O T - `Le Tour`

[royalbarclayfan]

Always without fail
Up hill and down dale
Otherwise known as ´Le Tour´,
Will keep me quite glued
Watching the feud
As riders sweat hour after hour

And one Mr. Froome
At present the groom
Will once again be hard to beat,
But I´m a great fan
Of that other ´best man´
Contador, out to spoil a repeat

This year he´s planned well
So that things should gel
In this merry month of July,
Could fate save them all
From having a fall
Then Tinkoff could just challenge Sky

I don´t think he´ll freeze
In Alps or Pyrenees
Despite being up in the clouds,
But nor will the Froome
So let´s hope there´s room
For them both to squeeze through the crowds

It is sad to say
In this age and day
That there are still those who would cheat,
But in every sport
There´s always that sort
Even up in football´s elite

So despite the warts
When the circus starts
Tomorrow in those Yorkshire hills,
I´ll watch intently
As cycling generally
Has righted many of its ills

Three weeks on a bike
Is a hell of a hike
So ´Bon voyage!´ I think we could say,
As they hope the force
Accompanies their course
From Leeds to Paris via Tourmalet.

 

[ncgandy]

Excellent stuff RBF, can't wait for this.

Off to Cambridge to watch it on Monday, hopefully Paris on the final day.

 

[royalbarclayfan]

Lucky old you - I´ve never actually managed to see any of it live, unfortunately gandy, but the tv coverage here is second to none, so we get to see whatever is sent from France. I´ve followed it now for as long as I can remember, summer just wouldn´t be the same without it, naturally makes it a bit more interesting when there´s a Danish team involved, which there has been now for years, and Tinkoff is still part Danish, so with any luck Contador will be a worthy opponent this year.

 

[canary_max]

i was on the champs elysees RBF in 1996 when Mr 60% won, Riis. Lots of Danes there!

i can't wait for this year, especially the weekend with the 'Cote de Holme Moss' and Cote de Buttertubs'

i was in sheffield last weekend, spray-painted yellow bikes everywhere

 

[1950canary]

No interest at all at watching a procession of people in funny outfits whizz past me on souped up cycles. Wouldn't even walk out of my front door to see it. Cyclists, to me, are a nuisance. They might think they are ' green ' but how much petrol is wasted by motorists stuck behind them on a bendy road? Why would I want to watch an organised nuisance?

 

[royalbarclayfan]

Hello max, I know you´re a bit of a fan too, watch out for Contador this year, the talk is, he´s in top form, and still pretty miffed about only coming 4th last year. Mr. 60% is still going strong as I expect you know, as manager of Tinkoff´s team, he just doesn´t own it any longer, but he can concentrate 100% on the riders now, which should benefit.

 

[royalbarclayfan]

No interest at all at watching a procession of people in funny outfits whizz past me on souped up cycles. Wouldn't even walk out of my front door to see it. Cyclists, to me, are a nuisance. They might think they are ' green ' but how much petrol is wasted by motorists stuck behind them on a bendy road? Why would I want to watch an organised nuisance?

Each to his own 1950, but you´d be hard pressed to even keep up with some of this lot , especially downhill

 

[ncgandy]

Haha, good old 1950, his dislike of two wheels is well documented.

I love it, it's such an incredible feat. A few namby-pamby footballers ought to give it a go.

When I finally retire, I'd definitely think about going over for the whole thing. Anyone who can make it to Cambridge will enjoy quite a day, as there'll be loads going on during the day. One of my daughters lives there, so going up on Sunday ready for an early start on a fun-packed Monday!

 

[canary-dave]

I'm afraid I fall into midway's camp, having spent many years driving buses and then taxis, I've crossed swords on many an occasion with a stupid cyclist who thought it was ok to pull straight out onto a main road because they "didn't take up much room!"

 

[ncgandy]

A lot of cyclists don't do themselves any favours, but I think it's safe to say none of this lot will be pulling out in front of any buses.

 

[1950canary]

A lot of cyclists don't do themselves any favours, but I think it's safe to say none of this lot will be pulling out in front of any buses.

Only because all the roads are shut off to the motorists who paid and maintained these roads out of car tax, petrol duty and VAT. Don't even get me going on cycle lanes!!!

 

[King_of_Portman_Rd]

Wow.. I know there is a lot of animosity toward cyclist but I think it's entirely accurate to say that for every daft cyclist there is moronic car driver (maybe more)

I've recently invested in a road bike and venture the 15 miles of bendy, hilly roads into Loughborough and for all the pain it's well worth it in my book. That level of exercise and financial saving combined is a win win for me.

As for the tour, the reported 2 million+ people watching it over the next 3-4 days is a monumental figure. That footfall and 'feel good factor' is worth infinitely more than the costs of shutting roads for 3 days out of the year.

 

[canary_max]

RBF, yes i think Contador is the fave for GC, unless quintana can win both the Giro and the TDF

 

[1950canary]

Wow.. I know there is a lot of animosity toward cyclist but I think it's entirely accurate to say that for every daft cyclist there is moronic car driver (maybe more)

I've recently invested in a road bike and venture the 15 miles of bendy, hilly roads into Loughborough and for all the pain it's well worth it in my book. That level of exercise and financial saving combined is a win win for me.

As for the tour, the reported 2 million+ people watching it over the next 3-4 days is a monumental figure. That footfall and 'feel good factor' is worth infinitely more than the costs of shutting roads for 3 days out of the year.

Win win for you but what about the rest of us caught up behind. I also get p***ed off with this ' only a minority of cyclists are bad ' argument. Drive through Norwich and see how many are on pavements, going through red lights, going the wrong way up a one way street etc etc. It is one hell of a minority!! As for numbers watching - millions watched the olympic flame and/or the commonwealth baton go past. Adequate proof that if in this Country you can advertise something on the news that is free to watch then people turn up and watch no matter how boring it is. A bit like the millions who spend weekends wandering around shops when they have no intention of buying anything.

 

[1950canary]

You remember some daft things when subjects are discussed. I haven't ridden a bike since 1961 when I became old enough to ride a motorbike. When I did ride a bike one of the main problems we had was dogs. Your starter for 10 - why don't dogs chase bikes any more?

 

[ncgandy]

I'm a car driver as well as a cyclist. I often drive through Norwich, and don't have a problem with cyclists.

Maybe it's because I always put on my happy face before setting off!

 

[1950canary]

I'm a car driver as well as a cyclist. I often drive through Norwich, and don't have a problem with cyclists.

Maybe it's because I always put on my happy face before setting off!

Unfortunately I haven't got a happy face but if you drive or walk in the Westlegate/St Stephens/Surrey St area and don't see a cyclist doing something wrong every 30 secs then you should have gone to specsavers!!!

 

[ncgandy]

Unfortunately I haven't got a happy face but if you drive or walk in the Westlegate/St Stephens/Surrey St area and don't see a cyclist doing something wrong every 30 secs then you should have gone to specsavers!!!

You'd just love Cambridge on a daily basis.

 

[1950canary]

I love Australia - hardly a bike to be seen.

 

[oldcanariesfan]

A lot of the bike v car issues comes down to the congestion on our roads and that fact that we have too many people on these islands all shoe-horned into cramped towns and cities.

Go to Belgium and Holland - absolutely teeming with cyclists there but not seen as a nuisance because a) they are not some prominent in the major cities and they tend to be more used in the country towns and b) neither of these countries are as densely populated as the UK and so they can be "absorbed" more easily into the land mass that creates more dedicated cycle lanes and paths.