town.I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles0 -
Zak3737 wrote:Well, at least you'll have 3 chances to be rather deflated !
A gang of us went out to a vantage spot to watch the Tour de Yorkshire come past us in East Yorks, and all I can say is,.......what a waste of time !
Cycle races are ok to watch on TV perhaps, where you can get the full picture, and aerial shots etc etc, but watching 100 bikes come past you at speed, or not, is hardly riveting in my experience.
Sorry !
What else were you expecting?
Obviously the tour de France is different.Its more of a celebration of cycling than a sporting event.If you ever get the chance to see a mountain stage then you'd be in for a real treat plus in France you get the full length promotional caravan not the short version we had in Yorkshire last year.0 -
I didn't mean to be deliberately negative, and maybe the Tour in France will be slightly more involving,
but in all honesty, how entertaining can it be to watch a group, or at the most 2/3 group of cyclists, come hurtling past ?!!0 -
I live Anglesey and often cycle the roads they're using for the first stage. The best thing is that they're putting so much fresh tarmac down everywhere!0
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We went to watch as the TDF headed south from Cambridge. Nice sunny day, carnival atmosphere among the crowds. Spotted Brailsford's shiny head zipping past in a Sky Jaguar. Lots of police motorbikes and team cars. Buzz of excitement then the riders went past in a blur. Impressed by the mechanical silence of race tuned bikes, but they went past so fast I couldn't identify anyone. Leisurely pint in the pub, spot of lunch then an afternoon bike ride (annoyingly cut short by a spoke breaking :evil: ) Watched the whole day's ride in the evening since we'd recorded it earlier.
Have to say that I don't think road racing is really a good spectator sport, it's a lot easier / better to watch on the telly.0 -
I've seen a number of high profile races from the Milk Race to the Tour. Except the Prologue of the Tour in London I just happened to be there at the time. It does make a big difference what kind of stage it is and where you are. A couple of times the Route de Sud has come by whilst I was out riding and I may as well have been watching a fish and chipper near Swindon.
We did watch the TTT in Nice a couple of years ago this was pure chance as we booked our hotel and two weeks later the route was announced. We stood on a large central reservation, as we could see both directions there was always a team going past. Together with the Tour Caravan it made it quite an enjoyable day.
I would agree however that in most cases it's better to watch on TV.0 -
whoof wrote:I've seen a number of high profile races from the Milk Race to the Tour. Except the Prologue of the Tour in London I just happened to be there at the time. It does make a big difference what kind of stage it is and where you are. A couple of times the Route de Sud has come by whilst I was out riding and I may as well have been watching a fish and chipper near Swindon.
We did watch the TTT in Nice a couple of years ago this was pure chance as we booked our hotel and two weeks later the route was announced. We stood on a large central reservation, as we could see both directions there was always a team going past. Together with the Tour Caravan it made it quite an enjoyable day. I would agree however that in most cases it's better to watch on TV.
I was there too! Although I did book the holiday around the Tour, so not an unexpected bonus like yours. The TTT is a little different, or it was in Nice, in that everthing is happening in the same place. It's not like a Depart or Arrive when you just see them once - in fact in Nice we were wondering around the city centre and the teams were scoping the course from early in the morning, so there was always something to see - including the whole of Team Sky having to slam the brakes on to avoid a car that had taken a wrong turn into their paths. I never knew braking on carbon rims was so damn noisy!
I had wanted to go and see the Tour of Britain when it comes to Cumbria, but unfortunately work has put paid to that.
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Bianchi C2C - Ritte Bosberg - Cervelo R3
Strava0 -
Zak3737 wrote:I didn't mean to be deliberately negative, and maybe the Tour in France will be slightly more involving,
but in all honesty, how entertaining can it be to watch a group, or at the most 2/3 group of cyclists, come hurtling past ?!!
Top trolling, 2/10I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles0 -
caradale wrote:just been looking at the stages and routes of a few races this year and wow how lucky am I.
First stage of the Tour of Britain is going within 100 yds of my caravan (Benlech on Anglesey) on a weekend when We would be there anyway.
A few days later its passing the office where I will be at work that day (Nottingham).
To cap it all off just realized that purely by coincidence the Tour de France TTT is passing through the town in Brittany when we are there on summer Hols (didn't even know it was going to Brittany when hols were booked)
Just leave the Ingerlund top at home when in Wales and France.0 -
SloppySchleckonds wrote:Zak3737 wrote:I didn't mean to be deliberately negative, and maybe the Tour in France will be slightly more involving,
but in all honesty, how entertaining can it be to watch a group, or at the most 2/3 group of cyclists, come hurtling past ?!!
Top trolling, 2/10
I don't think he's trolling. For taking in the cycling then watching a hilly-ish TT in the right place can be quite good, and the velodrome can be great. Road race stages tend to be about the atmosphere and less about the cycling as you see nothing unfolding really.0 -
Isn't it pretty obvious that to get the best experience, you need to be on a mountainside?
Fairly pointless being on the flat when they come past at 50km/h in 1 bunch, but being on the Alpe d'Huez, or the Galibier amongst huge crowds, watching them come past at a more leisurely 20km/h ish, and in multiple groups, is much more fun. Plus you get to ride the col yourself!0 -
Exactly. Last year the Tour de Suisse rode the Furka and Grimsel passes. I got there early and rode both passes, then found a vantage point at the top of the Grimselpass where I could see the riders coming down the Furkapass and wind their way up the Grimselpass from Gletsch, right past me and over the summit. I then descended the Grimselpass right after the team cars went past and followed them down. Was a great day of riding.0
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robbo2011 wrote:Exactly. Last year the Tour de Suisse rode the Furka and Grimsel passes. I got there early and rode both passes, then found a vantage point at the top of the Grimselpass where I could see the riders coming down the Furkapass and wind their way up the Grimselpass from Gletsch, right past me and over the summit. I then descended the Grimselpass right after the team cars went past and followed them down. Was a great day of riding.
That's the real beauty of the tour.Riding up the passes with cycling fans from all over the world. HA HA try getting a kick about at Wembley before a final LOL :-)0 -
john1967 wrote:robbo2011 wrote:Exactly. Last year the Tour de Suisse rode the Furka and Grimsel passes. I got there early and rode both passes, then found a vantage point at the top of the Grimselpass where I could see the riders coming down the Furkapass and wind their way up the Grimselpass from Gletsch, right past me and over the summit. I then descended the Grimselpass right after the team cars went past and followed them down. Was a great day of riding.
That's the real beauty of the tour.Riding up the passes with cycling fans from all over the world. HA HA try getting a kick about at Wembley before a final LOL :-)
Indeed. Riding DOWN with all those fans, however, is much less fun. Cost me 20 Euros in brake blocks on the Ventoux last time........0
