WELL, the Tour de France has been, and sadly gone, through Yorkshire.
What sounded like a strange idea two years ago turned out to be the biggest, most spectacular Grand Depart in the Tour's history, with an estimated four million people over two days lining the route in Yorkshire. And I was there.
On the Thursday evening, watching the team presentation live from Leeds on a big screen in Skipton, I asked myself if this was really happening. Yorkshire threw itself completely into welcoming the Tour; plenty of yellow bikes on walls and in trees, red polka-dot painted houses and even a field of bright yellow sheep!
After a recce ride on Friday we decided to watch the Tour seven miles north of Skipton, and then ride over to Harrogate to watch it again near the end of the stage.
On the Saturday we headed out and quickly found ourselves on closed roads. Sheer joy! Cyclists of all ages and sizes everywhere, a real carnival atmosphere.
En route we encountered one chap on a bike in a ram's outfit, and kids in flat caps high-fiving all the passing cyclists – all wonderfully mad.
The excitement rose as the publicity caravan passed through, with six TV helicopters and the Tour's very own gendarmes marking the arrival of the breakaway riders and the peloton.
Once the riders had passed through we began the 22-mile ride to Harrogate along the main A59, part of the next day's stage. This is a pretty hilly route with long steady climbs and an amazing sweeping descent through the wonderfully named Blubberhouses. We would later ride back up this towards Skipton – not at all easy.
At global events like the Tour you find yourself making instant friends with the people around you. Once the race had gone past us we were invited into someone's house to watch the end of the stage on TV.
After the end of the race we and thousands of others quickly jumped on our bikes to ride the remainder of the route with visions of crossing the finishing line. Progress was extremely slow; I've never been among so many people on bikes. Harrogate was a sea of people.
It's difficult to describe the scale of the Tour and its effect on the people who went to see it. I suspect it will leave a lasting mark on both the Tour organisers and us as a cycling nation. An incredible experience. Chapeau Yorkshire!
