Well, what an amazing, amazing day!
Things did not start too well, as everyone seemed to be heading to Yorkshire, the journey up was slow and Steve nearly missed his B&B deadline. It rained all night and was overcast this morning when Steve, Neil and I drove to near Bedale. We then got the bikes out and did a circuitous route to Aysgarth. Getting there just before the publicity caravan. Cyclists from all over the UK were there and we saw Andy Wicks (!) who did not hear our calls... The Tour came through with Jens Voight on a lone break. Steve got some brilliant pictures, which we will email to Teresa. When the Tour had passed there was a scramble to get across to Leyburn. We got to the course and as the marshals had no idea who we were, blagged our way onto the course! Imagine all those thousands of fans, many of whom are new to cycling faced with 3 riders in yellow! We were cheered and high fived by the crowd, even riding through towns with big screens and barriers down the road. It's the nearest we'll ever get to understanding what it feels like to ride the Tour roads. We stopped again to see it a second time and then straight back on the bikes to follow the broom wagon to more adulation from the crowd! We finally stopped at Masham , into the car and home. Superb.
