A reet good Tour (Part One)

Wednesday the 9th of July I cannot believe that it is over a week since my last entry on the blog. What can I say these 8 days have flown in and have been all about two things Le Grand Depart and FINALLY moving in!
First Le Grand Depart. Words fail me about how good this whole experience was the media have described it far better than I could. I have too limited a vocabulary to come up with any different superlatives than they did. Carol and I left on Thursday morning with 2 bikes and 4 days worth of “stuff” loaded into my car. We arr in Wetherby at The Swan B and B where we were staying for one night then being moved to the Swan apartments about 400 yards up the road! After unpacking we enquired about a local disused railway track which was now a cycleway/walking path and went out for a run in the sun. Turns out the railway was actually part of the North Yorks cycle network. We then got in the car and drove around to Harrogate to investigate the set up there and of course had food in Bettys. We then drove around to familiarise ourselves with the area then to bed about midnight.
Up early on Friday for breakfast and packing we decided to spend some time in Wetherby and just to move ourselves, which we did. The apartment was really good with views from the living/kitchen area. We set off on our bikes to Harewood Hall scene of the Yorkshire Festival of Cycling. Unfortunately it rained for most of the afternoon and meant a lot of dodging from tent to tent of exhibitors. It also meant a very wet cycle back! Saturday dawned with wet roads but dry skies and we set off in the direction of Harewood hall again once more on bikes intending to make full use of the closed roads. We stopped a few miles from K0 to watch the TDF caravan go by and grab some freebies. Then jumped on the bikes heading towards Otley but really looking for a sensible place to stop. The crowds were fairly big and every village seemed to have something on or a display or both. We stopped outside Pool at an area with toilets and burger vans for some refreshment and decided to stay there. We parked ourselves on a long straight and awaited the riders coming through. An early breakaway shot by much to our surprise and was soon followed by the rest of the Peleton. Once it was safe to do so we jumped back on our bikes and headed towards Harrogate and the finish line. The ride was about 10 miles and the road was flooded with cyclists of all shapes and sizes on machines of all shapes, makes and cost! Once in Harrogate we headed for a friends of Carols and left the machines there. We headed for the fan hub and the huge viewing screen not really through choice but realised that with us both being 5 foot 4 tall it was unlikely we would see anything out by the barriers in crowds that were just huuuuuuugeeee. The result as they say is history. After the race had finished we strolled our way round the centre just soaking up the atmosphere. We then headed back to Carols friends, who believe it or not live in Cavendish Avenue, and after some drinks got on our bikes and headed back to Wetherby a little over 10 miles mostly on quiet roads or cycle track.