le Tour at Keighley

The Photographic Quiz:

Photo no 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213 :

Question:- Was this the crowd in Keighley we didn’t see? Was this Ingrow Bridge which the cyclists crossed but we didn’t see? Was this Halifax Road which the cyclist went up but we didn’t see? Was this part of Ingrow and Woodhouse we didn’t see? Was this my junior school le Tour passed but we didn’t see? Yes Blog, there are lots of yeses for you!!!

Dear Blog,

                The Tour de France has come to Yorkshire and now gone to France. I have to confess that I am not particularly interested in sport, including athletics. I would not bother to attend any sports meeting unless my family was involved. I do not watch sport, including athletics, on the television. BUT…. As the TOUR was passing within 50 yards (45 metres to you Blog) of where I spent the first dozen years of my life and passed directly in front of my primary school and passed directly in front of my grammar school, and passed the front of the pub where Ingrow Harriers were founded, and passed in front of the pub where Keighley Harriers were founded, and passed directly in the shadow of the block of flats where my parents lived and went along very many of the roads I used to train along including those in Skipton and Haworth, I thought it would be interesting to tune into the television channel to watch the riders pass along all the familiar roads and streets. SO I DID. Very many mentions were made by the commentators about the huge crowds in Keighley. The sprint stage in Keighley was mentioned repeatedly. Keighley was almost THE word used in the first hour or so of coverage, it was the town of choice ….. But …. Coming over the climb from Addingham down into Silsden, I should have picked up the portents; I should have felt the dark vibes …. The commentators were getting local facts wrong, they were misidentifying where the cyclists were, they were mispronouncing local names (How can you get Haworth wrong for goodness sake … but the ITV managed it successfully). As the peloton approach Keighley I phoned my sister, then I phoned my nephew and family to find out if they were going down town to watch the race live or staying in front of the box to watch the race live. The breakaway group of seven riders were getting closer to the outskirts of the town on the bypass where the sprint section was. The crowds were mega. Keighley was getting many mentions and the commentators talked of the decorations in the town and the effort the town had made, and the size of the crowd in the centre of the town … I was on the edge of my seat in front of the television. The riders turned off the by-pass at the roundabout, going uphill for a hundred yards (97 metres to you Blog) and took a left at the next roundabout in front of Cliffe Castle to ride along Skipton Road into the centre of the town. It then happened. A COMMERCIAL BREAK. A BLEEDING COMMERCIAL which included a competition the viewers could enter for some crappy bike or other …. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… And when the live coverage came back on the screen, the race was going up New Road Side on the outer skirts of Ingrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not a single micro shot of Keighley. If I was spitting blood and yelling at the box, the Keighley Town Worthies must have been apoplectic with rage. After all the time, money, effort spent on preparing to greet le TOUR, to receive not a single nano second of view time was unbelievable with a capital ‘U’. The town had been passed by.

And within a minute or two, the commentators were obviously lost as to where the riders were, inventing some village I had never heard of!!! 25 years in the town and some village built God knows where that the riders were not passing through, gets more coverage than Keighley.

Today I got the broken television screen repaired and sent the bill to ITV.

                                       Colin