Another spectacle to get excited about
YOU may have heard the news that we’re gearing up for another world-class cycling event in Carmarthenshire, with the announcement that we’ve been chosen to host the final stage of the Women’s Tour in June.
This is fantastic news, and follows our hugely successful hosting of the men’s Tour of Britain last September. It gives us another chance to shine on an international stage, and gives residents and visitors another spectacle to get excited about and involved in. The race will take in two of our national cycling facilities, the historic velodrome in Carmarthen where the final stage of the race will begin, on to Llandeilo, the epic Black Mountains, and through the Amman and Gwendraeth Valleys before ending at Pembrey Country Park – home of the national closed-road cycle circuit.
Yet again, this race promises to boost the local economy with businesses including those in the cycling, tourism and hospitality industries set to benefit the most.
I had the opportunity to meet the race director at the launch in Pembrey last week, and he is as excited as we are to bring the tour to Carmarthenshire.
Our breathtaking landscape not only provides the perfect backdrop for the final stage of the race, but provides an immense challenge to all the riders taking part – including at least one local cyclist, our own Manon Lloyd, who we hope will benefit from some home advantage. We hope that the county will get behind us and help make this another fantastic event.
CI’LL get to the point I want to make in a minute. Meanwhile . . .
As a youngster, I thought “Pride comes before a fall!” referred to mishaps that befell big-headed jockeys, steeplejacks and trapeze artistes.
Not that I used the words “mishaps” or “befell” back then.
However, it began to make sense the first time I felt proud that my hard work had paid off and I achieved some success.
Then “Lady Luck” vanished and I learned that after something positive happens, life can often slap us in the chops – reminding us we’re nobody special.
Perhaps some individuals go from the cradle to the grave bathed in a golden light, never touched by tragedy or disappointment.
I’d say “Good luck” to them . . . but obviously they don’t need it!
After many career ups followed by a similar number of downs, I thought it’d make sense to lock my pride away in the basement. Without pride, I couldn’t fall, right?
Yes! I’m getting to the point. When I hear people announce “I’m a proud Welshman” so frequently it becomes monotonous – a certain daytime Radio Wales presenter is particularly guilty of this – I want to say: “Look! I’m Welsh, too, and very happy to be. But do us all a favour and stop throwing the ‘P’ word around
willy-nilly!”
My inner Welshman was insulted recently when, in an episode of the TV series Holiday of my Lifetime Len Goodman took Toyah Wilcox back to somewhere she went on holiday as a child: Llangollen. So internationally famous, everyone knows how to pronounce it.
Toyah pronounced it correctly. Everyone they met during the show pronounced it correctly.
But Len insisted on continually mispronouncing it: Langol-an. Then, during the closing credits, he had the nerve to say: “I did my best with the Welsh pronunciations!”
Because this was blatantly untrue, I became so outraged, my pride returned to such an extent I’m applying for a daytime gig on Radio Wales.