Sunday 6 July 2014

Bonjour Beautiful Yorkshire

Hello Lovelies
yesterday saw the Tour de France's Grand Depart in Yorkshire.
I can't claim to know anything about this sport, but I tuned in mainly to see glimpses of my native county. 
Kate and William cut the ribbon at Harewood house outside Leeds............


and soon the riders were heading towards Ilkley. I just loved all  the aerial shots of the beautiful landscapes............


And the close ups of people below, this group waved from the cow of the cow and calf rocks as the commentator recommended the local pub..........brilliant..........

 I'm sorry about the reflections and quality of these images.


The helicopter camera also captured these waving  children in an digger bucket............


soon the riders were heading through Skipton................you know, of Yarndale fame..........


So many people lined the streets here, as they did throughout the route.......Yorkshire people have really taken this event to their heart.....and they are big hearted people.........look even the church has a yellow jersey............


and it's got a cycling sheep and a drystone wall on it...............

 Brilliant

it was a real treat to see familiar places from a different viewpoint.............

and I loved the French names for them..........here's Le chateau de Skipton......sounds so romantic.


Next the aerial shots were coming from Malham cove ............


and Kilnsey crag..........you can just see the riders in the  bottom right............


Of course there were lots of close ups of the race as well, travelling through the pretty Dales landscape.......


And various villages, where crowds cheered and waved................


 this is Hawes and you can see in Fiona's post HERE how they have gone to town decorating for le Tour

They have even created a bicycle on the hillside..............


and the steep climb out of the valley was a magnet for spectators.........I loved all the colour..........

 this is Buttertubs Pass...or Cote Du Buttertubs :0)

this image blew me away.......there's not a space on the super steep hillside to be seen.............


Apparently the first rider to the top gets extra points.........I liked that in this case the cyclist was also the oldest competitor..........


The effort to get to the top must be huge, and the nerve to speed down the other side must be huge too............


hang on, I'm getting distracted by the actual event :0)

Here's a pretty dales village I didn't catch the name of..............


And here's a wonderful shot of the landscape.......I'm so happy that the weather was kind............


Dales barns and stone walls.............


and another castle..............sorry, chateau............


and another massive hill,  conquered first  by that same veteran rider...........


in Leyburn people even watched from the church tower............


and the scenery was beginning to change..............


Masham looked wonderful in the afternoon sunlight............



 and the helicopter zoomed in on some brilliant artwork, painted in the market square by the local primary school.............

what a thrill for those children to see their work on the telly. 

leaving Masham, with it's bunting and double decker bus............


flying over Fountains Abbey..............


It really was a brilliant aerial tour of this part of Yorkshire.

There were also lots of pictures of the decorations individual home and buisnasses had put up....I LOVED this woolly bike.............

can you see the bears in yellow jersey's on the wheels.

The light in this image of Ripon cathedral was stunning.............


Nearing the end now, an image of lots of spectators watching a screen in Harrogate...........


I did find myself drawn into the race once more...........


such a shame the local boy took a nasty tumble............

I think he had a dislocated shoulder in this image, but he bravely peddled over the finish line.

I'll finish with this much happier sight of the king of the mountains Jens Voigt.........

He's 42, go the oldies :0)

And today I'll be watching even more closely as the tour is going through Haworth.....where I grew up.
Just hoping the rain stays away for them.
Jacquie x

26 comments:

  1. It was brilliant, I have really been sucked in the last couple of years.....love to catch the highlights each day and watching the formations and tactics of tge teans. It helps that I cycle a fair bit now, but only about 50 miles a week commuting not 100+ every day! The speeds they go at.Great post Jacqui, thank you. Fiona

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  2. Thanks so much Jacqui, I love all the 'local' colour attached to the race but don't really have any interest in the actual race so I've been eagerly waiting to read my favourite Yorkshire blogger's accounts. The place looks absolutely stunning and the kind weather an absolute bonus.

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  3. That's great to see the race from your countryside. We love watching Tour de France because the telecast does a great job of balancing the cycling and the scenery. My city hosts the Tour Down Under so later in the year you will get to see my side of the world if it is broadcast in the UK.
    I see there was a big prang today in the racing. It amazes me that they don't get injured more seriously than they do. I am so happy that people allover the world are embracing an exciting racing sport that is a lot kinder on the environment than car racing for example, and it is all human powered.

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    1. correction: while summer is later this year, the summer Tour Down Under is actually in January next year

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  4. So beautiful! Now, I know where I would like to go for the next vacation!
    Lucie xx

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  5. Brilliant photos - usually they zip past so quickly (the images as well as the riders!) that you don't get more than a fleeting glance, so it's lovely to see that the cameras picked up on all the local excitement and decorations after all the hard work that's gone into them xx

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  6. Thank you so much taking us along on this amazing ride, Jacquie!

    I think that if I had not been at work yesterday, I would have tried my luck at finding some cable tv coverage of this marvelous start to le Tour. The scenery is fabulous, and i really enjoyed seeing the chalk bike on the hill, and the children's chalk drawing of the sheep on the bike, too.

    Back to work again today, hoping at least to have a glimpse of the Wimbledon final before I have to leave home this morning.

    xo

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  7. Hey, nice you like the Tour de France. I love this race, just waiting for it each year. Really sorry for Cavendish, he deserved to win at home ! ! Like him too very much. He's so strong ! Happy for you, it goes in the land you grew up ! Have a nice Tour ... ! Bye from France !

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  8. I'm loving watching it Jacquie - although I'm in the comfort of my own home whereas Mr K has had a rough night camping and is now waiting somewhere between Langsett and Holme Moss to see it live! The crowds have been truly incredible - what a brilliant representation of British spirit! Let's hope the weather stays good x Jane

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  9. what en nice report of a race I didn't wathched on the TV, here even I am french and my company has bikers engaged in (AG2R la mondiale).
    very nice views from the top and I lovend the painting of primary school!
    Marie

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  10. I love watching the tour for the spectacular scenery, hugs to you,
    Meredith

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  11. It really has been wonderful it really is a lovelt corner of the world, been watching it again today, more for the scenery than the cycling
    Clare xx

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  12. Jacquie, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I didn't realize the T de F was taking place, but SO enjoyed your coverage of it. Your country is simply charming and beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.

    Sharon in Alabama USA

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  13. brilliant Jacquie, exciting stuff, I have never seen this before. It's quite an event I can see. Great to see the whole picture and decorations and all the different angles! I can feel the atmosphere! X

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  14. Hello Jacquie, Wow, what super wonderful photo of the start of the Tour De France. Such lovely green countryside. The photos were so great it was like being in the UK.. Loved the wool sheep on the bike the kids drew and the knitted bike. Thanks so much for sharing. Neat how you was able to take photos from your TV. May I ask how wide your TV is. It seem like just the perfect size for home viewing. Hugs Judy

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  15. We went into York this morning or watch them. It was brilliant. A great atmosphere. I really do feel proud to be Yorkshire x

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  16. Thank you for taking the trouble to put up these pics. They show Yorkshire at its best.

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  17. I was there! Just returned from a weekend of yelling at folks on bikes! Will blog it soon! X

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  18. Oh thank you so much for sharing this! The more I see of your country the more I want to visit, it's just stunningly beautiful! The race wasn't bad either. ;D

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  19. You've done a great job with your TV shots Jacquie! We've been thoroughly enjoying the coverage and haven't the Yorkshire folks turned out in their droves AND turned it on for The Tour de Yorkshire - amazing! Thanks for this Jacquie, have a great week, xoJoy

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  20. I love the way that they changed the names of places to Chateau rather than Castle and so on!!! xx

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  21. I was there 350metres from the finish in Harrogate then again when it skirted the outskirts of on day 2. We travelled up from Norfolk to see it as we are huge fans of this race. It was great to see your tv pictures as we missed it waiting in Harrogate for them to reach us.
    Gillx

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  22. Jacquie, you saw more on the TV than I did actually at the race, but the atmosphere was tremendous. Didn't Yorkshire look glorious?

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  23. Love le Tour! So does my cat. She sits to one side of the telly and bats at the peleton when there is an aerial shot of them. :) She discovered tennis this year and enjoyed swatting the balls and the heads of the ball boys and girls as they darted across the screen.
    I was thrilled that the Tour started in Yorkshire. One branch of my family was from the county originally - the village of Castley. For reasons not known, they migrated across to Shap in Cumberland (I know!), and even after more than 600 years, our lot are still referred to as Yorkshiremen! :)

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  24. The knitted bike was created by the Crafty Ladies of Leyburn. I orgaanised the project and did quite a lot of the work finishing it off. It appeared on tv a lot but failed to win the best window competiton!

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  25. Oh I wished I'd watched it now! I'm not interested in the race but it would have been lovely to see the aerial views of the countryside, I'm glad I've seen it here!
    I was in Skipton the day before it went through and it was lovely to see it all decorated up. There was a big yellow bike on the church as well as the jersey.

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