I want to ride my bicycle
But no, in that sense, its not the obvious video. In another sense, its even more obvious than that!
This weekend, the incredible event that is the Tour De France, came to Yorkshire! And yes, I at least got to experience it, if not entirely in a good way.
Put it this way, back when I was a guy, I used to quite enjoy watching ‘Le Tour’, principally in the days of the legends that were Lemond, Fignon, Indurain and Pantani. Yes, a while back! I also remember watching Lance Armstrong, but lets say no more about him!
Now, like a lot of sports, since I’ve become a woman, I’ve lost a lot of interest in them. Yes, I know, its amazing what a gender change can do! Golf and Snooker seem to have suffered the same fate to be honest. Horse racing, now thats a funny one. I couldnt see me now going as a gambler (very modest stakes, even back then), but going out socially, all dressed up, just maybe?
Anyway, cycling…
The main man for me in those years was an Italian called Marco Pantani, who made going up very steep mountains look like a stroll in the park! In that very handy thing called hindsight, it seems quite possible that those climbs were ‘assisted’ by illegal substances, though nothing was really proved at the time, but anyway…his mountain climbing was a delight to watch.
As I said, this weekend, the Tour came to Yorkshire…starting in Leeds on Saturday. Yes, where I work! Lets just say the train that pulled into Huddersfield station at 7.45 wasnt the normal one. An ancient goods engine, pulling lots of carriages that hadnt seen public action in a long time. Hey, they were slam door stock, not the modern self locking ones, I’m sure Health and Safety would have had a fit! The train was busy, despite the large number of seats, hardly surprising given how many wanted to see the start of the race.
Clearly the train had seen better days, and it laboured most of the journey to Leeds, losing the best part of 15 minutes on a 20 minute journey! Painful was the word! Actually, getting to work through Leeds was easier than I feared, a bit of congestion crossing the route, but not that bad. By the time I cam home, it was all gone.
Today was stage 2, and it was passing through Huddersfield, my home town this afternoon, about 2.30. No, I avoided town, I was always going to see far more on TV, lets face it, though I guess I might regret not going in time. To be honest, I started watching earlier than expected, for a while, then switched back on about 30 minutes before it was due through Huddersfield, planning to switch off soon after.
Err, I didnt! Indeed, I delayed my bath until after the race was over, in Sheffield, it was that exciting! No, I dont think I’ll get heavily involved in Tour watching again, but it was fun today, and brought up a few nice memories.
The video, yes, a pretty obvious one in all honesty.
stevielounicks 
Recent Comments