If there is such a condition as cyclomania, it has engulfed large stretches of Yorkshire, where this year's Tour de France kicked off on Wednesday with a parade of all 198 riders in Leeds.
Homage ranges from huge bike-themed land sculptures on Pennine hillsides beside the route, to the homely slogan "Ey up T. de F" painted on the road surface which the peloton will whizz across; knitting has seldom reached such a pitch of frenzy, even in the textile towns of Calderdale, for bunting in Le Tour's assorted colours; Swaledale hill sheep, doubtless providers of some the knitters' yarn, have been enlisted too – several routeside flocks sport red spots on their fleeces, the maillot a pois rouges worn by the Tour contestant who climbs a mountain first.
The French may take an understandably condescending view of these jolly proceedings: official Tour maps show only one English mountain – La Cote de Holme Moss – and it is dwarfed by the mighty peaks which the riders must scale in the Alps and the Pyrenees. But Yorkshire has climbed its own mountain very successfully in winning and subsequently promoting the Grand Depart from Leeds and the first two stages in the county this weekend. It has built on a famous tradition of cycling, from Morley's champion Beryl Burton to the socialist Clarion Clubs whose members sang anthems as they rode.
But the Tour is not really about the past. Welcome to Yorkshire's chief executive, Gary Verity (himself a sheep farmer), and his board chaired by Clare Morrow, have played a blinder – and a timely one at that. Their seizure and confident handling of the main chance coincides with a series of declarations from political parties about the need to let England's regions off the metropolitan leash. George Osborne spoke glowingly two weeks ago of a "northern powerhouse" and an HS3 alongside the M62 – let's build it now and junk HS1 and 2 with their risk of increasing the suction of talent to London. Then Labour's Lord Adonis, who has spoken a lot of sense previously about the potential of the north-east, weighed in last week with a call for powerful city regions.
The cynic may complain of having heard all of this before, and the realist may ask if there will really be action to match the words once the general election has been fought. But there seems to be a trend, and the increasing madness of London house prices compared with almost the whole of the rest of the country is winning a wider hearing for arguments which previously excited only existing enthusiasts.
Le Tour de Yorkshire's importance in this debate is as evidence of the chutzpah, optimism and achievement on the ground in the north, which is so often obscured by the UK's stubbornly metropolitan "national" media. Those who come to watch, with sun forecast for Saturday and much less traffic disruption than the matrix signs on southern sections of the M1 suggest, will get a sense of energy, fun and enterprise, as well as enjoying the ravishing scenery.
This part of the answer to the Northern Question is important in countering the view that recovery is all a matter of handouts from London. Freedom and resources are essential, but the regions are already helping themselves. Amid the welter of Tour-related advertising I've passed today, a memorable example was a church's wayside pulpit in Shipley showing two cyclists beside the slogan, "Jesus is going in the right direction". If he's heading north for the Tour he will be.