Just curious of people’s thoughts on this.

When ever I’ve gone to watch the tour around Europe I’ve never arrange much more than a day or 2 in advance.

Turning up parking and wild camping as we go. So it’s all I’d planned to do this year for the Yorkshire stages.

The closer it get the more I hear friends and family paying for the privilege to camp / watch the tour which seems wrong to me.

So just curious if anyone else is planning on wild camping on the moors and traveling up on foot / bike.

Also thought on where’s worth going on the route and travelling distance to the route!

Thanks in advance

http://www1.skysports.com/cycling/news/22854/8980028/tour-de-france-2014-the-ten-best-places-in-england-to-watch-the-race

There’s a lot of notices up all over Wensleydale and Swaledale warning you that if you park on July 5th, you’ll be towed, whether that also means cars parked on the verges, I’m not sure.

Well I live up here and literally every field adjacent to the route is an ‘official’ campsite or car park. Even the sheep are paying rent!

Good luck.

Rode up Holme Moss out of Holmfirth last week (first time up it, great climb) and EVERY field and drystone wall is sporting either a banner advertisement for camping @ £50 a ticket or a sign warning that no camping or motorhomes are allowed except in official sites.

You’re gonna need to wild camp a good way from the route i reckon..

I think a possible option is to get set up a day or two in advance in an adjacent valley near a bridleway into the route somewhere. For example, somewhere north west of Settle, Stainforth/Malham, where you could pick up Mastiles Lane or similar to MTB over the tops to a vantage point. If you get off early enough from an adjacent valley, I think you’ll then maybe be able to cycle up or down the TDF route to find a suitable spot beyond Kilnsey (if you chose Mastiles).
A lot of fields in the Dales are local farmer owned and walled, but there are many open spots by the roadside. if you take a European alps approach ie put a tent up at night and take it down during the day, you’ll maybe get away with it. No idea tho really, I think the whole Dales area might be mayhem.

In theory you could park at Semer Water then walk up/camp discreetly on the Stake Allotments above Kidstones (tent up at dark, down at dawn).

Trouble is, I reckon all normal bets are off in terms of a)how many other folk will be thinking the exact same thing, and b)what level of unusual busybody regulation you can expect for parking up and camping near the route.

I would expect teams of crack NP rangers with sniper rifles. 🙂

Seriously, people have turned it into a money making exercise? Paying for parking? Eh? Surely that is the opposite of what le tour is?

Seriously, people have turned it into a money making exercise? Paying for parking? Eh?

I was going to do the same thing, camp out overnight somewhere a little off course, then mtb in. But in the end i’ve paid for a campsite very close to the route. I think it’s going to be fairly chaotic, and I don’t want to lug too much around with me or worry about the car…having some toilets to use in the morning will be nice too!

alternatively , spend the same amount of cash for a long weekend away in luxury accomo near a nice MTB area of scotland/england/wales/europe and watch it on tv and actually get to see something instead of a massive blur of colours then hit the trails for the day.

My Plan A was to camp on the moorland above Buttertubs. Unfortunately I see that is now covered with ‘do not camp’ signs from the local landowner. I also noticed going up the ‘Cote’ that the prime viewing spots on the right of the climb mostly have a ‘spectator viewing area – adults £5’ sign on them. I guess I can understand it, but having watched the TdF in France, it feels a bit mercenary.

Yorkshire folk making money out of the an event, whatever next. Supose it reminds us all that the Olympic’s was free and the Commonwealth Games in Scotlandshire next month are free also. Nowt’s free.

Difficult to know if its worth risking a cheeky back road approach and camping in the back of the van. Not sure the wife would approve of that sentence…

i suspect these farmers might find things a little difficult to police on the day myself

Hmm my A plan had been similar to ‘Grizedaleforest’s, but camping a fair bit further north, a decent distance from the route, and cycling in on the sat am to Buttertubs. Anyone know if the same spectator fee areas have been set up on the ‘Cote de Grinton moor’, or ‘Cote de Griton Moor’ as the ASO have it on the official timing sheets? Although I think Jeff’s right, it may well be impossible to actually charge spectators on the day…

It all seems like a right lot of faff to see riders wizz by in a split second!

Check the road closures – some roads are closed (Swaledale) from 10pm the night before.

Not only are some roads closed but quite a lot to the side of the actual route have parking restrictions as well along with towing orders.

There are towing orders on roads round Otley that are nowhere near the route. I do wonder whether they will have enough tow trucks.

There cannot possibly be enough tow trucks in the universe to cover all the side roads they’ve marked off around here. Or enough car pounds to accommodate all the cars (mostly belonging to residents) they’d have to tow to clear them on the day.

I’m sure the signs are mainly there for deterrent value.

The B6270 into Reeth has signs up saying you’ll get towed, so I was wondering if I could park up near Wathgill Camp & whizz across a track OVER A DANGER AREA which brings you out on the road from Grinton, only about a 5K ride.
Will I die?

whizz across a track OVER A DANGER AREA which brings you out on the road from Grinton

That’ll be the firing range. Good luck 🙂

Apparently there will be park and cycle sites setup in Richmond and somewhere else (I forget), according to the official site. Something like a 20 mile ride in.

Will I die?

Have been guilty of cheeky shortcuts on the firing range just north of there. General rule is Sunday’s are OK, you are supposed to ask permission,they put up red flags too. Wathgill Camp is bit closer to Catterick,tank country I think.

Re camping, there are plenty of unclassified roads to the north of Gunnerside area, many that turn into bridleways. Also a few carparks: http://tdf.roadworks.org/

Might have a recky for signs this weekend.

They have just put up no parking towing signs in Outibridge, this is a bit ridiculous is there not some kind of warning they must give like two weeks notice or something ,other than the sporadic sign’s about a half mile apart and no other road markings saying do not park here ,its not illegal to park anywhere on my road till the 6th of july

You’re gonna need to wild camp a good way from the route i reckon..

You don’t even need to camp that far away. The fields along the route will be used but off a bridleway NO ONE can stop you (i.e those individuals who have placed themselves in charge of making money for themselves).

As long as its not a farmers field no one can stop you and you camp up at dusk who can ask you to move on- the sheep?

Or enough car pounds to accommodate all the cars (mostly belonging to residents) they’d have to tow to clear them on the day.

The signs mention “exempt vehicles” so presumably residents have some sort of permit. I’d guess that they’d want the roads for emergency vehicle access as access along the actual route might be a bit tricky.

Ah. No mention of exemptions on the signs I’ve seen, but it would be madness not to run the system like that.

As far as wild camping is concerned, there are stacks of good spots very near the route, but not many actually on it.

I think I might wild camp in the hammock in my garden and then pass through the house, using the facilities, before making my way across 50 yards of park before I get to the route. Might even take a bacon butty with me or a cup of tea.

I think I’ll sleep through it all then watch the highlights at half two in the morning on ITV4, at work, on double time.

A few facts.

While farmers can charge for their private land, there is nothing to stop you standing on the side of the road to watch the race. TDF is free to view. ASO are absolutely militant about that.

Wild camping is iffy, scout your place ahead of the time would be my advice, and have a back up. Cars will be towed. Believe it. We don’t have the wide hard standing verges like the french and people are cretins.

Residents do not have permits, lots of rumours going about, that one isn’t true. Excempt vehicles are Emergency services and organisers.

Here’s a fact though. Bikes are allowed on the route until ~ 30 minutes before the caravan. We cyclists have the perfect closed road to get to where we want to be on the route. The route itself.

Not everyone is ripping people off with camping, but many are providing temporary camping facilities on pop-up campsites, there is a cost to that. Pretty much every portaloo in England and Scotland will be in Yorkshire next weekend, along with most of the big screens in the country. Theres a cost with that.

For North yorkshire check this site, it has EVERYTHING on it.
http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/article/28353/Grand-dpart-2014

For Harrogate http://www.visitharrogate.co.uk/tdfinfo

For other areas check local authority sites.

I imagine a few residents will try to block off the pavement infront of their house? Bit hard really if you can’t park your car there and no one can stop you standing infront of their garden can they?

I’m going to stand on Ainley Top with my bike.

I was going to cycle up Holmfirth road from Greenfield but a local warned me its a very dangerous road for cyclists. Alternatives?!

There cannot possibly be enough tow trucks in the universe to cover all the side roads they’ve marked off around here. Or enough car pounds to accommodate all the cars (mostly belonging to residents) they’d have to tow to clear them on the day.

I’m sure the signs are mainly there for deterrent value.

This, but our boat trailer fell apart last Sunday on the outskirts of Skipton and the recovery bloke told us that they and many other private ‘recovery’ companies had contracts for removing vehicles on the day. This related to the route and/or council signs near the route, not signs put up by farmers etc.

They are not idle threats. They won’t be taking them far, and they will be working to quantity not quality. I wouldn’t want my car shifted by people in this much of a hurry put it that way.

Here’s the traffic order for North Yorkshire http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/media/28239/Tour-de-France-traffic-management-special-event-order/pdf/161635.pdf You have to go to about page twenty to get to the parking restrictions.

Just a couple more facts – 800,000 people attending stage 1 at least 80% will drive to nearby and walk / cycle rest of way. At a normal occupancy of 2.5 people per car on average thats around 200,000 extra cars.

People will drive as close as they can to the stage then once gridlock is achieved, they’ll abandon their cars and walk the remaining distance so as to not miss the race. I think you’ll be very unlucky to be towed anywhere – if anything the tow trucks will be stuck in traffic anyway…

I’m biking across from Carnforth on the morning – i think its a very bad move to try and take a car anywhere near – the only question is which bike? Road or mountain?

Once the road is closed they won’t be able to get into the tow zones. They close the road, tow the cars, all first thing in the morning.

I’m taking the road bike (assuming I have it by then).

Out of your 800,000 you need to take out the locals and those who are getting there by public transport. But, yes, there’s going to be a lot of extra cars about.

Meeting my son & partner in Kettlewell on Friday night & staying with the in-laws who live in the village. Unsure just where we will watch, anywhere around the two pubs (route goes between them) will be rammed I’d have thought.

Think we’re cycling over that way from Pateley. I’m going over to recky spots at the weekend.