Tour de France Stage 1 (and a walk up Great Shunner Fell!)

A rare Saturday off, (booked many months ago) gave me the opportunity to see the Tour de France pass through Yorkshire. The Tour would have passed by mid afternoon so Ian and I decided to make an ascent of Great Shunner Fell to fill the day.

Walking down towards Hardraw via Appersett, the Wensleydale folk had made a huge bicycle on the hillside.

We made our way up the Buttertubs Pass through the crowds which were growing all the time. We found a good place and settled down to wait!

About an hour before the race the publicity caravan came through...Big Fruit Shoots eh!

The arrival of the race was heralded by lots of helicopters...

Then the race came through...the veteran Jens Voigt in the lead. I'd made a decision not to watch the race through a camera lens...so this was the only pic I took of the race.

After the race we walked up to the high point of the pass. Then across the moor to Little Shunner Fell.

Its easy going from there to the summit of Great Shunner Fell. A great viewpoint today.

From the summit we followed the Pennine Way South back down into Wensleydale and then bypaths and road to the car. It had been a superb day, one I won't forget for a long time.