The Tour de France Comes To Yorkshire

July 5th 2014 was a long anticipated day in these parts. Around a year and a half ago Yorkshire was chosen as the location for the Grande Depart for 2014’s Tour de France. On Saturday that day finally arrived, and I went to Otley to watch the Tour passing through with some of my family.

We decided that the front of the Methodist Church would be a good place to stand as not only are there several walls and steps on which to stand to get a better view, but also the church was serving tea, cakes, sandwiches etc for the duration of the event.



For a long time nothing happened and then the first of the support vehicles whizzed past. I say whizzed – the whole of the publicity caravan (as the pre-race parade is called) shot past at about 40mph, making it difficult to see what was going on (and explaining the quality of my photographs!).









I was a bit disappointed with this, as I had expected more of a slow-moving, carnival type procession. It took away from the atmosphere somewhat that everything went so fast. However, the various sponsors were throwing things from their vehicles – sweets, keychains, snap-band bracelets, the usual marketing items – which seemed to keep the crowd happy.



Otley’s entrepreneurs were hard at work: a chap from one of the butchers’ shops was walking along with a tray selling hot pork pies, some people from the Corner Cafe had a tray of sandwiches for sale, and this guy was advertising the Shake Shack.



The best view in town?

There was a couple of hours between the publicity caravan and the actual race, so we adjourned inside for refreshments. The church had set up a big screen in the foyer so it was easy to see where the bikes were at all times, and once they left Harewood House the excitement began to build.



And then in the blink of an eye the cyclists went past.



Followed by the spare bikes, of which there were many. Maybe 30 cars like this one.



And then it was all over and time to go home.

This has been an awesome event for Yorkshire to be part of, and will have really boosted the economy of the region. Yorkshire Water is doing its bit for the region this year too, by creating a Blueprint for Yorkshire. As one of the largest landowners in Yorkshire they are working on improving access for residents and visitors; and are mapping out the various walks and leisure activities that can be enjoyed in the region. We have such a diverse county up here – from the bright lights of Leeds to the smaller market towns such as Otley, and the rolling hills of the Yorkshire Dales, it’s well worth a visit.

This post is sponsored by Yorkshire Water.
Thanks go to my little sister for taking some of the photos whilst I was holding my niece.

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