Not the Tour de France

Just another lovely summer's day on the Taylor Dock boardwalk, my longest walk to date after the latest flare-up of hip and leg issues.

BUT--that's not to say that Bellingham is lacking in Tour de France enthusiasm!

Mount Bakery, renowned for its flaky croissants, Belgian waffles, chocolate truffles, lovely soups, and much more, is ready to roll with 22 days of opening at 5 a.m. with hot coffee, just-baked croissants and other goodies for keen local cyclists and hangers-on who want to watch the action live on a big screen. (That inimitable design is also gracing special t-shirts, in three colors, for the keenest fans.)

Wanting to enter into the excitement about the Tour de France going through towns and villages of several of my favorite Yorkshire blippers, I popped into Mount Bakery today to buy a few of their special Tour de France shortbreads. No dainty cookies these--they weigh in at 3.25 oz / 95 g of goodness each.

I do think that Edinburgh-based Lady Findhorn and His Lordship, keen cyclists themselves, as well as Earthdreamery and drmackem, to name just a few of my cycling Blip friends, as well as my local friend D and her family, currently traveling from Newcastle to Edinburgh on bicycles, could do with a special order of these splendid confections.

But they might grow stale in transit, so I'll eat them for you, while catching up on comments.

P.S. Here's a close-up of one of those flaky croissants--and fans transfixed by the television screen--in my Tour de France blip from last year.