Aviva Arrives. 23

Out with Graham today in and around Leamington.  I wasn't aware until he told me that the Ladies Cycling Tour of Britain was in Warwickshire today.  Stage 2 of the event was travelling from Atherstone in the North, south through the county taking in some really tough hills in the south and ending at Stratford.  We planned to have a ride out through Wellesbourne and see them pass in Leamington.

Patriotic

We cycled out through Leamington and Warwick and to Wellesbourne via Barford and Hampton Lucy.  There were a fair few cyclists around, obviously heading out for decent positions to view the event. Unfortunately, we were stuck for time (and the England Wales match was calling) and opted to cut back to Leamington via Newbold Pacey.  In the village, some patriotic person had provided a cushion for the communal bench. This may have been for the Queen's birthday or the football. Who cares, a nice touch.

Cheering Kids

We arrived at the crossroads with the Tachbrook Road and Harbury Lane to be greeted with a loud cheer by a load of schoolchildren, let out for the day, to cheer on the ladies as they went through.  We felt quite honoured to get this reception until it dawned on us that, actually, they were cheering anything on wheels that went with 100 yards of them!

STOP !

A short time later, the first Police outrider came to the crossroads and stopped all the traffic.  The ladies were imminent, this raised an even bigger cheer from the kids.

And they are here

All 8 seconds of 'em.  They streaked by at a fair old lick and it was difficult to pick out any of the individual stars.  It was quite dry, and reasonably flat at this point but they were heading for torrential downpours and some serious climbing before they reached the end at Stratford.  I did watch it later on the TV highlights and you have to admire their strength and athtleticsm.

A good day today, England beat Wales 2-1 and we covered 23 miles.