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Showing random photos from the photos section of the site. There's some sense of order to them, but they have been taken from an array of different places .... from NASCAR to bird watching, they're all there.

This Week's Vote

Each week we host a different vote on this site. It's generally something around a completely meaningless topic and should definitely not be taken seriously. It is, however, a tradition I've kept for the past 18 years.

This week's question: Will I get called from anyone at work this week after Monday?

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Latest Blog

Monaco F1 Grand Prix in a Wheelchair

The first piece that I'm sort of commissioned to do. Well, commissioned would be an over exaggeration, but I was asked. So, I went to the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monaco. While I was there, among the many great people, I met a couple of folks that asked if you could attend the race in a wheelchair as I was using one. There was someone they knew that wanted to go, but was concerned, so here goes.

Can you attend the Monaco grand prix in a wheelchair?

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: yes, but you can't just turn up and expect to be able to get where you want to go and it's not going to be easy.

A little background

One challenge of trying to provide guidance is that no two disabilities are the same. In order to put this into context I'll try to describe my situation. I had a spinal injury and am an incomplete C6. I am able to walk, but as I've aged that has deteriorated. I am able to manage a flight of stairs as long as there is a rail for me to hold. I have pretty good upper body strength.

The Monaco Challenges

Monaco is and amazing place with beautiful views, however, it has a number of challenges for someone in a wheelchair:

• It is built into a mountain and has very steep inclines.
• There are stairs in many places. A lot of these also had escalators, but most of those weren't working when I was there.
• It is old and there are a lot of narrow streets - some of which are easier to use than others.
• There is a lot of construction in Monaco. The sidewalks/pavements are closed off where construction is occurring causing detours.
• The roads are not closed around the circuit for the grand prix. There were race driver escorts and VIP cars driving through the crowds.
• Many roads go into tunnels and don't have sidewalks/pavements next to them, so these can't be used.
• (I'd hoped to be able to just push/be pushed along the road as this would avoid any stairs. That can't be done because of the roads not being closed, the tunnels and the construction. The police were guiding you around these areas regardless of whether you were being sent to stairs.)
• The streets are very crowded after the race with a lot of groups gathering and blocking passage. It was really hard to get any momentum going up the hills.
• The buildings are old. The one we were in did have an elevator, but it was not big enough for the wheelchair, so it had to be carried up the stairs.
• The building shut down the elevator after the race to stop it being overused which meant I had to wait and we were on a timeline to get back to the bus.

Recommendations

• Know where you're going to watch the race from. There are wheelchair accessible places in the grandstands. I didn't go to them, but I assume they are fine. If you are in one of the buildings like I was, make sure there is an elevator big enough for a wheelchair or you can stand long enough in the elevator while someone carries your chair to your floor.
• Know where you are going to be dropped off and how you are going to get to where you will watch the race.
  • As noted previously, there were a very small number of VIP cars going to the trackside - I don't know how you would get one or the cost, but it would make it a lot easier.
  • If possible, have someone walk the route the day before to check for stairs and construction that would cause a problem.
  • Do any traversing of the track higher up, then go towards the track. It's almost impossible to move round the edge of the track.
  • (Many people attending used the train to get there. I did not, so can't comment on how easy it is to use or how to get to the track from the train station).
  • There is the option to stay in Monaco and you can even stay in one of the casino's with a balcony that overlooks the track. As you can imagine though, these are very expensive.
• It's best to have at least one able bodied person with you that can push. I'm sure there are many wheelchair users that could push themselves around, but it is steep and the stop, start in the crowd makes it really hard. I had my son with me (he needs the exercise 😁).
• Get to the track early when there are not too many people around. Unless you're on a timeline, also stay late to let people leave.

My Experience

There are a number of things above I wish I'd known before I went. I was only there on the Saturday and Sunday, not any of the other days. We stayed in a hotel in Nice and had a bus in and out of Monaco. The bus left 45 minutes after the end of qualifying on the Saturday and 45 minutes after the podium on the Sunday. This timing caused quite a bit of anxiety as to whether we would make it, particularly on the Sunday after the race when the building shut the elevator down. We did get them to bring it up for me, but not until 15 minutes after the podium which only gave us 30 minutes to catch the bus. We made it though.

On the Saturday when we got there our guide took us from where the bus dropped off to a meeting point. We never knew or found where this meeting point was. We walked about a block and then hit a flight of stairs that went over a gantry across a road. By the time I made it to the top of the stairs, the group had gone. There was then a promenade with another flight of stairs. We also didn't really know where we were going and didn't go in a direct route. We used Google maps walking directions, but there was a lot of GPS drift which made it hard. I think in total I went up or down seven flights of stairs which could have been easily avoided.

On the way back to the bus on Saturday we made an accidental discovery. The College Charles III is very disabled friendly with a public promenade and public elevators. We used this route on Sunday and it made it very easy with no stairs. It's easier to show on the map picture below. The bus dropped us off at the stadium (point A at the bottom of the map). Follow the arrow to the x (point D) which is where the elevator is. You have to take it up 6 floors to the college, point C (it makes sense when you're there, you get on at -6 and it goes up to 0 which is the promenade). Once you are on the promenade you can get to the major roads and head into the track avoiding all stairs. (The green is the track).


Was it worth it?

Yes! Look, the Monaco Grand Prix is the most boring race on the calendar. It's all about qualifying on Saturday as there's no place to overtake. The race itself is possessional. But it's Monaco which has an amazing atmosphere and feel to it. And there's also those yachts!

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