The one where Piglet meets the Peloton

I've been distracted by sewing and gardening and have got a bit behind with the blogging.  Last week was the Tour of Britain and as a stage was going through North Wales it seemed rude not to go and watch.  I was even organised enough to book the day off work.

I had a number of conversations with work colleagues (who were involved with the planning) about the best places to watch. I could have walked into the village to watch them whizz past but that didn't seem very exciting, and I couldn't really be bothered to drive over to Llanberis to watch the last climb or the finish.  

So I decided to go and watch the climb over the Clwyd Gate - the pass over the Clwyds that descends into Ruthin. Even though it wasn't a 'King of the Mountain' section I thought there would be a better view than on the flat.  And as I had the day off work it seemed rude not to go out on my bike, so Piglet and I cycled cross -country from Cilcain - on the easy trails, I have no fitness at the moment....

Piglet bike admires the view

We even managed to find some singletrack (it was a very short section though)

So I rocked up just below the Pass about 45mins before they were due, and there were a few people hanging around (and a Wiggo banner!).  Then we spent the next 40 minutes cheering and waving at every race vehicle that went past - official cars, all the police motorbikes, police cars, press cars.... Most gave a wave back, and loads of the motorbikes gave us a flash of blues and twos!

Eventually the official Race car went through and they slowed down to announce more details about the lead group, peloton and the distance between them, and more importantly - where Bradley was... The number/frequency of police vehicles increased until it was clear that the road was closed, then we saw a group of cyclists in the distance....

The Leaders approach

Lead group

Lead group heads up the hill

A few minutes after the lead group went through, we saw the peloton approaching with Team Sky leading the pack in their distinctive black and blue.

Cue lots of frantic waving and shouting from the crowd, and we even got our glimpse of Sir Wiggo (third rider in the photo with gold jersey under his black Sky gillet).

After the riders had all whizzed past, everyone packed up and went home (or to the pub).  It was amazing how everyone disappeared so quickly - it was like it never happened!