please empty your brain below

A great write up as usual, as well as a great spectacle and atmosphere watching from E17; as you say you stand for hours and the main event is gone in seconds.

As a sort of aside, but presumaby TDF related, on my way into work later on I noticed that the gates on Carpenters Road which you had described last Wednesday as, "firmly locked and seemingly forgotten," were OPEN! Maybe I dreamt it as come 1am this morning normal service had been resumed and they were again (presumably locked) closed.

dg writes: No, you didn't dream that the gates on Carpenters Road were temporarily open. Here's a photo!
It did seem like an incredible amount of organisation for something which took mere minutes to pass. And to think - there's three weeks of this, every year!

We ended up watching at the fringes of Leyton, at the corner of Lea Bridge Road and Orient Way (on the basis that they'd probably slow down a little for the turn) - there was a massive turnout there, I think largely because half of Clapton had come along too.

I did overhear this exchange between a nearby spectator and a steward:
- Any idea when they're due?
- I was told between 3 and 3.15, and it's 20 past now.
- Oh. Do you know where they are now?
- nope.
- Are you local?
- No, I've come down from Cardiff to tell people I haven't a clue what's going on.
I was at Plaistow outside the Black Lion - and in. Marvellous stuff for the locals and a good viewing point.
Great article, as usual.

Was a little earlier up the route at Lea Bridge Station (as was, as will be).

Got some quite good photos... Tour de France, Lea Bridge (Station), London.

Nice to see it again... last time was 6 July 1994 in Brighton.

It doesn't SEEM like 20 years ago.
Like Brianist I went to see Le Tour in 1994 but at the UK Portsmouth stage.
I have also seen the closing stage in Paris a few times.
Yesterday I set out to go and watch it in London but when it rained I came back home.
Typical: for the second time in a few months DG must have walked right past me and I didn't even know. Knowing your dislike for the canine species DG, I suspect you gave my guide dog, tied to the central reservation barrier just before the Lower Lea Crossing a rather wide berth.

It was however a great place to watch from, with a long sweeping bend and a slight incline, not to mention a sturdy barrier to stand on. Shane about the timing of the rain though.
The atmosphere and crowds outside the Copper Box was wonderful. I recorded the London leg and watched it when I got home. I was disappointed that ITV cut to an advert break after the Olympic park and didn't return until the Tour reached Prince Regent Lane. Plaistow it seems got the raw deal again.
Having studied a map, I figured out a plan that should have enabled me to see the procession at three places, perhaps even more.
First, ride up through Chigwell and on up to Chipping Ongar, to (1) Fyfield; then back via Chipping Ongar on to the A414 to catch them at (2) Tyler's Green; and then down through Abridge and Loughton to catch them at Epping.
Sure, the cyclists would have a straighter route than me, but hey, they're not on a 900cc sportsbike.
Saw them at Fyfield but then the plan fell to bits. Saw the tail end of them at the A414 roundabout, but they were already long gone by the time I reached Epping, and they even beat my charge down the M11 to try and see them at the QEOP.
Like you say, it takes so long in arriving and then it all comes so fast and it's gone in a flash.
I was happy to settle for having seen them the same number of times as most other people: once.
That wasn't, however, quite the end. I stopped at the tea hut on Blackheath on my way home, and had the surprise of seeing the French Gendarmie motorcyclists making their way (with considerable urgency) towards Dover, followed a little time later by many of the team support cars.
A great day
Much ado about nothing then
@Anon from 8:55 a.m.

Don't worry, the TV coverage was almost as bad on french television. When the riders arrived on Westfield Avenue, I just managed to see that horrible rusty righ-rise for students and a bit of Westfield before the feed switched to an aerial view of the London Eye (or was it already "Ze Shard of Glass" ? They did that too). And when the peloton was around Plaistow, then they switched to an aerial view of the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Center, which the french commenters called "le vélodrome".

@DG : Thanks for the photos. I wondered if the Caravane du Tour would preserve all its frenchness in Britain. Now I know some of the floats have been anglicised : Teisseire has become Robinsons, and those McCain Oven Chips will be renamed "Frites Just au Four" (really) after crossing the Channel.
I watched from Upper Thames Street between St James Garlickhythe and the white footbridge over the road. I can confirm the stewarding was equally jobsworthy there at time. So much so that one bloke who insisted on standing on the footbridge, after first the stewards then the police asked him to move, ended up getting arrested. To be fair he was being rather abusive.

Also, I thought the McCain thing was matches but on a closer look is in fact seeds to grow your own basil, thyme etc.
The McCains thing is a book of seeds to grow things. I got one on the Cote de Oxenhope Moor on Sunday.

@Anon from Belgium: Teisseire were also there with a separate float. They didn't throw anything out where I was, miserable buggers.
Excellent experience....didn't think to look out for you but I'm probably in your photo taken from West Silvertown DLR as that's where I viewed it from. I even revived Planarchy for a day to share my pix (inspired by Witchy's). Did you miss the custom painted DLR carriages (can't get to your flickr photos so maybe you didn't).
What's so unusual about a load of cyclists barrelling through London on the wrong side of the road and not stopping for anything?
I bet some of the cyclists in Le Mans say the same thing about the cars there!

Except they make more noise & the roads are closed for much longer.
I wonder if anyone put together a blooper reel of the ITV coverage. Describing the Gherkin as the infamous onion & London's town hall, then describing the Aquatic Centre and paths around it as the Velodrome & cycle course. Apparently the Square Mile was derelict for many years, which I guess was meant to be Docklands. Both commentators reading the same paragraph straight after each other. Many more examples. I had the feeling the pictures and script came from the French broadcasters, and was just translated and read out verbatim. Entertaining all the same!
I think my favourite from the ITV highlights was the "Olympic tower, where the Olympic flame was flying high"
A couple of them did try to take the Superhighway...
Watched it in Yorkshire -only caught a P&O key ring so DG caught more swag than me. Seeing those ridiculous advertising vehicles hurtle along was quite bizarre.
Watched the East End section on tv. The commentary was laughable. At City airport, they said the best way into town is by water taxi. Oh really?
I've always enjoyed the Liggett and Sherwin commentary but I just ended up annoyed at the ridiculous errors as the race went through East London. The star quote for me was "I know a few people who've had a swim in the Olympic Stadium". I assume Mr S meant the Acquatic Centre. I'm now left wondering whether the commentary is equally surreal for the parts of France the race runs through. Anon above would seem to suggest that it is!

I wasn't well enough to see the race at the roadside although I've seen it in Paris many times. As the race approached my little corner of the world the cameras switched to aerial views of the City and Westminster and then went to the adverts. Arrrgh! I did see a tiny glimpse of Waterworks Corner and bits of Leyton. I see Orient Way also became part of the Olympic Park! Shame I missed it "for real" - I doubt it'll ever be back to East London in my lifetime.
Like others I was appalled at the ITV coverage.

The comentators were completely inaccurate with a lot of their descriptions of the sights in London - even Tower Bridge was called the Tower of London at one point.

I watched the race from the off for hours expecting to see my little corner of the world Stratford to Plaistow and what do they do? - cut to the adverts and missed the lot out. Joke!

I know our bit is not as interesting as others but they showed miles and miles of open countryside and featureless country lanes on the previous two days which was even less interesting
Lovely word "Peleton" I have learned something new.
Regards
Poul
ITV commentator corrected the other one saying Tower Bridge was not the 'Tower of London' but 'London Bridge'!

Watched the TV screen in Stratford Westfield very handily under cover when it rained and popped out to watch them come by only 100 yards away.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/14597439095/in/photostream/ Just missed you Diamond Geezer! My bike is the blue folding bike by the railings. I've always wondered what you looked like and now I've missed my chance. Great report thanks.
Watched from just after the Limehouse Link tunnel, good spot even if they were going at quite a speed. Went over to Flanders on Tuesday, missed caravan due to 3.5 hour Eurotunnel delay but caught the riders. Next day in Ypres (very wet) watched the caravan go by, lots more vehicles than in the UK, I guess some don't think it worth travelling. Loaded up with goodies that I will never need retired into Belgium bar to wait the 2 hours for riders to pass in 15 seconds, 12k into the race there was never going to be a breakaway of any substance. I enjoyed it anyway...










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