Tour de Yorkshire: Le Grand Départ 05/07/14

When Leeds and Yorkshire won the rights to host Le Grand Départ of the 2014 Tour de France, I thought is would be quite an event and provide a grand day out for fanatics and spectators of cycling throughout the north country, but my actual interest in going to see it myself were pretty limited. I've never been much of a cyclist, last riding regularly when there were 8s in the year, and as a fan my interest in Le Tour was strong during the Miguel Indurain years and lapsed hard due to the 'dominance' of Lance Armstrong, only to revive again when Great Britain hatched a scheme to dominate track cycling through the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Having Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome winning in consecutive years ensured that would never be a better occasion to have three days of racing in these isles, but my distaste for crowds and the chaos that comes with them had my mind entirely prepared to be heading in the completely opposite direction, for wandering alone where I could continue to enjoy the solitude. Only it was when less than a week until the curtain raiser did I find myself actually engaged by the prospect, thanks largely to my Sister's encouragement, and a scheme had to be hatched to get me to the roadside, in a spot that might be relatively quiet, and that would have to involve some outside the box thinking, and so on to Wharfedale, for my only visit for the entire year.

Le Grand Départ: Burley in Wharfedale to Guiseley  4.4 miles