Author Topic: Tour de France watching  (Read 7830 times)

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #25 on: 10 July, 2014, 12:39:48 pm »
The caravan is the best bit  :thumbsup:



I was a little disappointed with the caravan. It may have been some of it skipped Essex and headed to France but although there were quite a number of vehicles it didn't seem as large a convoy as I thought it would and only seemed to be a select few companies each with quite a lot of vehicles. And the freebie throwing was scarce but that could well have been because we were on a small stretch of road between villages with not a particularly large crowd. The gifts that were thrown was aimed at the nearby kids which is fair enough. I didn't particularly need to carry a load of extra stuff in the panniers home into the headwind!

It was definitely a reduced caravan with a more English lean than those in France. I didn't manage to get any haribo or madeleines  >:(

I shall try and remember to report back France  :smug:


Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #26 on: 10 July, 2014, 02:02:15 pm »
It was definitely a reduced caravan with a more English lean than those in France. I didn't manage to get any haribo or madeleines  >:(

The Haribos were there - a woman near me caught a packet which she promptly shared out on the roadside. All I got this time round was an inflatable pillow and a pink elastic band, though my son did seem to corner the market in keyrings. I nearly got a packet of teabags but the bounced off my head and snaffled by someone behind.

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #27 on: 10 July, 2014, 02:59:48 pm »
Over a couple of days (first with three mates and the second with three families) we managed a pack of tea, an inflatable pillow, one spotty Carrefour cap, one packet of Haribos, about five wrist bands, and two or three key rings.
Rust never sleeps

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #28 on: 10 July, 2014, 03:01:41 pm »
All I got was a packet of seeds ??? ;D

I did get a share of some Haribo, mind.

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #29 on: 10 July, 2014, 03:46:37 pm »
Ooo yes. I forgot the McCain seed packet.
Rust never sleeps

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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #30 on: 10 July, 2014, 04:05:38 pm »
The caravan is the best bit  :thumbsup:



I was a little disappointed with the caravan. It may have been some of it skipped Essex and headed to France but although there were quite a number of vehicles it didn't seem as large a convoy as I thought it would and only seemed to be a select few companies each with quite a lot of vehicles. And the freebie throwing was scarce but that could well have been because we were on a small stretch of road between villages with not a particularly large crowd. The gifts that were thrown was aimed at the nearby kids which is fair enough. I didn't particularly need to carry a load of extra stuff in the panniers home into the headwind!

When it came through London my wife and I were right at the front of the crowd. We got a box of teabags and a wristband advertising the Yorkshire Building Society (with no mention of the Tour on it at all). Later on at one of the fans' areas I picked up a Skoda water bottle (which leaks) and a couple of boxes of cakes from Ibis Hotels. We saw other stuff being thrown but nowhere near as much as I'd expected. Then after the caravans was a two hour wait for the riders to come through.

From what I'd heard I'd rather hoped for something a little more than a few bags of sweets and generic stuff being thrown around but there you go I guess.
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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #31 on: 10 July, 2014, 04:32:06 pm »
Apparently the fan parks were the places to go to collect tat, but not the one in Knaresborough, at least not on Sunday, when we were there!
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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #32 on: 10 July, 2014, 10:23:41 pm »
We were in Felsted in Essex, and only got a wrist band and a reflective band each.

We chose a spot just after the sharp 90-degree bend, because the riders would have slowed down. There was a decent crowd, two deep in most places, but not massive - it was after all a working day and just one village.

After the race had passed through, however, we walked round the corner to the (smallish) spectator park. The whole village north of the bend was packed and we hadn't realised.

Good day out.

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #33 on: 10 July, 2014, 10:57:53 pm »
Heather got a Festina bag, but bought a Black Sheep Brewery shirt.
http://www.blacksheepbrewery.com/shop/bike-legends-t-shirt.html#sr=g&m=o&cp=or&ct=-tmc&st=(opu%20qspwjefe)&ts=1405029013



I've been inspired by all the Yorkshire flags to get a Duchy of Lancaster Flag, in order to confuse everyone at Semaine Federale. It's from a firm in Knareborough, and the castle is a Duchy property.


Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #34 on: 10 July, 2014, 11:10:25 pm »
I got one of those shirts for Father's Day, and (as a Yorkshireman) wore it in Felsted. Possibly the only one in Essex...

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #35 on: 11 July, 2014, 01:50:55 pm »
I'm loving the TdF app on my android phone this year.

Loads of 'stuff' that helps keep the interest up.  Its getting ever harder to find even the hour that ITV give to the race on a daily basis, given the generally over riding need to not fall out with the rest of the family... (I am hoping that the lack of ongoing footy will ease the queue in front of the telly though)

If anyone knows how to get to see the route maps of the previous stages I'd be grateful, as they seem to disappear once the stage is completed.

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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #36 on: 11 July, 2014, 02:10:32 pm »
Don't get it... it's just all these blokes on bikes. ???
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #37 on: 11 July, 2014, 03:44:52 pm »
A few weeks ago I saw a picture of Cav wearing a T-shirt with the slogan:
"
I haven't seen today's stage yet
"

Can anyone find this ? :-\
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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #39 on: 12 July, 2014, 07:13:23 am »
I meant CAV wearing one! But thanks anyway  :)
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #40 on: 12 July, 2014, 03:26:20 pm »
Anyone know if there's full coverage of first two days available anywhere?  I recorded it all, but it's not downloadable from our TV box - and my bro wants to watch it.
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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #41 on: 15 July, 2014, 01:15:04 pm »
https://oldbonemachine.wordpress.com/tag/i-

Further down that page is another T-shaped shirt:



Pronounced "suffer", obv.

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #42 on: 15 July, 2014, 01:23:56 pm »
Anyone know if there's full coverage of first two days available anywhere?  I recorded it all, but it's not downloadable from our TV box - and my bro wants to watch it.

https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/tour-de-france
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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #43 on: 15 July, 2014, 01:34:01 pm »
I'm wondering whether anyone's going to make a DVD of Le Tour en Angleterre (i.e. including Essex). Obviously there'll be the usual highlights, but when you know so many places it's better to have the full race. A full recording of the whole Tour might be beyond my present budget (and shelf space...)

JJ

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #44 on: 15 July, 2014, 10:24:19 pm »
Well, thanks for all the good advice.  We went to the Sawston bypass.  Got there just in time before the caravan and set ourselves up with a picnic on a blanket on the verge.  The kids collected quite a bit of tat, and I do mean tat!  The people manning the floats looked a bit glazed, but the police riders and drivers were up for high fives.  The brits were anyway.  I guess the French were on their best behaviour.

Then the riders came by, and it was all over really suddenly, though I did enjoy watching a gruppetto of my clubmates hammering along the route behind the race.  They got lots of cheers.

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #45 on: 17 July, 2014, 05:36:44 pm »
I'm wondering whether anyone's going to make a DVD of Le Tour en Angleterre (i.e. including Essex). Obviously there'll be the usual highlights, but when you know so many places it's better to have the full race. A full recording of the whole Tour might be beyond my present budget (and shelf space...)

Great Idea!

I have a picture of myself at the start of stage 2:



Unfortunately a few other people had to get in on the act ..
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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #46 on: 17 July, 2014, 11:59:57 pm »
I was trying to spot you. Are you the one in yellow in the middle?

Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #47 on: 20 July, 2014, 06:04:23 pm »

Listening to the commentators on Eurosport and ITV4, they sometimes refer to the race manual/handbook,
presumably given to all of the riders. I'd love to get hold of one to see the sort of information it contains.

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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #48 on: 22 July, 2014, 09:26:50 am »
Did anyone else notice 1981 World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen on the podium the other day?  Not sure whether he was there due to being the nearest thing to a sleb they have in those parts or in his capacity as a former MEP; I suspect it may not have been due to sideways antics in a Mk 2 Escort ;)
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Re: Tour de France watching
« Reply #49 on: 22 July, 2014, 09:40:54 am »

Listening to the commentators on Eurosport and ITV4, they sometimes refer to the race manual/handbook,
presumably given to all of the riders. I'd love to get hold of one to see the sort of information it contains.

I got given a copy of the roadbook in 2007 - it's got lots of stuff like routes for support vehicles and fairly detailed information about each stage, including climb gradients broken down by kilometre, feed points, hazards and things like that.  Most of this stuff is usually available in one publication or other each year but it was a great souvenir.