Tour of Britain, stage 6. Bath to Hemel Hempstead

The tour of Great Britain passed very close to my home this afternoon, so I walked down through the woods to the main road at the 3K from the finish point.

On arrival there were already many hundreds of MAMILS (Middle Aged Men in Lycra.) lining the road, along with many familiar faces of locals who had congregated to watch the spectacle. In addition there was a strong police presence and a fire engine with the crew sitting on the roof.

I immediately recognised my special guardian fireman who had helped to prevent my cottage from burning down a year ago and who has been making secret deliveries of wood to my cottage.

I walked over to say hi to him. Apparently the fire engine had to be positioned here in case there was a call out, as they wouldn't be able to get across town due to the finish of the Tour blocking the main road. A nice 'paid for jolly' for them all.

This shot shows the main peleton, with Michal Kwiatkowski wearing the 'Yellow Jersey' of the current leader on the far right. By now, the breakaway trio of Matthias Brandle, Alex Dowsett and Tom Stewart were almost at the finish, safe in the knowledge that they couldn't be caught.

On my return home, a bizarre sequence of events occurred, but I'll write about that tomorrow, because the Tour and the Firemen provided enough excitement for today's blip entry.

Sleep well and have sweet dreams, blippers - I will!!