Womens Tour 2014: Day One
I'm lucky to live in the area that Days One and Two rode through, Northamptonshire. Loads of the roads they flew round are my regular rides, so it's great to see how the professionals tackled it. Suffice it to say, most of the locals have now dropped down the leaderboards..
Blimey, they're fast!
Day one, I met some friends at the QOM finish in Spratton. I drove there as I was going straight to work after watching the climb, three mates rode there and another drove so he could bring tea and cakes...
Here's two of the chaps getting their QOM done..
Once they'd finished clowning around, we stood right by the finish line (by the barriers on the right of the pic) and waited for the women to blast past.
After they'd passed, we had a chat for a while with a chap who owned this beauty!
Note the 20 yr old hydraulic brakes!!
Cake time followed..
The cowbell held by the chap on the right is the one that can be heard on the ITV4 broadcast! Bl**dy noisy thing it is too!!
T'others carried on into Northampton town centre and watched the finish. I went to work
Never mind, eh...
Womens Tour 2014: Day Two:
The weather was bad. Rain and wind, which made me feel quite at home on the local roads! Once again, I was at work in the afternoon, but reckoned I could still see the race in Sywell. All the rest of the lads were working, so I popped on the waterproofs and decided to go on my own.
This, apart from being a regular ride for me, is also my daily drive to work, so I didn't even have to go out of my way to see it
Excitement rose to fever pitch in Sywell as I waited for the police bikes and cars to clear the crowds......
More folk turned up nearer the time, though probably as it's not a sprint or QOM at this point it wasn't busy at all.
Half an hour later, in drizzle and a blustery wind, they swept through at a reasonable speed, but being aware of the slippery state of the wet roads, not overfast!
I would have loved to see the Doddington Road descent a few miles after this but I had to jog back to my car and drive to work before I was late.
I've watched both days rides on Catchup TV and spotted myself at the finish line on Day1. The little black box on the ground by the railings on the finish line is my camera that I poked through the railings to get a vid..
It's so good to see my local routes on the TV in arial shots, and ridden by pro's. I ride it much slower so I can see the scenery and take pics, of course..
These girls didn't even stop for cake! Imagine that..
I'm lucky to live in the area that Days One and Two rode through, Northamptonshire. Loads of the roads they flew round are my regular rides, so it's great to see how the professionals tackled it. Suffice it to say, most of the locals have now dropped down the leaderboards..
Blimey, they're fast!
Day one, I met some friends at the QOM finish in Spratton. I drove there as I was going straight to work after watching the climb, three mates rode there and another drove so he could bring tea and cakes...
Here's two of the chaps getting their QOM done..
Once they'd finished clowning around, we stood right by the finish line (by the barriers on the right of the pic) and waited for the women to blast past.
After they'd passed, we had a chat for a while with a chap who owned this beauty!
Note the 20 yr old hydraulic brakes!!
Cake time followed..
The cowbell held by the chap on the right is the one that can be heard on the ITV4 broadcast! Bl**dy noisy thing it is too!!
T'others carried on into Northampton town centre and watched the finish. I went to work
Never mind, eh...
Womens Tour 2014: Day Two:
The weather was bad. Rain and wind, which made me feel quite at home on the local roads! Once again, I was at work in the afternoon, but reckoned I could still see the race in Sywell. All the rest of the lads were working, so I popped on the waterproofs and decided to go on my own.
This, apart from being a regular ride for me, is also my daily drive to work, so I didn't even have to go out of my way to see it
Excitement rose to fever pitch in Sywell as I waited for the police bikes and cars to clear the crowds......
More folk turned up nearer the time, though probably as it's not a sprint or QOM at this point it wasn't busy at all.
Half an hour later, in drizzle and a blustery wind, they swept through at a reasonable speed, but being aware of the slippery state of the wet roads, not overfast!
I would have loved to see the Doddington Road descent a few miles after this but I had to jog back to my car and drive to work before I was late.
I've watched both days rides on Catchup TV and spotted myself at the finish line on Day1. The little black box on the ground by the railings on the finish line is my camera that I poked through the railings to get a vid..
It's so good to see my local routes on the TV in arial shots, and ridden by pro's. I ride it much slower so I can see the scenery and take pics, of course..
These girls didn't even stop for cake! Imagine that..
