Free and easy: the cycling road race will bring the Olympics to hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of London and Surrey (Photo: REUTERS)
Just occasionally there are breakthrough moments when you know for sure that something massive and difficult is going to be a triumph nonetheless and the Olympic test event for the road race on Sunday was one of them.
For me it served as a pointer to London 2012 generally, not just the road race.
The course was an absolute belter – much harder and more distinctive than I had anticipated – the Mall looked glorious as only Central London can on a summer’s morning in August and the crowds turned up in huge numbers for a mere test event.
The police reckon 200,000+ and I wouldn’t quibble with that, the sides of the roads were absolutely rammed by late morning on the way home with Dorking and Kingston en fete while the numbers were beginning to grow impressivley on the big parks – Richmond and Bushy – which is where many more will surely head for next July.
There is a huge area for spectators in both and next year there will be big screens scattered around to watch the rest of the race, and indeed the rest of the Olympic action from elsewhere that day, as well as all the fun of the fair with beers and barbies.
If I wasn’t working that day, that’s precisely where I would be heading.
The barrier work through the parks was wonderfully understated but impressive, cutting an elegant swathe but in no way dimininshing from the beauty of the surrounds.
As a little footnote I was chatting to the man in charge of barriers for the race and he confirmed the final total used came out as 140km but he also revealed that most of the 70,000 barriers had to be dropped off at their various spots during the height of last week’s riots and that he used over 2km of chain to secure them, lest anybody was tempted to misappropriate them during the disturbances.
The circuit around Box Hill was cracking, a real racers warren and much heavier on the legs than anticipated.
Lizzie Armistead, one of our star women riders, had trained all Saturday on it and reported it was like riding your bike with a double puncture.
The so called crowd issues – well ZigZag hill in particular – didn’t strike me as much to get worked up about.
Even if the Ziz Zag climb was not in a National Trust preservation area it would be almost impossible to increase the numbers of spectators on the climb itself, so narrow and enclosed is the road..
There is one big sweeping left bend which offers two decent sized fields tumbling off Box Hill.
One, frankly is too steep for spectators to be place and would never pass health and safety, which leaves just one slope, laden with rare orchids and butterflies, where yes you could defintiely put spectators.
Taking my life in my hands I ventured up there trying not to attract the attention of the police officers who had been placed to guard against trespassers and possible protestors (there were none) I looked back and it was a beautiful sight but there was a massive problem, you could only see about 80 yards of the road and therefore
the race.
Frankly in a race of over 250km I can think of hundreds of vantage points en route I would rather be.
The only negative I heard all day were from unspecting motorists – including a particularly grumpy Eammon Holmes , who got caught up in some of the well-advertised road closures.
My sympathy is only limited. Huge sports events always cause traffic chaos. Get over it.
I have spent two hours before trying to escape form Old Trafford, even longer from Wembley.
I once set out after an England game at Twickenham at 6pm and made it back to my home near Gatwick, at 10.30pm.
Once I was innocently driving down the M1 and got stuck in the Silverstone F1 traffic on a Sunday night – four hours to travel 4km.
And don’t even get me started about trying to get off some of the Tour de France mountains late at night.
Traffic chaos comes with the territory. It was well advertised for those who make the slightest effort to inform themselves.
The last time we had an Olympic road cycling race was 1948 so personally I can live with a degree traffic chaos once every 72 years.
I drove around the course on Sunday with Sir Clive Woodward, who has seen a few sporting spectacles in his time.
“It was quite incredible and my overriding feeling was of great pride, in fact I was a bit emotional at moments,” said Woodward afterwards.
“To see the fans responding and Locog delivering the facilites and the actual events like this is inspirational.
“The road race is going to be an extraordinary occasion on the first monring of the Games. We will have sat and watched the opening cermony the night before and will all be raring to get involved in some way and there, the very next morning, is an event right on the doorstep of millions upon millions of people.
“This last week wasn’t exactly an easy one with the riots but its been massive for the London Games. The trial events events have gone off, nothing has disturbed them nor was it ever going to.
“Locog have delivered time and time again. Do you know something it might even have been a good thing that all the national delegates were with us last week.
“Firstly they saw the extent of the riots themselves, that it was specific pockets of the city, but more importantly they will have seen exactly how London dealth with the situation came through a difficult week with flying colours.”
