Round Britain Race

[jay-ell71]

The Round Britain Race came past the bottom of my road today

I have no interest or knowledge of cycle racing but of course as it was a few hundred yards away from my house, I joined a small group of friends and neighbours to watch the spectacle. It was ver Then the breakaway group tore round the corner, and a good 5 minutes later the peloton (sp) raced by, followed by support cars, with lots of bikes strapped onto their roofs. It was all over in seconds! We took some photos which I will attempt to upload onto here, and we watched the rest of today's race on ITV 4 as it continued on its way to Bristol. There was a very exciting finish.

Did anyone else see the race today? Did it go past your house?

[jay-ell71]

I have managed to download two photos of the Race into my gallery.!!!! Quite an achievement.

[Boris+]

Being an old dafty I always thought that racing on the public highway was not allowed. I do know a couple of people who have had to schedule their day today just to ensure they didn't get stuck in their village because of this.

Oh well - at least the weather was nice for them.

Em

[Silver_Shiney]

I see they closed the Portway, the main road into Bristol for this. Accidents and roadworks on this road cause chaos, so to close it for this race seems a bit daft.

[jay-ell71]

Em, un-organised racing on the roads is of course illegal. Organised events are of course legal. Think Marathons and half marathons. This is a national cycle race race, same as the French Tour de France, which, this year started off in the North of England, all perfectly legal.

SS. I am sure it was pretty chaotic on the Bristol roads, The Portway and Bridge Valley Road, were the focal point, and I am sure it was very annoying for everyone. (Can you imagine cycling up Bridge Valley Road after riding for 100 miles! Amazing) Here, in urban Cheltenham, the roads that were part of the event were closed for about 30 minutes, at a time. The closures were "rolling" . Immediately after the race passed the roads were opened, and I mean, immediately. I don't think we will see this race in Gloucestershire again for a lifetime!!!

[Boris+]

Hi Alan,

I'm sure that your Mayor was happy to see so many people on bikes!!!

Em

[Silver_Shiney]

Hi Alan,

I'm sure that your Mayor was happy to see so many people on bikes!!!

Em

I don't think John Ashe could give a monkeys!

Bristol's mayor, George Fergusson, was probably pleased about it...

[Mervyn and Trish]

So a quick query for the fans of cycling who will know this - how much does the route of the Round Britain Race differ from the Tour de France, which seemed to spend an awful lot of time touring not-France? Will this one end in Monaco?

[Silver_Shiney]

Fair question, sir!