Tuesday, 9 February 2016

Tour colours


I mentioned I'd been devouring books this year, I am on my 9th since 01 January.   Several of these have indulged my cycling obsession, a couple of biographies and one a more general non fiction.  When not boring Mr FF with my newly increased insider knowledge, I've been getting fired up about this years tours so I checked out the routes for my favourite races. Disappointment doesn't describe my feelings, firstly the Tour de Yorkshire, now upgraded to a three day event, is not coming to Ilkley at all, in any way.  Plenty of places where we can see the race but the delight last year of a ten minute walk to be on the route was immense. Secondly the Giro d'Italia isn't coming anywhere near our village in Lazio, the nearest point of contact is a two hour drive away with no guarantee that we'd get more than a whizz of lycra as the boys sped past.  I know that these races have to be shared round, we've twice had the Giro in our village in recent years but I can't help feeling a little bereft. Particularly as I've just finished these pink socks I could have worn to support the Giro, Go with the Flow by Evelyn A Clark from Favourite Socks by Interweave.  
As the Tour de France is based on the yellow jersey of the leader, often with appropriate accessories like yellow tape on the handle bars, yellow sunglasses for the leader and sometimes his team, so for the Giro the leader wears pink. And at the risk of driving you away, this tradition is based on the coloured pages of the sporting sections of different newspapers that originally sponsored the two tours.   I turned up for my last Giro sighting in pink t shirt but matching socks would have been perfect this year.  
The Tour de Yorkshire colours are blue with a little yellow, blue the colour of the Yorkshire flag and yellow a salute to the Tour de France that visited us in 2014 and inspired our own event.
Photograph Alamy
I couldn't resist downloading this photograph as our apartment building can be seen under the left hand bottom edge of the county flag.  
Posted by at
Labels: ,

5 comments:

  1. Anita9 February 2016 at 13:01

    I wish I had that view from my window!! What a beautiful country you live in...lucky you. Talk about reading books and biographies..have you ever read "Ma, he sold me for a few cigarettes' by Martha Long. What a read it is. You should try it. Hope you put up more pics of beautiful Italy.
    Cheers, Anita.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pondside9 February 2016 at 14:37

    It's hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the tours. On year we were taking a nostalgic trip down Memory Lane, through parts of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. We seemed to meet parts of the Tour de France at every turn as hotels even far from the course were full to overflowing. One night, to the delight of our then-sixteen-year-old daughter we stayed in the same hotel as the team with the yellow jersey. It was one of those unplanned-for treats that made the day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Weaver of Grass9 February 2016 at 20:20

    The Tour came past the end of our lane and through our little town. It brought a huge number of tourists to the area, particularly to the Buttertubs, which was one of the hardest sections.

    ReplyDelete
  4. josiekitten9 February 2016 at 21:31

    Sorry to hear that the cyclists won't be passing close by, how inconsiderate of them. The Tour of Britain passed by us last year and they whooshed past in a matter of seconds! I was glad that I hadn't travelled far to see them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. love those cupcakes10 February 2016 at 01:06

    Day 3 of the Tour starts here in the Boro. Not that I'm gloating.....

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)