Dan

The Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Ride,
Main Street, East Ayton, North Yorkshire.

The main reason we were up in Yorkshire was to try and get a glimpse of son Dan participating in the Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Ride. The Ride is a cyclosportive and provides amateurs with a flavour of pro Tour racing. With both the Ride and the final stage of the Race terminating in Scarborough today, the Ride serves as the pedestrian cheerer's warm up act.

Dan was doing the long, 119km route (Bib No44), and the most westerly point along the way was Thornton Dale.  He was due to set off at around 7:10am and I figured he might be at Thornton around 9:30. We got there for about 9:10. I sat in the middle of the main street leaning up against this bollard taking road level shots of the riders charging by, but after half an hour there was no sign of Dan. Cath had gotten cold and my bum was flat and senseless, so we settled on a hot drink in a cafe nearby. Annoyingly, I had just carried the tray to the table by the window when I saw Dan shoot by. It was 9:47. Turns out he didn't leave Scarborough until 7:38.

Unable to download the route for want of a decent signal, I troubled a marshall for a loan of his map and gambled my next surest chance of catching him was at East Ayton. I was right.

I haven't seen Dan since, but he has sent a message saying he thought it was brilliant.

Still got that stomach cramp thing going on. Driving home was very unpleasant.