| Riding bikes. 17:26 - Jul 6 with 2605 views | TalkingSutty |
What a great spectacle the Tour De France was today. Littleborough was buzzing with people from about 8am and the snakes of people walking up Blackstone Edge was a tremendous sight.
I would estimate from the Reservoir at the White House to maybe half a mile along Turvin Road there must of been at least 20,000 spectators, probably a lot more. The pubs were packed out with live music playing and outdoor barbecues and it had a feel of one of those historic moments, which it obviously was.
I don't know the first thing about cycle racing but the atmosphere was brilliant and for once we have a good news story !! |  | | |  |
| Riding bikes. on 17:30 - Jul 6 with 2586 views | 442Dale |
Went down to Hebden Bridge on the train. Great atmosphere with a fan park and loads going on. Headed up the road a bit and there was plenty of space to watch. |  |
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| Riding bikes. on 18:29 - Jul 6 with 2498 views | YouTubeDale |
Left Castleton railway station at 10.07am. There were only 4 or 5 carriages and they were full. Entering Rochdale station and there were loads trying to get on. A few more squeazed on but leaving most behind on the platform. At Smithy Bridge there were still many who couldn't get on. At Littleborough we were entertained by the local brass band as people waited for inadequate minibuses up to the White House. The queue was humongous. Someone said that people had been waiting for 1 and half hours. So we decided to walk the 3 miles. A really enjoyable walk. Just after the Moorcock Inn is a dirt track shortening the road route. We walked past the White House to the corner of the reservoir but couldn't get into the crowd so we had to go into the field looking directly along the road towards Cragg Vale. There were thousands next to the road and hundreds in our field. Perched down in a bog we waited for the riders for a couple of hours. They flashed past in a few seconds.
Was it worth it? Yes. The atmosphere was great. And walking down the hill back to Littleborough bustling with bikes and people was a sight never witnessed before.
A grand day out. But ofcourse the BBC never ran with the good news of Rochdale getting a little piece of the Tour de France - all 2km of it. [Post edited 6 Jul 2014 18:30]
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| Riding bikes. on 18:36 - Jul 6 with 2481 views | TalkingSutty |
| Riding bikes. on 18:29 - Jul 6 by YouTubeDale |
Left Castleton railway station at 10.07am. There were only 4 or 5 carriages and they were full. Entering Rochdale station and there were loads trying to get on. A few more squeazed on but leaving most behind on the platform. At Smithy Bridge there were still many who couldn't get on. At Littleborough we were entertained by the local brass band as people waited for inadequate minibuses up to the White House. The queue was humongous. Someone said that people had been waiting for 1 and half hours. So we decided to walk the 3 miles. A really enjoyable walk. Just after the Moorcock Inn is a dirt track shortening the road route. We walked past the White House to the corner of the reservoir but couldn't get into the crowd so we had to go into the field looking directly along the road towards Cragg Vale. There were thousands next to the road and hundreds in our field. Perched down in a bog we waited for the riders for a couple of hours. They flashed past in a few seconds.
Was it worth it? Yes. The atmosphere was great. And walking down the hill back to Littleborough bustling with bikes and people was a sight never witnessed before.
A grand day out. But ofcourse the BBC never ran with the good news of Rochdale getting a little piece of the Tour de France - all 2km of it. [Post edited 6 Jul 2014 18:30]
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Our paths might have crossed, we also used the dirt track. On the way back down the hill i had a few pints of home brew at the Rake, a good end to a good day. Did you see the Dale flag flying high amidst the throngs? | | | |
| Riding bikes. on 18:41 - Jul 6 with 2464 views | YouTubeDale |
| Riding bikes. on 18:36 - Jul 6 by TalkingSutty |
Our paths might have crossed, we also used the dirt track. On the way back down the hill i had a few pints of home brew at the Rake, a good end to a good day. Did you see the Dale flag flying high amidst the throngs? |
Sure did.
As Rochdale fans our eyes are like magnets to one of our flags. | |
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| Riding bikes. on 18:41 - Jul 6 with 2464 views | pnc4eva1 |
Did a total of 10 miles on foot today.
Was it worth it?
Yes.
Why?
Because I've been watching the tour on TV for over 30 years.
Best bit of the day..............seeing the tour and being so close to the riders
Worst bit of the day.....there were actually 2
1. The Guy who made Big Daddy look slim cycling passed dressed in lycra as I walked up the hill. Not only did I see him once but on several occasions as he stopped for a rest only to pass me again with his saddle very well hidden.
2. The two men who turned up at 1.30 and stood right in my view. |  |
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| Riding bikes. on 19:53 - Jul 6 with 2348 views | R17ALE |
| Riding bikes. on 18:29 - Jul 6 by YouTubeDale |
Left Castleton railway station at 10.07am. There were only 4 or 5 carriages and they were full. Entering Rochdale station and there were loads trying to get on. A few more squeazed on but leaving most behind on the platform. At Smithy Bridge there were still many who couldn't get on. At Littleborough we were entertained by the local brass band as people waited for inadequate minibuses up to the White House. The queue was humongous. Someone said that people had been waiting for 1 and half hours. So we decided to walk the 3 miles. A really enjoyable walk. Just after the Moorcock Inn is a dirt track shortening the road route. We walked past the White House to the corner of the reservoir but couldn't get into the crowd so we had to go into the field looking directly along the road towards Cragg Vale. There were thousands next to the road and hundreds in our field. Perched down in a bog we waited for the riders for a couple of hours. They flashed past in a few seconds.
Was it worth it? Yes. The atmosphere was great. And walking down the hill back to Littleborough bustling with bikes and people was a sight never witnessed before.
A grand day out. But ofcourse the BBC never ran with the good news of Rochdale getting a little piece of the Tour de France - all 2km of it. [Post edited 6 Jul 2014 18:30]
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Watched the Littleborough bit on ITV. The aerial view of the race as it turned left out of Turvin Road onto the A58 was immense with thousands of people all over the moors straining to get a view.
The commentator couldn't bring himself to say Rochdale (or Littleborough). During the short time the race was out of West Yorkshire he said it was now in Greater Manchester, then that changed to Lancashire and finally he said, "we're near Oldham here"!
What narks me is that if someone had fingered a passing cyclist, they'd have been very quick to say, "and that incident happened in Rochdale". |  |
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| Riding bikes. on 20:01 - Jul 6 with 2334 views | Albert_Whitehurst |
I'm narked that I have to change my route to work tomorrow...and yes, I cycle!
Number of roads closed in the capital.
Hoping to avoid stray fingers of passersby :-) |  | | |
| Riding bikes. on 22:02 - Jul 6 with 2213 views | TVOS1907 |
Can only echo the other comments on here.
It was a bit of a hike up to The White House, but well worth the trek. Although the actual race was over in the blink of an eye, it was great to get such a good view of something only seen previously on TV.
Like TS, I'm no cycling fan and have no understanding at all of who's doing what and how they calculate it all, but it was still something good happening in our locality that was worth seeing. |  |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Riding bikes. on 22:30 - Jul 6 with 2163 views | zxcvbnm |
It was worth the ten minutes agree with everyone
It's why I went to the Olympics and saw random events - to say I'd been there
It's why I've tickets for the Commonwealth Games for the same reason |  |
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| Riding bikes. on 22:36 - Jul 6 with 2149 views | Albert_Whitehurst |
| Riding bikes. on 22:30 - Jul 6 by zxcvbnm |
It was worth the ten minutes agree with everyone
It's why I went to the Olympics and saw random events - to say I'd been there
It's why I've tickets for the Commonwealth Games for the same reason |
I'm up for the 7s at Ibrox, looking forward to it. There's a warm up tournament in London next Saturday at Saracens featuring Wales, Scotland, Kenya and England amongst other elite teams. Will try and bob along to that. | | | |
| Riding bikes. on 22:39 - Jul 6 with 2144 views | off2div1 |
Rode from Leeds then up Cragg Vale great day! What a sight it was to see thousands of cyclist of every shape & form on all type of bikes ride up towards Blackstone edge resevoir.
99% of those turned right to Rochdale. I was the 1% that travelled toward Ripponden  |  | | |
| Riding bikes. on 22:53 - Jul 6 with 2112 views | mr_fri_night |
We got up there for 7am after driving upto the Whitehouse as we had one of the parking permits issued by RMBC.
7 hours up there but it absolutely flew by due to the atmosphere. We took chairs, food and drink and just sat chatting. Weather obviously helped a lot but I think the 10,000 estimate was well exceeded.
The sight going back down Blackstone Edge was unreal with the thousands snaking their way home. Very well done to all who helped organise such a massive event and I can now understand why RMBC made such a big thing with all the signs all over town promoting it. The money brought into Littleborough today and in the future must have been massive. |  | | |
| Riding bikes. on 06:35 - Jul 7 with 1997 views | downunder |
Very groggy today, as I stayed up till 2.30 am. to watch the stage. I have been a member of one of the local cycling clubs, and involved in organising "Over the Edge". To see those guys cruise up Cragg was awesome, albeit I was seeing it on Television. Totally agree that there is nothing but credit for all involved. Hopefully the next time the Tour starts in the UK, that the location is (and I quote Liggett) "the hotbed of cycling that is Lancashire".
Think I will fly home for that. |  | | |
| Riding bikes. on 08:01 - Jul 7 with 1938 views | TalkingSutty |
| Riding bikes. on 22:53 - Jul 6 by mr_fri_night |
We got up there for 7am after driving upto the Whitehouse as we had one of the parking permits issued by RMBC.
7 hours up there but it absolutely flew by due to the atmosphere. We took chairs, food and drink and just sat chatting. Weather obviously helped a lot but I think the 10,000 estimate was well exceeded.
The sight going back down Blackstone Edge was unreal with the thousands snaking their way home. Very well done to all who helped organise such a massive event and I can now understand why RMBC made such a big thing with all the signs all over town promoting it. The money brought into Littleborough today and in the future must have been massive. |
I might have been having a Bradford City moment when I suggested over 20,000 in attendance, it was probably nearer your estimate. I have a habit of over exaggeration when it comes to estimating size  | | | |
| Riding bikes. on 09:25 - Jul 7 with 1859 views | Scunnydale |
Was at York Racecourse for the start. Cracking view of the cyclists signing in, but a poor view of the actual start of the race. My other half was up near Bootham and got a great view.
Well worth it though, even though our 'day' was essentially over by 11.15. Thankfully the party carried on and some of the closed roads turned into street parties. |  | | |
| Riding bikes. on 08:15 - Jul 8 with 1650 views | aleanddale |
Think we did the " Tour " proud as a nation and really embraced it.
several million lined the streets!!
I wonder what the french made of it all?? | | | |
| Riding bikes. on 10:05 - Jul 8 with 1596 views | Albert_Whitehurst |
| Riding bikes. on 08:15 - Jul 8 by aleanddale |
Think we did the " Tour " proud as a nation and really embraced it.
several million lined the streets!!
I wonder what the french made of it all?? |
laissez faire | | | |
| Riding bikes. on 11:28 - Jul 8 with 1554 views | D_Alien |
| Riding bikes. on 08:15 - Jul 8 by aleanddale |
Think we did the " Tour " proud as a nation and really embraced it.
several million lined the streets!!
I wonder what the french made of it all?? |
They probably think we spend all our spare time building dry stone walls instead of sitting in cafes talking crap. |  |
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