Visitors to many towns and villages throughout Yorkshire will be amazed with what’s happening as residents are engaging with the spirit and ‘gearing up’ to give a huge warm welcome to the world’s greatest cycling race coming to our region on those very soon-to-be famous diary dates of 5 & 6 July 2014.
Generally known as ‘the County of the White Rose’, residents and businesses are turning Yorkshire yellow as many residents and business owners have been busily preparing their communities for the eyes of the world to see. Visitors (and TV viewers all across the globe) will be able to see show-stopping displays of yellow blooms in the form of perennials and bedding plants lining the race routes and many streets decked with pretty bunting. They’ll even find brightly painted buildings across the villages and towns of Yorkshire to mark this well-looked-forward-to historical event.
Watch out for Yellow bikes as you travel all over Yorkshire – you might find these stunning two wheeled formations peeping out of village corners, held high up on rooftops and gathered around in the most unusual of places. They’ll be in guises of all sizes and decorated and themed amazingly. Some may appear in the shapes of animals, and some even have huge, heavy tractor tyres donning the wheels.
In Knaresborough, (which has its very own Visitor Hub in the Town Centre and where the world’s greatest cyclists will head up York Road and York Place, along the High Street and down Bond End – Stage 2 – Sunday 6 July at around 12.00 noon) you’ll find yellow bikes dotted all around the town. Knaresborough has its very own yellow bike trail and there are currently nearly 50 bikes on the trail placed at well over 40 different locations around the town. Each bike holds its very own cycling related name. Trail leaflets can be picked up at the local Tourist Information Centre and there’s a competition to name all the bikes. Le Tour Knaresborough are aiming to have 100 bikes by the Yorkshire Grand Depart start and these bikes, at a later stage, will be fully restored and exported to Africa before Christmas.
If you’re planning on visiting The Oldest Sweet Shop in England at Pateley Bridge, watch out for the yellow Penny Farthing on the shop’s front wall. You can join the Yellow Bike Walking Trail around Pateley Bridge too, and there’s a Dales Yellow Bike car/bike discovery trail around Nidderdale to enjoy.
Visit G&T’s Ice Cream Parlour (on the farm at Risplith, between Pateley Bridge and Ripon) – their building (2nd image from top) has been specifically and superby painted in colours to celebrate this world famous cycling event.
Over at Helmsley near the North York Moors check out the bike placed on top of a window at the White Swan Inn Hotel in Pickering’s Market Place.
If your village or town is displaying an amazing range of these bicycles, please tell us about it.
What did you spot? Which is your favourite display? We’d love to know.