Inaugural Tour de Yorkshire: Tour Maker!

Date: Saturday 2nd May 2015
Role: Deputy-Supervisor Sector F2 aka. York Finish line!

After volunteering last year at Le Grand Départ I couldn't resist applying to be a Tour Maker once again!

At 4am my phone alarm buzzed. It was time to get up! A nice early morning drive from Sheffield to York to kick start my day. We arrive at York Racecourse at 6:25am, perfect timing for Supervisor Check-In at 6:30am! After half an hour to catch my breath it was Supervisor Briefing time!

After Supervisor briefing, it was time to try and gather up the rest of Team F2 and break the ice between the team! It was amazing how much the excitement grew and grew throughout the morning, as we waited for the overall briefing and departure off onto the route!

We were lucky to be within walking distance of our location so more chatter and getting to know one another happened on the short walk up to the finish line. On route we sussed out where our nearest Porter-Loo's (oh the joy!) and crossing points were. On arrival at the furthest point on the route - aka. the finish line! - we stopped to take some photos to get those out of the way before we began our Tour Maker Roles!

Here's the wonderful Team F2 at the beginning of the day!

The day passed without any issues, and it was good to see such as amazing turn out for the Women's Race too! I was so lucky to be in the location I was, we got to see 4 passes of the Women's Race followed by 3 passes of the mens - last one being the finish of the mens race!

Throughout the day it was really inspiring to see so many spectators on their bikes! I've been contemplating giving road cycling a go since I volunteered on the Le Grand Départ, but this weekend really did cement it in my mind - I'm doing to give it a serious go!

The end of the day finished with the team forming a bit of a fence to prevent cyclists heading into the finishing area. This wasn't because we were spoil sports, this was for the health and safety of the cyclists and the work force taking down the finishing line to move onto Stage 3! 

Just as we were about to retire back to the racecourse, we were delighted to see Gary Verity and Christian Prudhomme walking their way back down the route. The perfect end to the day was a cheeky team photo with the pair of them and a chat about the day. Let's not mention the fact I wasn't exactly sure who one of these guys was when speaking to him, but I know now OK :-P

What an awesome day.... even if it took me a drive back to the North East, Mam's cooking and a hot bath to finally defrost!

Well done Yorkshire. Well Done Tour Makers..... Bring on Tour de Yorkshire 2016!!!