Yorkshire Riding.

Well. What can you say about that? The Tour came to Britain to a fabulous reception and delivered spectacular racing. Day one followed up a royal start with a beautiful race and then a finish that didin’t quite go to plan.

The plan was for Cavendish to win in the town he grew up in and seal a yellow jersey and a home win for Britain, but a bit of leaning and a bit of bad luck put him on the floor and eventually out of the race as a whole. A separated shoulder led to a clearly emotional Cav on telly and apologising to Simon Gerrans and pulling out of the race. So, in the wake of that Marcel Kittel won the stage, confirming it as a sprinter’s day.

Day two was another Yorkshire showcase in a stage that dragged the GC favourites out for a go, as Froome gave a dig and the race wound up Holm Mosse between properly Alpine crowds. In the end a late attack by Nibali stuck and he took his first stage win and the yellow jersey.

Stunning racing in landscape that should make the Tour come back to the UK, and today they’re off to London from Cambridge. Expect another big sprint, with no Mark Cavendish, and another possible big day for Kittel.

So that was the start of a fabulous Tour which may lack British interest after it leaves these shores, with only three British riders left and however much Geraint Thomas can push from the front it’s just missing a certain je ne sais quoi as it hits France. But then I’ve never fully engaged before the second week.

In the mean time I planned a smooth big ride in Hertfordshire but ended up driving to Chicksands to have a play in the bike park. I was ace with a chance to try the new bike on the bigger stuff and an opportunity to do some things that scare me. For the first time in years I went for some stuff that scared me and came away with some little moves under my belt and a mile from having pushed myself. I hit the mini downhill to warm up, then the snake run, the switchbacks for a blast and then the drops. These are graded and I worked up to the second level while pushing myself to go that little further and work my riding forward.

Squeezing another ride in on Sunday I hit Lordship Rec and found the confidence from Saturday coming through, to let me hit the jumps with more power and with a hell of a lot of air. The move from a 140 mil travel 27.5 inch wheel bike to a BMX on 20” wheels was an eye opener but a fun game as I suddenly cleared more jumps than ever before and blasted laps until I had no more in me.

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