Saturday 4 December 2021

Royal Tunbridge Wells and Cycling

We stayed overnight at RTW yesterday and woke up to a rather wet day. However, we weren't disheartened and set off from our hotel to see the Wellington Rocks, which had been recommended to us by a lady who we met while walking home from the Opera pub. 


They were very nice as rocks go, quite smooth but not slippery with foot sized steps up to the top. 

We then walked to an area called the Pantiles. It was a bit similar to the Shambles in York and was a beautiful area of original buildings and for some unexplained reason, a statue of a person balancing on what looked like a polar bear.

We were very impressed with RTW, lots of history, lovely looking shops and cafes, and we didn't do it justice. I have made a mental note to go again and do a better job next time. 

In the evening we went to the velodrome at Stratford to see part three of the UCI Track Champions League. Basically, it was all of the best track cyclists in the world whizzing around the banking on the velodrome just a few feet from our seats.

It had a great atmosphere and amazing lighting effects.


We saw some great races, particularly Katie Archibald who had a fantastic win in the elimination race, as the crowd screamed and cheered her on.

In the terrifying sprint races the cyclists reached 70kms an hour and I was relieved that only two people crashed throughout the whole evening, and even they got up straight away.



2 comments:

  1. We saw Katie Archibald win Madison gold in a similar event in Glasgow a few years ago. It turns out she completed the event with a fractured wrist - and that really isn't the event to be doing with a dodgy wrist

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  2. I wouldn't like to enter any of the events, ever! The speeds that they reach and how close together that they get is terrifying. Great atmosphere though

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