Records, Golds and Pads
I left the comfort of student halls over the previous 5 nights to find my tent still in the same place I found it, just outside Lee Valley park and close enough to the Olympic Park for me to be able to get into work for 7am each of the next 6 days I volunteered for at the Velodrome. Good job really, it took me long enough to get through London with all the diversions due to the Olympic lanes…..still expecting a ticket somewhere for crossing one or two unknowingly as I performed the odd U-turn.
Day one at the Velodrome was an easy start. Compared to the test event in Feb, which was a round of the UCI Track World Cup, this was going to be easy. We had 6 days to run about 60% of the events usually run at a WC round and 6 days instead of 3 to do it. Today’s racing didn’t start until 4pm so we had plenty of time to sort the place and ourselves out.
My team included the same guys I worked with in Feb and it was a great bonus as they where all great guys, a collection of characters that together made it all happen, a true team. From that perspective, the entire team, volunteers and Locog staff alike, where all one of the best teams I’ve had the pleasure to be asked to work with. We all noticed who wasn’t there as only 40% of the test event staff had been selected to work in these key field of play roles at the Olympics. Honoured and privileged as we where, we all knew why some weren’t and it showed. Mutual respect and acknowledgement among the team didn’t take longer than a second or two from meeting and greeting.
If heard a saying somewhere in the training for the Olympics, “One Olympics, One Team” and this was exactly what had formed. We where working in fairly key roles, trusted to work alongside the athletes themselves, in view of the public at all times and visible on the millions of tv screens across the globe, albeit, in the background hopefully. Protocol was important and we all respected this to its fullest, helping each other where required and always accepting this help in a constructive manner. I only had the displeasure to meet one person who failed entirely to understand any of this and thankfully he wasn’t working in our team as his attitude alone would’ve destroyed our entire teams pride. It takes all sorts I suppose and I did have a good laugh at his expense.
One of my key activities in my role, was to manage the track pads used to ensure riders don’t benefit from cutting the corners when an distance or timed event is run. Seems fairly simple, place 18 pads around a corner and stand there to replace them if they get clipped or blown off line. It is actually that simple, but then you add in the importance of protocol and the fact your the only person able to come into contact with an athletes goal of winning a gold medal at the Olympics and then you start to wake up to the fact it should be simple but then they wouldn’t have a team of people doing it if it was, instead using the Commissaires who stand on watch around the track as well, they normally replace the pads themselves as it is for their rules the pads exist.
Everyone’s roles took on a more focused priority, the Commissaires couldve done this but at the cost of what? Enough was made of rulings being applied never mind if they hadn’t been applied because they where replacing a track pad at the time.
You usually get 2 riders or teams on track at the same time during these events, pursuit races being the most common. This meant you had about 8 seconds to accurately replace a pad, meaning it had to be in the right place and facing the right direction. Rules and safety governing one and protocol governing the latter. Again in itself, not a difficult task, but then add in the other 17 pads spread over 90 metres around the corner that may have moved as well and then the 28degree heat you had to work in, then the fact you can never put your back to the riders for safety, also the photographers you tried not to get in the way of, protocol of staying at the corner apex where not actually active and all of this crammed into 8 seconds doesn’t give you much room left to breathe.
It’s hot, fast and required a lot of concentration. Privileged we may have been to be able to witness world records being beaten just a metre away from us, we never really watched what was happening as we didn’t have the time to. To check whether a pad has moved, you watch each pad as it is passed by the riders to see if it moves, remember which one did, watch all the way to the end and then run to the one you need to move or prioritise which one of the 3/4 is most important or easiest to get done quickly before the next riders arrive. The one thing this does allow you to watch is the line the riders hold on the track and we could all easily see how Team GBs concentration on marginal gains resulted in them taking a precise shortest route every lap, tracking the black line within 1cm where other big teams either rode about 6 cms outside it or else all over the place. This black line is the one that is accurately drawn to mark out a 250m line around the track. Below it, you could reduce the distance every lap but that’s why we had pads there, so there was no advantage in doing so. Above it, you could go where you wanted but in a time trial over numerous laps, this was no advantage as it just extended your distance and world records are set by tenths of seconds, usually. When TeamGB set their Team Pursuit World Record in qualifying, I was lucky enough to be managing the pads on one corner to witness the feat achieved. The wind created by 4 men, riding nose to tail in each others draft, is more than enough to move every single one of these pads every lap, and it pretty much did too, I worked so hard chasing back and forwards replacing pads where safe and possible but had no issue noticing how smooth they sounded in their pedalling and how accurately they tracked this 250m black line in comparison to every other team. The closest team was Australia but they where 6cms above it at least and you could tell someone in their line up was pounding the pedals every lap which caused gaps in their lineup. Still, beating a world record by as much as TeamGB did, 6 seconds I think, was astounding.
Hearing the wall of sound the riders all commented on at the Olympic Velodrome, was the other experience we will take away and couldn’t help but take in. Many felt the non-cycling Olympics crowd would not bring the same support in this wall of sound, that everyone noticed at the test event with Sir Hoy himself having a say in the design of the track and insisting in the all round seating to achieve just this. He himself, commented at the test event, that the Olympics may not be the same, and he himself was astounded that it was actually the same if not better every time a TeamGB cyclist took the track.
So, day one witnessed Golds and World Records, could it get better than this? Yes.
Every day we came in, we tried to relieve the previous days experience, not expecting the same thing as being possible today, yet every day it got better. Yes, Vicky and Jess’s disqualification from the team sprint was a big down, especially for Jess as this was her only event and possibility of a medal, one they where both favourites for alongside the Chineese team. But even this day we witnessed events that left us in awe of the achievements of TeamGB.
After 6 days, not one of us felt tired or drained or lacked any amount of enthusiasm for the days work, how could we with what was going on. We finished our last shift and had a team photo arranged for the infield area now that it had been cleared of all competitors and officials. Just as we got setup, the sight of Gold medal winner Anna Meares peering round the corner, kind of shocked us, still in protocol mode, not one person said a thing, until Anna herself, ran into the picture with us, showing off her gold with duly deserved pride, welcomed by all of us as a group. Honoured to be joined by her, we all had the biggest smiles and as is this wasn’t enough, the two German girls joined us for the same photo opportunity, Team Sprint Gold winners Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte. Then Vicky appeared, slightly shyer than her competitors but none the less appreciative of all our hard work. This was one autograph I had to get, I’m not one for them but as it was Vickys last race, I couldn’t resist getting my Olympic Accreditation pass signed as a long lasting momento.
This was the next memory we all started to take with us. Just how much people appreciated our efforts was not really apparent to us until it was all over. Probably because we didn’t come into contact with the public who would openly talk to you, protocol meant that we didn’t speak to people unless they spoke to us and as they where all teams, competitors and officials, they didn’t have time any more than we did. This showing of mutual respect, being joined for photos right at the end of the day, after they had all been held back for upto an hour for drugs testing and other official duties, this meant more to us than anything else but wasn’t the last thing we would remember.
When all the goodbyes had been said and done, we did go out for a wee celebration before heading on our own separate ways, trains to catch, families to see and journeys to be started, most of us would only get home at the end of Thursday with so many of us coming from on average 100 miles away from this London Olympics and happy to do so too. Volunteers took away a few weeks of memories to cherish for a lifetime, staff took away more but at the cost of now being unemployed, we where emotional but had made great friendships, they had done similar but now had to turn their focus to other greater things.
I can see why so many of the staff had worked in temporary roles for various Olympics, from Sydney to Beijing and now London, why wouldn’t they go to Rio? After 12 years or more I’m sure they wanted a little more out of life now, the security we all had maybe. Most volunteers where either very young students, retired or full time workers with the later taking up about 40% I’d say. Many of us where now tempted by Rio and there was still the opportunity of the CommonWealth games in Glasgow to come in two years. We knew the English based management would almost be guaranteed to be there and they openly stated their respect for us and welcomed our presence at Glasgow if they where lucky enough to be there too. The larger group of Aussies weren’t so able to achieve this was work visas restricting their time in the UK. Who knows where they will all end up but I’m sure I will see many faces again in my time. The temptation of Rio is a big one and it took me over 4 years to achieve a position within the Escort Group at the Olympics so the same for Rio isn’t out of the question. Maybe start learning Portuguese.
My return home was an emotional one, only the second time over spent so long away from my wife since we got married. Then there was watching the closing ceremony. The pride I felt for the small
part I played in TeamGBs best team ever and the best Olympics ever, was something I never expected. The recognition from all involved, being portrayed on tv for all to see, was something else I never expected. You can’t help but feel the enormity of it all at this stage and then there was more to come from the social network. Just how much of a difference every single GamesMaker made to this being a successful Olympics was not something anyone expected but only dreamed as being a goal. Team GB had their best Olympics ever, London2012 GamesMakers set a standard that few believed was even possible to dream of let alone plan for.
The hardest thing now is going back to normal life, knowing what is actually possible when people work together for a common goal, to then return to a role where not only are you supposed to be achieving just the same result, but your all paid for it too, yet somehow it’s the money that prevents us all from working together. When people listen to me say that I don’t work for money, I work for the enjoyment of it, they distrust me or think of me as strange and uncooperative. I work in a commission paid role but will never get anything close to the satisfaction from achieving in this role as I did at the Olympics. I work hard so that my wife and I can live the life we want outside of work and I now appreciate this life even more than ever, even with all the challenges we go through. How I’m going to use my experience at this Olympics, to better my life in the future is something that will remain to be seen but I’m certain and determined to ensure that it will have a positive effect to me, my wife and future family and anyone I can influence for the good.
I was thinking this is the end of an era and almost ready to hang my momentos up and enjoy them from time to time, but I’ve realised that this is just the start of another journey. I’ve put the work into getting to an event I dreamt of and it’s now sent me in a completely new direction, one I never knew existed. Hopefully I can share this on my log also, lots more pages to fill.
Truly Golden Olympics
Wasn’t that truly an amazing Golden Olympics from all areas of sports for TeamGB.
After the road races, I had a few days off prior to the TimeTrial for both men and women on the Wednesday, all prior to me volunteering as a GamesMaker in the Velodrome for another full on 6 days.
Never one to sit about, I had already arranged to meet my lovely wife on the Monday, so we could actually celebrate our 10th anniversary which was on the day I started work in London. We had a great day out after buying general access tickets to the Olympic Park and tickets into the Orbit viewing platform tour. Doesn’t sound like a great day out but seriously, once you step into the Olympic Park, you get consumed by the energy flowing about the park, people excited about seeing whatever event they where lucky enough to get tickets for or just even excited to be there like us. We found no end of positivity from staff and public alike and the selection of food stalls in the park that we planned to eat at, where beyond anything anyone had assumed especially with only the big Mac being allowed to advertise its presence. We skipped the big M, it was set back out of the way of the main areas and it did smell a bit when the wind blew the wrong way. Thai it was then.
As we sat and enjoyed out takeaway food on one of the many greens created infront of the British Airways viewing screens, surrounded by happy people in the sun, I got a message telling me I had a meeting back at HQ for the TimeTrial on Wednesday. No way I could make it now so they’d have to update me when I got back but I never did get any useful feedback from anyone who did attend this unscheduled meeting. Didn’t stop us having a great day out, we spent a reasonable amount on food and drink but without being ripped off and most of the staff where great though you could tell those that had had enough of telling people they’d run out of the popular items already, I think that most underestimated the amount people would buy with big M assuming its would be the hotspot….apparently it undersold on everything in the Olympic Park for the public but the opposite happened in the Athletes Village. Strange eh!
The very next day, I had a familiarisation ride with the police, around the TT route at 8am. I left my wife to return afterwards for lunch and we spent a few hours together in the pub before she headed off again to her parents for the rest of the week whilst I worked. We had been told by the police that we didn’t need any afternoon meeting as planned so the day was ours after the ride and I had received an email from the Track Cycling team asking if anyone could volunteer for a familiarisation at the Velodrome Tuesday evening. Better than sitting in a pub I thought, count me in.
Arrived at the Olympic park again, this time to assist with a familiarisation event and rehearsal for those who needed to put their teams through the details of their roles. We had a great evening and it was good to meet old faces again whilst taking in new info about small changes in how to go about our roles. Wasn’t happy to receive yet another message that another meeting had been called by the police that evening in the hotel. Couldn’t make that one either as I wasn’t sat about waiting in a pub. I had work to do of value.
Turns out that the meeting was to tell the National Escort group that the police had made a mistake in the numbers required to escort the time trial riders and 3 would have to be dropped from our team as they weren’t prepared to drop anyone. Fair enough, we where only there to back them up as they didn’t have enough experienced riders, familiar with cycling events at this level. Probably still didn’t but it was their gig. Names got drawn from a hat within our team and the 3 least experienced riders names all happened to get drawn out with mine among them…..they had made a mistake on my experience level but hey oh, I’d only worked 4 years to get the chance to do this.
This was the lowest part of my Olympics experience. I felt so down about the entire experience now but determined not to let it ruin the remainder of my time as I had a lot more to come in the velodrome, so I took it on the chin, tried to enjoy sitting in the holding area at Hampton Court and prepare for the next day at the velodrome. As it turned out, I was in a fairly privileged area along with the police and army and we had a bit of a laugh watching the tv screen way in the distance and then being among the first to see Wiggo and all the other competitors as they finished their ride and got off their bikes beside us.
You don’t see this on tv but after the ride, most of the riders where at the point of collapsing and needed to be helped off their bikes, those that weren’t looked clearly disappointed they still had energy left and didn’t use it on the road, clear to see from their times. TimeTrialing is a tough solo event and at this level even more so. What was totally hidden from the tv cameras was the way in which Wiggo took the news of his win. First he rode past the gate at Hampton Court as most riders did, riding past the main free public area on the bridge and then back to the holding area I was in which is where they could get back into the team pits areas.
On his return, he was met by his team helper who clearly looked excited for his win as had all followed the split times and could tell that Wiggo had done it, Cancellara and Martin where the only riders left who could beat him but after his crash in the road race, it was clear Cancellara wasn’t able to compete at his best and Martin was outside of Wiggos times by a small but unbridgeable amount at the last check. Barring a superhuman performance, Martin couldn’t beat him now.
Wiggo got off his bike and sat on the crossbar, watching the tv screen in the distance, waiting for first Martin and then Cancellara to finish, still refusing to believe his team mate who was almost busting with excitement. He went and sat under the shade of a billboard as the sun was so strong now, still refusing to believe or assume he had done enough, yet clearly exhausted. When the last man finished and the timing screen showed Wiggo as the Gold medal winner, he looked on with disbelief, still unable to believe he had done it. To see such humility from such a top cyclist who had such amazing recent form in the Tour de France and in time trial stages specifically, was a really humbling experience. It took time for it to sink in before he then smiled at his team mate and finally allowed himself to celebrate. Disbelief, humility, pride, total satisfaction and happiness. So many emotions in such a short period of time, it must’ve seemed easier to just empty your soul onto the road for 50:30:54, the winning time.
So this experience, right at the end of the day, made up for all the disappointment of not escorting a rider in an Olympic event after 4 years of gaining experience in the hope to do so. And you know what, I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’d like to think that, just like Wiggo, I never assumed I was worthy of such a position, that I accepted the opportunity with humility and that when it was taken away from me, I acted in a respectful way worthy of my selection in the first place. I never grumbled to anyone, blamed anyone or argued my right over anyone else’s. I wasn’t more worthy, just equal to and able to take one for the team. Not surprising to me that few of my colleagues could actually have a conversation with me on the day wether it be through guilt of knowing the disappointment they would’ve felt had it been them. So I will never hold this against anyone and instead cherish the moments I did see that few of them could.
So, next up was a quick trip back to my room, pack my bags onto the bike and head to my tent, pre-erected a few days earlier to make the transfer easier. Followed by dinner and goodbyes to all in the escort team.
Tactics and Communication
Wow! Again….
Recovering from the last two days of racing and I did manage to see some of the racing afterwards thankfully.
We all started at 5am on site on Saturday morning, welcomed with a bit of drizzle but really warm temperature and drying roads so no one was concerned with a forecast of a really hot day on the cards to boot.
Our role involved monitoring and communicating the various activities happening on site to ensure everything went smoothly as planned so that the roads where closed and safe along with the measures put in place to allow traffic to move, one big complaint from the test event, and that the public could enjoy the race with enthusiasm.
Can’t say everything went smoothly but simple communication up the channel, constant monitoring and updating and a little bit of common sense, all went together to make it happen and the big result was that no one knew, or will know, that anything was ever an issue. All comments fed back from press, tv, local authorities, the cycling governing body etc, where all positive and upbeat. Result!
Shame the same communication and monitoring didn’t help Team GB win gold in their key event on home soil but that’s racing. No effort spared though, we could see it in the riders eyes as they passed, I’ve never seen those guys so exhausted in a single days race. Four men led the entire pack around 140 miles on the route, doing almost all of the work, sticking to their plan with confidence and commitment. It just needed those other minor areas to be addressed to succeed and gold would’ve been theirs.
Not to be, however it was clear that TeamGB learned quickly from this and the women’s race resulted in a very well earned Silver for Lizzie Armstead. Gold would’ve been hers if the dominant female rider of the year wasn’t with her, Vos has been supreme all year round with the only chink in her armour being real mountains, which Lizzie dominated.
All of this went on whilst we went about our roles, almost oblivious to the events unfolding. More concerned about ensuring road closures and race safety, I spent the morning riding up and down my patch, about 4 miles through Twickenham to Bushy Park. Nice area and great people. It was especially good to see non-cycling supporters really get behind their country and the sport. Kids weren’t kicking footballs on the empty streets, they where cycling, actually cycling around on bikes on the roads.
Closing the roads a few hours prior to the race may have been imposing on the traffic and negative aspect of focus for areas of the press, but they didn’t see what happened to these streets. They where transformed from busy roads you would be afraid to let your kids walk alongside without holding their hands, to streets that featured very young children cycling around under the watch of their parents who all stood out in their gardens with BBQs ablaze and TVs arranged in windows. The queens jubilee street parties may have been large where they didn’t happen but they didn’t happen in the numbers that these household parties did.
All of this did have a knock on effect though, prior to the race, the road closure allowed for safety to be monitored and instilled, safety cars proceeded the race to confirm all was in place as my team took to the pavements with the public also. It was afterwards that this public enjoyment of the streets, had an effect on events as the roads should’ve been clear for workforce staff to arrive and replace traffic measures, collect safety barriers and get the area back to a normal looking road environment. The public enjoying their day didn’t seem to be concerned about this. They all took to the streets on mass, making it difficult for us to even monitor our areas never mind HGVs arriving to drop off traffic islands to collect barriers. It did get done though and far quicker than the test event in February. My area opened about 4 hours earlier this time and I was able to redeploy to another sector assisting the race as it returned to London for the finale.
This was the first point that I realised Team GB had their backs against the wall with reports of a large breakaway featuring Cancellara among others, then he ‘dropped’ out. Such a shame for him as this was a classics type stage and his plan seemed to work perfectly until that corner, not his first over-cooked corner this year, too much power?
I was based in Fulham and Putney for this part of the race and the crowds here all spent the day on the roadside enjoying a summer party atmosphere. Plenty of invites to join these, where handed out on mass, photos where taken as if we where athletes ourselves and I don’t think one security staff member I met, had a single issue with crowd management, their main role on the day. There was always the odd traffic management issue where some people from out reach areas didn’t take the time to plan their route through London only to find almost no way through some if their timing was bad. There was always a way round if not through but this never appeals to an impatient, demanding driver who feels their human rights have been removed by not being allowed to drive where they wish to. Thankfully this wasn’t my domain and I only witnessed two actual heated exchanges. All other traffic flow points, allowed traffic to move across the route upto the point that the safety of the riders and public took priority. If they actually stopped and watched, they wouldve seen the crowds amassed, preventing safe passage, or the race unfold in front of them. Quite a few did just that and commented positively on the atmosphere roadside as a welcome reward for their patience.
I’m now recovering with sleep and food, both lacking on long shifts, however the party goes on on Wednesday with the TimeTrials.
In the meantime, my wifes coming to meet me so we can go to the Olympic Park for a day out and enjoy the atmosphere for ourselves, albeit on big screens as I couldn’t get tickets to anything.
Let the games begin
Wow!
Don’t know about you but I loved that opening ceremony. Only watched upto about 10pm as I had a really early shift start the next day for some road race thing but we joined a crowd in the pub and even there, the atmosphere was electric.
I arrived in London after a few detours round the North Circular road but pretty easy going on the roads and all the hype of traffic jams didn’t seem to live up to expectations, thankfully.
Only issue I did have was discovering that my rear brake lads needed replacing so I spent the morning changing them prior to leaving so that I could run them in prior to the events. Fiddly but simple job, just took a bit of time off of my day.
Arrived to sign in for the accommodation which is the university halls of residence, and the rooms seem fairly good compared to how they where played down by Locog. Some people complained but I can’t see why as we only get about 5 hours in the room until Sunday night.
Went to the briefing which was brief, thankfully. The guys from the National Escort Group are all volunteers who give their time week in week out to marshal cycle races for the safety of the riders and public, they have each amassed a wide range of skills and experience and it was this knowledge that Locog where relying on to ensure the race route was just that, safe. It’s just a good job they didn’t want them for their managerial or communication skills as some of them are like children who need spoon fed whilst others only want to know what’s in it for them prior to doing anything, unprofessional and sometimes embarrassing to the group but there’s room for all and we all accommodate them and work together to make up for any short comings.
Next up is the Men’s Road Race, first medal chance event and one that’s big on Team GBs list.
Nearly there
It’s Sunday the 22nd July at 6am and I am awoken with excited dreams of what’s just about to happen.
In 5 days I shall be achieving something that I set out to do over 5 years ago after methodically working my way through the ranks the gain the experience needed.
I shall be riding my motorbike as an escort rider in the Olympics!
Albeit the TimeTrial events only but still, I hold a key position in both road races and shall be trackside during all 6 competition days in the Velodrome. There isn’t much more I could do without riding a bicycle.
My minds filled with small details, have I got room for clothing on the motorbike, will the tent survive the weather, will my back survive the ground, will I be able to make porridge in the mornings before shift at 6am?
Today is my last regional road race prior to the Olympics and I’m mentoring a couple of riders who want to learn how to escort cycle races just like I did once. Few will start their journey with the thought of achieving something as big as this but major events still beckon.
Today will see Britains first ever Tour de France winner cross the line on the Champs Élysées, bar disaster, and this is going to start a chain reaction of events in British Cycling history that should see yet another Tour Depart on our shores. Dublin and London have hosted the initial stages of the TdF before and we now see both Yorkshire and Edinburgh bid to do just the same in about 4 years time. Now there’s a familiar time frame.
I read tweets every day from athletes who are achieving their dreams by qualifying for the Olympics and can’t help but think that I’m feeling exactly the same in my life as they are in theirs. I’m no athlete, if I was, it would’ve been on the track, competing in the sprint races like the Keirin or Sprint races just like Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny, but I didn’t have the foundation of professionally organised cycling federation behind me or the actual world class track, never mind the belief that it was possible. Any half talented youth cyclist, has now got a chance to find out if he or she has what it takes to become the next Chris Hoy or Jason Kenny and even the next Mark Cavendish or Bradley Wiggins. To play just a small part in that is as much as I can do but every but as rewarding when I remember how the opportunities didn’t exist for me in the same way.
I hope I have time to write about my experience as they happen but I’m sure the next 2 weeks will pass so quickly that recounting my steps will bring back enough memories to fill a lifetime of stories to recall whenever I get the slightest of opportunity.
I will try to stop and take it all in though, I can’t see me ever being in this position again in my lifetime…..unless I move to Rio?
The Flames arrived!
My lieu day was organised by my employer to be Wednesday, to allow a few of us to be part of it, or those that wanted to anyway.
My wife and I spent a hot day out on Cromer beach watching them prepare for the arrival of the flame on the pier and then we went back to Norwich for the rest of the festivities.
Chapelfields public park was fairly busy when we got there about 5pm and doubled in capacity by the time the torch arrived with live music and performers on stage keeping everyone entertained. I never expected such a large crowd so they really took this to heart with people of all ages joining in and lining the streets or having picnics in the park before hand.
The sponsors where all there promoting their brands, Samsung had stands where you could get your picture taken with the torch as did CocaCola who also gave out free special edition aluminium coke bottles with ice cold coke or zero, a nice free momento with the Olympic branding and the flame on it. I think a fair few had one too many as the crowd did get fairly excited as the flame arrived or maybe it was just the Olympic effect.
We only got to see the final torch bearer as they arrived and it was a shame they all didnt get to stand on the stage to lite the cauldron but this was the highlight as it passed the flame back to the secure miners lamp for overnight protection. To think this flame has been kept going all the way round Britain from Greece is quite something and I think those who may ever have been less excited about the Olympics themselves, where now getting the spirit fo it all and in awe of the effect it has in bringing people together. I wonder how many bought tickets for the football after that day, about the only event left you can still get to and advertised well on the big screens.
We stayed a while to watch more performers, gymnasts and acrobats. All the stage shows where pretty good, dancers musicians etc, not so sure about the two off of Britains Got Talent…think they missed the talent bit out but made up for it in spirit….and mentioning Samsung as many times as they could.
The crowd left through the only gates that allowed access to be met with almost equal crowds trying to get in to see the show only to be told they where too late as even the cauldron had been put out. The biggest crowds Ive ever seen in Norwich, at that time of the evening, then dispersed to street entertainment all round the city streets and the cafes and restaurants filled up quickly to the point of bursting. Carluccio’s chef nearly had a fit in the kitchen and the staff where really under pressure but we had a great evening despite the moaners who suddenly forgot the Olympic spirit and we thanked the staff and chef for a great Olympic performance, no medal though, credit cards would have to do and Visa is also a sponsor!
A day we wont forget and just the start to our Olympic summer. Ive got 2 weeks of hard work volunteering to come yet….and the wifes got 2 weeks of piece and quiet.
As the flame arrived
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
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.
My new bike
At last, I’ve finally got a bike that’s worthy of my ability!
Well not really, if I can get close to its quality I will need a new one though so its more than enough for me.
I’ve been looking at a new bike for a while as my 5 year old Giant was a budget sub £500 bike that has done me well but if used more will need a few parts replacing including the chainset, rear mechs and brake/gear levers since I had an off. The wheels also could do with replacing due to wear and movement. When I priced all this it was IRO £600 with current parts pricing, always doable over time but still costly and with a few compatibility issues to boot.
So, in comes the RidetoWork scheme as promoted by the government as a way to encourage people to commute in ways other than cars and busses. This has the added advantage of allowing me to purchase a bike on instalments which would be taken from my wage prior to tax and NI contributions therefore saving me IRO 40% on the purchase price. So, a £1k bike would cost about £600, the same total amount that parts for my existing bike would cost. No brainer there then!
Whilst in London for the velo racing, I did get a morning to go into an Evans bike shop to check out a bike I had my eye on, just so I could get my leg over it and check out all the dimensions to be sure it was the right size. I was looking at a small sized frame which was a step down from the medium Giant I was currently riding, but I reckoned the lower back pain I was getting from riding, could be down to riding a bike frame to large for me, in length rather than height. I did some research on the frame I was buying so new what I was after and hey presto, I ended up buying it with my C2W vouchers.
Velo racing
So, finally get round to blogging how the race went in the velodrome.
Had a craicin weekend, all my shifts where evening shifts apart front the last, which meant I got to be there when the big finals where on and all qualifying had already taken place apart from Thursday. So many differing jobs to do, the role really exists of adhoc jobs within the velodrome as needed and some external maintenance work. Can’t really describe it too well as the event security is so high they don’t want us to pose a risk to ourselves really, fair enough I think, don’t want to be asking for trouble.
I rode the motorbike down Thursday and parked in the new shopping centre in Stratford. The new car park advertised a limited space bike park outside the entrance so I had no idea what to expect. Strangely enough, when I got there, there where no sign for the parking so it took a minute or two to discover them on foot, which also led me to discover the sign for motorbike parking….inside the building! They had put the sign on the door which opens inward…..didn’t think that through did they?
Other than that, I was thankful to find indoor parking with marked spaces for about 12 bikes. No locking rails of any sort so I just locked the bike to its own pannier rails so it couldn’t be wheeled away. Out of sight can be good as far as making it more difficult to browse for bikes but also gives the thieving beggars privacy to break whatever locks you have. Still, I didn’t have any problems and the parking seemed to be popular.
Great location for the parking to as its just a short walk from the main entrance each day and open as late as the park was, thankfully as Thursday was a 10.30 finish and that was the earliest one.
I’ve since read a lot about the bus issues in the press but really, what do people expect at events of this size. Even if allowed to walk across the park, it would take over 30 mins to dander from entrance to velodrome so a bus that took 15 wasn’t exactly an imposition even if it took 10 mins to get to you. At the end of the day, they had 4000 people exiting the velodrome at once looking for buses and in fairness, they where caught short, maybe expecting a fair few to have left already, but all this was sorted the very next evening and when I went out to look at the bus que just after ten, it was completely gone by 10.30 when I was checking again for staff.
All buses ran well, on time and regular with informative staff too. Volunteers didn’t take any different buses to the spectators so we had to arrive early to be sure we didn’t have any issues, but then the same option was open to spectators, they didn’t have to arrive at the last minute and where warned it would take 30 mins to commute across the park. Just can’t please some people.
As I’ve already said, I can’t detail my duties to much but one thing I did get to do was to stand trackside during many key events, albeit not watching the action fully as I had a job to do, but aware of what was going on. The best memory I will have of this race was the noise level at trackside when the Brits come out on track or really attack and the crowd get behind them. Sir Hoy described it as a ‘wall of noise’. He wasn’t wrong.
On my last day, I finished at 3pm and went up to the public concourse level to see what it was like up there. You would not believe how much quieter that wall of noise is up there, or more to the point, if you think it’s loud up in the stands then appreciate that your not even hearing half of it, it’s so much louder at track level!
Many have stated that they fear the noise level and atmosphere will drop with a non-cycling crowd during the competitions but even if it does, it will still be loud enough for the riders, just maybe not as much of an impact for the crowd.
I got to chat to the track builders and they showed me their private pics taken during the building and it’s an impressive bit of work i can tell you. I didn’t realise that the boards are actually 2×2 pieces of wood, I always thought ‘boards’ meant they where like floor boards we all use, maybe a cm or two thick, not 6cm deep. How on earth these all bend into shape and stay there is down to the craftsmanship of these chippys who have built tracks all over the world.
As always, there was an Irishman in the middle of it, we can only hope he takes his skills over to Ireland some day and builds a decent indoor velodrome for the Irish some day. It would contribute greatly to the riding scene there but obviously it costs a lot to keep a velodrome never mind build it, you have to maintain a constant 25deg in the room so the wood used to build the track doesn’t get damaged from expanding and contracting.
I was thankful for a floor in a mates bedsit about 10mins away on the bike. Keeping the Irish links over the weekend, he lived in Belfast Road which made me feel right at home. Hardly got to see him though. I was back about 11.30 each nite and just had time for a cuppa before bed after an 8 hour shift on my feet, something I’m not used to these days. All being well I will be able to avail of the same accommodation over the competition days as the alternatives aren’t great. I can camp a short bus ride away but there’s no facilities for parking my bike.
I’ve had dates confirmed for the road race and will be working the first weekend on the motorbike so just waiting to find out what dates they want me to work over the velodrome competitions now, hopefully they won’t coincide so I can do both and maybe get back home inbetween to see my wife. It’s a big commitment volunteering for these events but I’ve got it easy compared to some. I met people coming down form Leeds and Manchester who where already paying £80 a night for b&b and some had booked rooms for the competition period at over £150 a night, just so they could volunteer!
One thing i reckon they missed out on organising the volunteers was a forum dedicated to the volunteers so they could discuss things like accommodation facilities and maybe inviting venues to support them. There is a campsite close by as I mentioned, that is offering a secure area for volunteers only, at a reasonable price too. They state that campers can book but will only get access with accreditation or letter of offer of position, all of which sounds great but I can’t find anything official to confirm it.
So, now the long wait to July. I’ve got no holidays left and most of next years will be gone too. I usually buy an additional week from my employer so I can cover races like the Tour of Britain but I’m going to have to give that a miss this year as I’m covering the Olympics and won’t have the holidays to cover it. Shame really but something’s gotta give.
The racing season has already started and I will be covering my first races soon so more posts to come I’m sure. Maybe a bit more picture rich too.
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