Train Spotting — Velo Club Traverse

Watching live sport, nothing beats it. The atmosphere and excitement generated by being in the moment where humans, at the top of their game, are duelling it out, its just electric. Ticket sales to cup finals, Wimbledon, the Olympics are not only astronomical in price but even if you have the funds, can be impossible to get hold of. Yet some sports stand out, the outliers, where the humble athletes come to the spectators rather than demanding we travel to see them. Pro-cycling is one of them, and I love it.

The seed for this obsession was sown by my dad and his mate Chris. They use to talk animatedly about cycling when I was growing up in the 80s, no one else seem to care but I caught the spark in their eyes when they used to catch up. It was their world that I did not really understand and as a child, with no internet, Discovery +, GCN, TV coverage could really get access to. Just a few highlights programmes in July.

Then in 1994, the Tour de France came to Britain, it took me a bit of time to get my head around the fact that a Tour of France crossed the channel into another country, surely there was some confusion. It was however, a school day and I was stuck, not allowed to join my Dad and his mates. They went down to Kent to watch it, but more importantly to me to collect all the free things thrown from the caravan. The line of carnival esq trucks that pave the way through the course before the racers.

How much for ringside on the Aravis? Tour de France

This was it, I needed to watch as many as these races as possible, weirdly, it never occurred to me to race in them, I just wanted to watch. The thing is what is the best way to watch it? What are the best types of stages? What point do you sit and wait? What do you take? I don't think that I have worked this out yet, maybe variety is the spice of life.

Firstly, maybe it is best to get the duller experiences out of the way. Watching the team time trial in the World Championships in the Netherlands was not exhilariating. It was like sitting watching traffic come past. There was no sense of winning, losing or context. Although the choice words of encouragement coming from the Australian support car was spectacular. I am not a huge fan of time-trials but to get the most of these stages, I think it is best to be at the start or finish to get up close and personal to all the bikes and equipment.
.

Mixing with the stars at the Giro (in Switzerlan)

Another example of bad positioning was on the Bisanne, the first climb of a huge mountain stage. The atmosphere was amazing, we parked up a few hours before just below the top, had our camp chairs set up, waited. The helicopters started buzzing, like a pack of vultures circling their prey, the crowd started cheering. And then, nothing, the cyclists all came over in one group, still warming up I sensed. Of course, it was too soon in the stage, to early, for any developments and breakaways. Even the sprinters and heavier lads were still in the pack.

It became apparent to me that getting the most of a viewing experience meant detailed planning and thought! You can't just rock up, sit down somewhere and have a great time, you need to think about these things!

Things changed when we got a campervan. We had the flexibility of getting to the preferred spot the night before and throwing the towel on the sun lounger. A couple of years ago, we did exactly this and went to the final climb in the stage to Chatel. We parked up got ourselves sorted and as the stage snaked away, we could actually cycle to the start and still have time to get back. This meant going into Switzerland and to the UCI headquarters where the start was happening. There was even a give it a go on the indoor cycling track! Coming back up the climb about is something special, the crowds are gathering and their cheer on punters like us as though we were the real deal! It really gets you immersed in the whole day and respect what the professionals are actually going through.

This was taken to an extreme last year when a group from Kent came to stay at our cycle centre in Le Grand Bornand. There were 4 stages all within cycling distance from us so we could really incorporate a nice ride alongside a pitchside view of the best race of them all. The highlight for me was the stage that went over our local Col des Aravis. We got up early and joined the route down near Annecy, we then spent the next 4 hours racing the road closures, and getting to our final viewing point on the last bends of the Aravis. We road a good 90km of the route, we were shattered, and this is nothing compared to the speeds and distances of the pros. We then had an amazing view down the valley to see the big boys coming up. They are fast.

We have just got back from the Liege Bastogne Liege one day race. The land where you get a 6% beer if you ask for a non-alcoholic drink! The fans here are fanatical. We did a similar trick, park the van, go for a cycle on part of the route and come back to watch the race. Total immersement. The thing though that I realised here was we were on gradients of 15% plus. Even the pros could not sprint up. They were split up, coming in ones and twos and going at walking (or jogging) pace. You could really see the pain in their eyes. It meant that the atmosphere and fun lasted. Steep slopes are the key it seems.

Next plan is to go to see the Giro d'Italia. I cannot wait, there is something about cycle racing in Italy, the pink jersey and the coffees. It is special. So one the check list; steep section of climb, end of the race with a bit of a cycle ourselves in the morning. Oh, mustn't forget a coffee stop. You can keep the Champions League Final, I prefer to be roadside