Tour de Yorkshire 2015 - Stage Three 123
After the Tour de France last year we have the new Tour de Yorkshire this year. This one came right through Slaithwaite, Passing within a mile or so of our house twice. I’m a bit ambivalent about watching cycling at the roadside, It’s a bit different down in France, in the Pyrenees or on the Champs Elysees in beautiful sunshine, soaking the atmosphere up. As a cyclist and photographer I’d been getting asked for ages where I was going to watch and photograph the TdY, the truth is, I wasn’t that bothered about it and didn’t have a plan until the actual day.
Sunday dawned with horrendous weather, very heavy rain pounding the house roof at 7.00AM, the radar picture showed a mass of slow moving rain heading west. We were going walking after coffee at Crumbles in Marsden and we sat the worst of the rain out until 10.00, it was drizzle by now, still a full waterproofs walk though. Home for a change and back out for more coffee and toast at the Merrie England and we were well placed for Scapegoat Hill to watch the race. We drove through Slaithwaite at 12.00 and it was deserted with about twenty people outside The Little Bridge wine bar. Tory had an outside bar setup for the day. Where was everybody?
We parked over Round Ings Road on the top of Scapegoat Hill. The sun was coming out and the sky was breaking to blue, fantastic, and what a change from this morning. People were heading to the top of Crimble Clough in their thousands, it was reminiscent of Holme Moss at the TdF last year. There was a great atmosphere, lots of people we knew out to watch, quite a few asking why we weren’t at the Little Bridge, I get a bit pissed off with this belief that we live in the wine bar, I have two drinks, three or four times a week in the Little Bridge – in the evening – and we are usually home by 9.00. I don’t set foot in a pub during the day, I prefer cafes for coffee and toast. At the wedding we went to someone asked why we weren’t in the Commercial – I never go in the Commercial, when I go out, I go out to eat, having a drink along the way is incidental to eating for me – get the message folks! It was looking like things were going to pan out perfectly. I wanted to get a spot up Waller Clough Road, the last bit of the climb out of Slaithwaite, with a clear view where I could get a slight side shot whilst the cars and bikes were still a distance away and not actually right next to me and have the cyclists lit from the front so they weren’t in deep shadow. It was going to be impossible on the higher slopes as it was packed and people were still arriving. I settled for the end of Highfield Road ( Moorside Edge) as it was quite wide. I didn’t think that the cyclists would pick much speed up here although it’s flattish just there, they would be getting a breather ready for the last bit of the climb. I got plenty of chance to check my gear and setting as the front running Police bikes came through at great speed, it’s very easy to get caught using a slightly slow shutter speed and not realise until after the event. The motorbikes were looking sharp. In the end I had around ten shots that missed focus and unusable, I’ve probably uploaded a couple of questionable ones. The cyclists came through together and there wasn’t any chance to pick individuals out, it was a case of firing away, making sure the focus was locked on to at least one cyclist.
When the race had passed it was a mass exodus. I had to get Jayne to Meltham for a wedding at 3.00PM so we didn’t linger. When we walked into Slaithwaite around 5.30 it was packed around every pub, the wine bar was surrounded by people singing and dancing, fortunately it was OK inside. Not a bad day. No mention of our area in the news and nothing shown on TV, they only showed the later part of the day. As I explained to people, it’s not football, cycling struggles to get TV coverage and it’s free to watch at the roadside, they don’t understand that there isn’t any money in it, it relies on sponsorship and in some cases – like football – wealthy individuals who want to own a team.
Tour de Yorkshire 2015 - Stage Three 123
After the Tour de France last year we have the new Tour de Yorkshire this year. This one came right through Slaithwaite, Passing within a mile or so of our house twice. I’m a bit ambivalent about watching cycling at the roadside, It’s a bit different down in France, in the Pyrenees or on the Champs Elysees in beautiful sunshine, soaking the atmosphere up. As a cyclist and photographer I’d been getting asked for ages where I was going to watch and photograph the TdY, the truth is, I wasn’t that bothered about it and didn’t have a plan until the actual day.
Sunday dawned with horrendous weather, very heavy rain pounding the house roof at 7.00AM, the radar picture showed a mass of slow moving rain heading west. We were going walking after coffee at Crumbles in Marsden and we sat the worst of the rain out until 10.00, it was drizzle by now, still a full waterproofs walk though. Home for a change and back out for more coffee and toast at the Merrie England and we were well placed for Scapegoat Hill to watch the race. We drove through Slaithwaite at 12.00 and it was deserted with about twenty people outside The Little Bridge wine bar. Tory had an outside bar setup for the day. Where was everybody?
We parked over Round Ings Road on the top of Scapegoat Hill. The sun was coming out and the sky was breaking to blue, fantastic, and what a change from this morning. People were heading to the top of Crimble Clough in their thousands, it was reminiscent of Holme Moss at the TdF last year. There was a great atmosphere, lots of people we knew out to watch, quite a few asking why we weren’t at the Little Bridge, I get a bit pissed off with this belief that we live in the wine bar, I have two drinks, three or four times a week in the Little Bridge – in the evening – and we are usually home by 9.00. I don’t set foot in a pub during the day, I prefer cafes for coffee and toast. At the wedding we went to someone asked why we weren’t in the Commercial – I never go in the Commercial, when I go out, I go out to eat, having a drink along the way is incidental to eating for me – get the message folks! It was looking like things were going to pan out perfectly. I wanted to get a spot up Waller Clough Road, the last bit of the climb out of Slaithwaite, with a clear view where I could get a slight side shot whilst the cars and bikes were still a distance away and not actually right next to me and have the cyclists lit from the front so they weren’t in deep shadow. It was going to be impossible on the higher slopes as it was packed and people were still arriving. I settled for the end of Highfield Road ( Moorside Edge) as it was quite wide. I didn’t think that the cyclists would pick much speed up here although it’s flattish just there, they would be getting a breather ready for the last bit of the climb. I got plenty of chance to check my gear and setting as the front running Police bikes came through at great speed, it’s very easy to get caught using a slightly slow shutter speed and not realise until after the event. The motorbikes were looking sharp. In the end I had around ten shots that missed focus and unusable, I’ve probably uploaded a couple of questionable ones. The cyclists came through together and there wasn’t any chance to pick individuals out, it was a case of firing away, making sure the focus was locked on to at least one cyclist.
When the race had passed it was a mass exodus. I had to get Jayne to Meltham for a wedding at 3.00PM so we didn’t linger. When we walked into Slaithwaite around 5.30 it was packed around every pub, the wine bar was surrounded by people singing and dancing, fortunately it was OK inside. Not a bad day. No mention of our area in the news and nothing shown on TV, they only showed the later part of the day. As I explained to people, it’s not football, cycling struggles to get TV coverage and it’s free to watch at the roadside, they don’t understand that there isn’t any money in it, it relies on sponsorship and in some cases – like football – wealthy individuals who want to own a team.