Tour Of Britain

The Tour of Britain cycle race came through Aberdeenshire today. I have no interest in cycle racing, and as a live spectator sport it must rank as one of the least entertaining visually.

A few years ago I was having a coffee at Lago Maggiore when the Giro d"Italia came past. A bunch of cyclists flash past for a few seconds, maybe a minute to two from the first to the last, then they are gone until next year.

Nevertheless the race was passing by about 200 metres from me so it would have seemed excessively churlish not to have a look.

In this picture the pack is just about to arrive. This little boy is so far in front of them he has turned round to check how they are getting on. In doing so he lost his chance to win. This was verified when we watched the last 10 kms or so on television back at the house. He was not to be seen amongst the front runners at the end. I don't think his bike had any peddles either, which may have been a slight handicap.

We expected to be in prime view on the TV screening of the race. Unfortunately as the camera passed us a bunch of cyclists got in the way and obscured the view of us standing next to the road.