As the flame arrived

Posted on May 19, 2012

So, as the Olympic flame arrived on the UK shores for the first time in 64 years, I was riding my motorbike from Norfolk to London for an overnight stay prior to a final venue test for the Cycling TimeTrial at Hampton Court Palace.

Short nights sleep followed by a 5am ride into the city with very little traffic and strangely warm weather, the sun even came out every now and then.

Met up with colleagues from the National Escort Group who are supporting the event alongside the police and of course the teams from both Locog and the GamesMakers.

I can’t remember meeting so many happy smiling people at such an early time of the morning. Coffee and Danishes for breakfast, followed by instructions for the day.

All went well, needless to say they had pretty much sorted it all on paper long before we got there, so it was a matter of fine tuning and for us, just understanding more about what else a major event like this involves over and above the likes of the Tour of Britain.

Team pic afterwards followed by egg butties and coffee and a chat with people from all walks of life. That’s one of the best things about being involved with an event like the Olympics, no matter what role you have, what position you hold or wether your paid or a volunteer, you’re all there for the same reason and with the same enthusiasm to make one thing happen. No room for egos or attitudes. The guys getting paid are more than earning their wages and regardless of what the press may try to say, they are doing a great job, one that ends just a few days after the closing ceremony for many of them. We may have to give up out time for free but we’ve got jobs at the end of it.

More training days in London from now until August, getting very real now.

The Old Flames coming

Posted on May 14, 2012

In 4 days time the old flame arrives from Greece and does its rounds of the good old UK…and Ireland, possibly as a thanks for allowing Mrs Queen to visit again and in respect of the many Brits origins being Irish anyway, especially in London.

So, I’m off to collect my uniform this week and get all excited about the event of a lifetime getting that next big step closer.

Since the Velodrome test event in Feb it’s mainly been a case of receiving emails confirming schedules and job roles.

I’ve added a bit of confusion by volunteering through Locog along side my skilled contracted position through British Cycling/NEG.

The role I undertook on the RoadRace test event last year has been confirmed again with added roles on the TimeTrial and Paralympic events. An additional 6 days racing I hadn’t expected but am thrilled to have been chosen for.

It turns out that all these additional races will involve me riding a sponsors motorcycle including wearing their complete head to toe kit to boot. Been measured up for an existing range with the actual one differing as part of a summer range, good job too as the kit I tried on was a heavy winter specific kit and I’m hoping for warm weather if not sunshine.

As for the Velo event, I’ve been scheduled for not just ten but fifteen days starting two weeks prior to the track events starting and nearly all being 12 hour shifts. Length of shifts I expected but I wasn’t prepared for the number of days.

I had booked a total of two weeks over the entire racing schedule to cover road and track events and with the additional time trial work it has left only seven days I can use to cover the track events with most being the key medal days rather than any pre-event days. Even this is only due to my employer allowing me to buy additional holidays to compensate, or else it would’ve been just four.

I have read a lot about GamesMakers not being able to commit to the schedules theyve been given and having no luck in discussing alternatives and although I may also have found the schedules overwhelming at first reading, I did expect the 12hour shifts and numbers of days to an extent. Like everyone else, I read the job disruption before volunteering and it highlighted unsociable hours for many positions so the shock was lessened to that extent. I think some just never read this or never thought about how they’d be able to get in and out of London to attend. It’s just a shame that more from inner London itself didn’t volunteer, choosing to just watch or profit instead.

So the next step is getting dressed for the occasion followed by an additional test event I put my hand up for. The TimeTrial has a simple test event this weekend just for event staff to get to grips with procedures on location now so we can iron out any issues now ahead of the actual event. It will be a good chance to see the start and finish venue from the race point of view and work with those that will be there on the day, get rid of any race day nerves now.

Then I’ve got another day for role specific training for the velodrome, in June. I thought we’d done this all in Feb but this will include a visit to the permanent facilities building that wasn’t ready along with more indepth discussions on shift availability and role duties, possibly looking to share the skills better. Great to see as I’m sure some of the volunteers can do a lot more than they where doing at the test event due to unused skills.

Before I know it, the events will all be over and I will be looking forward to Septembers Paralympics which is a real bonus for me. But in the meantime I’ve got a few cycle races and charity events to cover alongside a job to commit to so I can afford to miss sales targets in August with all the time off. Good job Aviva are supportive.