Anyone interested in driving & riding to watch le Tour on Saturday please let Mick Proud know you will be coming.
The outline plan is as follows;
Timings;
· 0830 Meet at Scotch Corner (for most people this will mean leaving home around 0730) – East side services first car park on left; once together we will drive into Middleton Tyas and use the village car park.
· 0900 (or as soon as we are ready) depart for Aysgarth
· 1030 we should be in Aysgarth (under 21 miles) this leaves us 30 mins before any planned road closures around 11am in this area
· (We need to get ourselves through the Town and down to the A684 junction so we are positioned for the ride to Leyburn later)
· 1200 Tour Caravan/Clowns/Dancing Girls etc roll into town (12:04) queue much excitement…
· Riders due around 14:00 into Aysgarth
Route; as per the following map; Middleton Tyas – Richmond – Aysgarth (spectate); ride to Leyburn (spectate) ride back to the cars. Simples!
le Tour Timings
The tour bikes should be through Aysgarth by 14:04 – so we should get on the road as soon as we can – the main road at Leyburn will likely be closed by the time we get there as the caravan is due into Leyburn at 13:26 (its 8 miles along the A684 from Aysgarth to Leyburn – should take no longer than 40 mins for us to get along it) but I doubt we will get there any sooner than 14:45.
There are plenty of alternative routes we can utilise; Mick will have OS mapping with him on the day with brain engaged to account for any unforeseen developments!
First bikes are due into Leyburn shortly after 3pm. The bikes should be out of Leyburn by 15:30 so we could start the journey back shortly after. Say an hour to get back to the cars and then 90 mins to pack up and get home – people could plan to be home for around 6pm?
We can always adjust the plan based on weather as we progress through the week; driving closer if needs be if the weather looks poor but as of Tuesday the forecast is favourable.
Communication is key – keep in touch with Mick via mobile if you are off schedule!
Miscellaneous:
It will be a long day – to that end, pack a small backpack; suggest bringing – waterproof top, extra clothing, change of shoes, extra food & drink.
Although the distances are relatively short the terrain is challenging – don't overdress but carry enough warm gear in your back pack… (egg to suck anyone?)
Additional Info;
Road Closure info; http://letour.yorkshire.com/travel/travel-information-map
"Cycling and pedestrian access is permitted on the race route until approx one hour before Publicity Caravan arrives."
So we shouldn't run into any major problems with access to the area… famous last words!
Link to stage timings; http://letour.yorkshire.com/documents/tdf/timings/TDF2014TimetableStage1.pdf
If you have any questions or suggestions – please let me know.
See you Saturday for a cracking day out!
Mick P (07796 147945)