Ride the Tour de France 2014 Stage One and Two

[Mapster1989]

Well it pretty much says it in the title. Who would be up for riding the opening two stages of the Tour de France 2014 in it's entirety?

With the correct organisation and planning we can do this without a problem. Just putting the feelers out there and if we get enough interest I'll try and start to get the ball rolling.

 

[Mapster1989]

Can a moderator please move this thread to the forum below? Thanks.

 

[Lee_M]

I know they're in God's own county, but can you remind us of the routes? Also any sort of idea about when?

 

[Mapster1989]

Stage 1:

Leeds - Harewood - Otley - Ilkley - Skipton - Kettlewell - Aysgarth - Hawes - Reeth - Leyburn - Ripon - Harrogate; 190km / 118mi​

Stage 2: ​

York - Knaresborough - Silsden - Keighley - Haworth - Hebden Bridge - Elland - Huddersfield - Holmfirth - Sheffield; 200km / 124mi​

Click here for the link to the Grand Depart website with maps.

As for the dates I'm open. Just getting a rough idea if many people from CC would like to do the ride, then we can discuss dates etc.

 

[Lee_M]

ha ha thanks. Both those are twice my current maximum rides and I live in Essex which is flatter than a flat thing

 

[CMJ]

Anyone plotted these on gpx yet?

I was thinking of doing it for my year of challenges actually but I'd probably hold everyone up as I've only got little legs and I'm not that fast!

 

[TheDoctor]

That would be an epic weekend!
I just might be up for this. If I get much, much fitter...

 

[ColinJ]

That would be an epic weekend!
I just might be up for this. If I get much, much fitter...

Day 2, especially! Watch out for the traffic on Woodhead Pass - it can get scary along there.

The logistics could be interesting. Assuming that you are staying in or near York, Harrogate or Leeds on the Friday and Saturday nights, how do you get back from Sheffield to your kit and/or cars on the Sunday? If you use the local trains, you could be okay, but bike reservations on non-local trains are strictly limited.

 

[Rob3rt]

Day 2, especially! Watch out for the traffic on Woodhead Pass - it can get scary along there.

The logistics could be interesting. Assuming that you are staying in or near York, Harrogate or Leeds on the Friday and Saturday nights, how do you get back from Sheffield to your kit and/or cars on the Sunday? If you use the local trains, you could be okay, but bike reservations on non-local trains are strictly limited.

Whilst I don't disagree it can be busy and it is quite claustrophobic with the enclosed road etc, I think people are a bit dramatic about how bad it can be, I have cycled the Woodhead Pass plenty of times without incident and don't find it particularly unpleasant.

 

[ColinJ]

Whilst I don't disagree it can be busy and it is quite claustrophobic with the enclosed road etc, I think people are a bit dramatic about how bad it can be, I have cycled the Woodhead Pass plenty of times without incident and don't find it particularly unpleasant.

Hmm ... lots of HGVs, narrow road, solid white lines keeping overtakers close to you, cyclists climbing slowly vs relatively fast traffic - not my cup of tea!



Shame though - it would be nice if it were quiet.

 

[SquareDaff]

I might be up for it but would need to be near the end of the year!

 

[SlowerThanASluggishSloth]

Might be more popular if it was staged as two separate rides with a decent interval in between rather than two consecutive days. Would also make logistics simpler.

 

[DCLane]

My club, Ravensthorpe Cycling Club, have planned in Sunday 23rd June to do Stage 1. The latter half of Stage 2 I do most Saturdays anyway as a standard run!

 

[Rob3rt]

Hmm ... lots of HGVs, narrow road, solid white lines keeping overtakers close to you, cyclists climbing slowly vs relatively fast traffic - not my cup of tea!



Shame though - it would be nice if it were quiet.

I have NEVER seen it that busy, looks like it was recorded on a busy time of day, i.e. rush hour. I have cycled over Woodhead pass a fair few times at varying times of day, mostly on weekends mind and whilst it is "busy", it had never been anywhere close to the magnitude shown in that video. I have raced up Holme Moss from the Woodhead side on a Saturday afternoon twice this winter and the traffic was not at all a concern on the way there or back.

 

[ColinJ]

I have NEVER seen it that busy, looks like it was recorded on a busy time of day, i.e. rush hour. I have cycled over Woodhead pass a fair few times at varying times of day, mostly on weekends mind and whilst it is "busy", it had never been anywhere close to the magnitude shown in that video. I have raced up Holme Moss from the Woodhead side on a Saturday afternoon twice this winter and the traffic was not at all a concern on the way there or back.

Ah, okay ... I've done it 3 times and it was like that but if it is quieter at other times, then those are the times that I'd want to be riding!