Death Of A Cyclist
It is always very sad when someone dies, but the death of a cyclist outside the Olympic Stadium is creating a few waves as well.
He was knocked off his bike and killed by a media bus, at a place that cyclists have said was dangerous for years. It was the typical cyclist under a turning vehicle accident, if any accident is typical.
I know it doesn’t help his family, but Bradley Wiggins has made strong statements about safety and said that all cyclists should wear helmets at all times.
One subsidiary point, was that quite a few of the soldiers guarding the Olympics were about but sadly couldn’t save the victim. Surely, this in itself is an argument for using soldiers at big events, as I suspect their emergency medical skills are a lot better than your average security guard.
Painted Nails
Many of the female athletes and even the Canadian men, are getting flags painted on their nails.
I hope the British get their Union Flags put on the right way up!
As to the Canadian men, perhaps Monty Python was right!
The Visitor Paradox
We have pointers that show that London is not as busy as it normally is at this time of the year.
- The buses aren’t full.
- Trafalgar Square is emptier than usual.
- The Emirates Air-Line isn’t busy.
- There is moaning about empty restaurants.
- I did try a hotel site and found there are rooms available.
- I bet too, the taxi drivers aren’t happy.
- I’ve not had any difficulty getting a seat on the Underground lately.
On the other hand, the public seats at the venues are generally full and I’ve been in two 70,000 plus crowds at Wembley this week. Some tickets too are unobtainable, although others are still to be picked up in small numbers on the web site.
We won’t really know until we see the full statistics for things like transport spend and bed occupation to know what has actually happened.
But could London have created a totally different type of Olympics to what we’ve seen in the past few Games?
- London has masses of free attractions like museums, galleries and parks. So have many visitors decided that a visit to the National Gallery is better than spending money on an expensive lunch?
- London is a day trip away from a vast area of Northern Europe. So have people decided to fly in or take the train for a day or so and spent the money saved on tickets?
- London has a vast expatriate community. It is for example, the sixth largest French city. So are many of the visitors camping on the floor of their friends and relatives homes? Let’s face it, if one of my sons was living in an Olympic city, that would be the time I’d go.
- It is said that a lot of the empty seats seen are those allocated to sponsors and the Olympic family. So have corporates decided that the sponsorship has been worth it, but allowing their executives to party in these times is not on?
As I said, we won’t know until we see the statistics.
A Big Red Taxi
This 29 bus was totally empty except for a postman going off shift and myself, as I took it away from Trafalgar Square.
A Big Red Taxi
But then it was mid afternoon. Afterwards, I went to Waitrose and Starbucks at the Angel and they were quiet too!
Even Trafalgar Square Isn’t Busy
I took this picture in Trafalgar Square today.
Even Trafalgar Square Isn’t Busy
I would have thought that it would have been busier. It could just be that most of the visitors have money and hanging round Trafalgar Square isn’t part of their itinerary.
No Shortage Of Litter Bins
There doesn’t appear to be to much of a shortage of litter bins.
No Shortage Of Litter Bins
This was one of many at North Greenwich
George Dixon Lives
Television in my childhood is always remembered for the television police series; Dixon of Dock Green.
Cosy policing, like that portrayed in the series has long since gone. Or I thought it had.
However, today at one of the Olympic venues, I started talking to a Police Sergeant about the Olympics and my life since C died. He congratulated me on what I had done to raise money for cancer research and shook my hand as I left.
George Dixon would have felt that the Sergeant had done well. So did I and I hope that the best of old-fashioned methods are creeping back into modern law enforcement.
The Unknown Sprinter
Unless you live in London and regularly watch the local BBC News, you won’t know of Adam Gemili. It appears too, that the Olympic Accreditation Department didn’t either, as they got his picture wrong on his ID.
He runs on Saturday morning in the heats of the hundred metres.
I don’t think he’ll be unknown for long! Even Tyson Gay thinks he’s very good.
I Called It Right
I know a few Koreans and so I went with them to see them play at Wembley tonight against Gabon. We were a bit higher up in Club West.
Korea v Gabon at Wembley
The view was a bit better, than for the game last night.
It wasn’t an exciting game and the goalless draw was about fair. But it meant that Korea came second in their group.
When Great Britain won, it meant that the tickets, I’d bought on spec to see the quarter-final in Cardiff won’t have to be sold on.
I just felt the two teams might meet there. And I was right!
So it’ll be off on a High Speed Diesel Train on Saturday. What better way is there to travel to see your team?
Great Britain v Brazil At Wembley
I thought this would be a must-see event and as over 70,000 went I wasn’t alone in my thoughts. As ever I took a few pictures.
But there were empty seats as the pictures show.
The football was very good.
Perhaps to me, the difference between the two sides was that every time the ball went lose, the British team were on it, like a pack of hounds. Even the goal scored by Steph Houghton was after Brazil failed to clear a corner.
The one mistake Britain made was missing the penalty, but in the end that didn’t matter.
The Anonymous Widower 