Le Grand Depart

We were up bright and early this morning to travel to Hebden Bridge to see the Tour de France.

Getting there wasn't a pleasant experience, namely due to Northern Rails underestimation of how many people were travelling by train!

Although we could have caught the train in Accrington, we decided to drive to Preston and catch the train there in a bid to beat the crowds. This was a wise move, although we were packed in the three carriages like sardines.

People were turned away at the other stops (Blackburn, Accrington & Burnley) due to the train being so full; there were some pretty irate people on the platforms, as you can probably imagine!

Anyway, we got to Hebden Bridge, and found a nice shaded spot by the side of the road. From then it was just a waiting game, but it actually passed quite quickly.

The 'caravan' came through first; all the promotional vehicles who threw out freebies into the crowd. We did quite well for stuff.

The first seven riders whizzed past us, followed by the main peloton, (blip photo) which was equally as fast.
They were really close to us; I had to take a step back to film my video.
In less than 60 seconds the whole thing was over, but it really was spectacular to see.

Allez, allez, allez....as they say in France!