Grand Depart Day 2

After an epic day spectating and watching the first day of the Tour de France I ventured into York for the departure of the second day. After seeing the crowds lining the whole route yesterday, and hearing interviews with people I decided that if I was to bag a prime spot I would need to be there early.

I parked my car on the outskirts of York and because I was so early (about 5.10 am) the buses weren't running yet, so I decided as it was a nice morning I would walk into town. It was a really pleasant walk passed the Knavesmire where the Tour was re-assembling and would be departing from later in the morning. It was quite eary seeing York so early in the morning and with no traffic. I walked through the streets and found the route which was already fenced off. I went down to the spot that I had identified the other week and parked myself next to the fence, with a view of Cliffords Tower beyond.

I chose this a my spectating point as I thought that I would be able to get a picture of the riders with an iconic York landmark in the background (the Minster would be too big to get in the shot)

It was great fun watching the crowd build up and every time somebody cycled down the tour route the crowd gave them a cheer. There were professional looking people, casual cyclists, families, and tandems.

The crowds continued to build, and the buzz of conversation grew, the sponsors caravanne passed through throwing out freebies for the kids, and then there was a flypast by the Battle of Britain flight. It was awesome seeing the Lancaster bomber flying low over the city. Then the tour came, abit more sedately than when I saw it yesterday. Leading the way were the overall leader Marcel Kittel (yellow jersey), King of the Mountains Jens Voight (red polka dot jersey) and Defending Champion and British hope Chris Froome (Team Sky)

It's been a brilliant couple of days, and I'm proud of how well the Tour has been put on and how well it's been supported. It's shown how great Yorkshire is.

I urge you to look at a couple of blips from Earthdreamery and WharfedaleBex who have brilliantly captured the Tour also.

I'll catch up with journals in tomorrow as I'm a bit short on time this evening.