As it was practically on our doorstep... well an hour and a halfs drive away, my son and I went to watch a bit of the TOB. I had already recce'd the road between Tiverton and Ashburton and so we headed for the very top of the last climb.
My son has been to TOB before and warned me that there would be a lot of people, he wasn't flippin kidding, Dartmoor was full! In the end we couldn't get to the top of the climb, but we did end up right on the line of the 3rd KOM.
The atmosphere was great, like a big street party, with Skoda handing out flags and other bits n bobs. As we still had over an hour wait, I went to buy myself a coffee, only to find that Skoda were giving it out free.... NICE.
While I was waiting for my coffee, a bloke in walking boots, shorts, sun hat etc came across and started in at the girls serving the drinks "what are you doing here? Who gave you permission to set this up? How much are you charging for all this? You are not allowed here, this is private land!"
Just as I was about to tell this w*nker to shut the fcukup, a guy from Skoda appeared and told the bobbly they had permission from the TOB organisers, and that the drinks were all free. This blunted the ar$eholes sword a bit, but he continued to rant as he was directed towards the TOB organisers car.
I was absolutely livid, what the hell planet is this bobbly on? The car park was packed, there must have been a couple of thousand people just at this one point and probably close to a million in the National Park, all there to enjoy the sunshine, atmosphere and the brief moment of seeing and experiencing the TOB.
After that, I went back to the line, saw Basso, Sanchez, JTL, Cav and all the rest come flashing through, including the lad who was dead last, about eight minutes behind everyone else, who got a HUGE cheer from the crowds.
It was a great morning out, even allowing for the bobbly to$$er.
My son has been to TOB before and warned me that there would be a lot of people, he wasn't flippin kidding, Dartmoor was full! In the end we couldn't get to the top of the climb, but we did end up right on the line of the 3rd KOM.
The atmosphere was great, like a big street party, with Skoda handing out flags and other bits n bobs. As we still had over an hour wait, I went to buy myself a coffee, only to find that Skoda were giving it out free.... NICE.
While I was waiting for my coffee, a bloke in walking boots, shorts, sun hat etc came across and started in at the girls serving the drinks "what are you doing here? Who gave you permission to set this up? How much are you charging for all this? You are not allowed here, this is private land!"
Just as I was about to tell this w*nker to shut the fcukup, a guy from Skoda appeared and told the bobbly they had permission from the TOB organisers, and that the drinks were all free. This blunted the ar$eholes sword a bit, but he continued to rant as he was directed towards the TOB organisers car.
I was absolutely livid, what the hell planet is this bobbly on? The car park was packed, there must have been a couple of thousand people just at this one point and probably close to a million in the National Park, all there to enjoy the sunshine, atmosphere and the brief moment of seeing and experiencing the TOB.
After that, I went back to the line, saw Basso, Sanchez, JTL, Cav and all the rest come flashing through, including the lad who was dead last, about eight minutes behind everyone else, who got a HUGE cheer from the crowds.
It was a great morning out, even allowing for the bobbly to$$er.
