Before the Scandals

ST LUKE'S: Crowds of gabbering Germans, grunting French, boastful and annoying Americans, patriotic flag waving Aussies and a handful of bemused Brits. No I wasn't hanging around the London Eye, instead the world's most famous bike race, the Tour de France, had come to town bringing with it a cavalcade that included the riders, their various entourages, eccentric supporters (including the devil)and fans from all across the continent.

It was a day I'd been looking forward to since I first discovered the Tour was kicking off in London. So after finishing off an OT stint at work I boarded a variety of trains to make my way across town. I'm still sans phone so my plans to meet up with Kate, Nick and Shannon where scuppered but I did do my best to walk a loop of the course in the vain hope of spotting them amongst the million or so spectators. Eventually I just gave up and began to enjoy making my way around Hyde Park looking at the spectators, watching various teams whizz around the track during warm up.

For almost the first time this summer, certainly since mid-May, the sun came out to do it's part and the Serpentine was glistening in response. The food stalls had queues lined up for twenty or thirty people while crowds lounged around in front of the various big screens scattered across the park. There were spectators from all the major cycling nations, very few Brits, and that lent the whole thing a Continental carnival feeling.

As for the racing, I got to see all the riders I wanted to see whizz past. Robbie, Stuart, Cadel, Vino, Boonan, Micky Rogers, etc. etc. I divided my time up between watching snatches of it on a straight where the riders flew past suddenly, watching parts on the big screen which allowed you to follow the entire time trial and, as the icing, I managed to snag a spot on a bend at the edge of the chicane by Hyde Park Corner at the end of the race where I could watch all the biggest names for about 15 seconds. The day definitely exceeded my expectations.

To crown it I walked home through the quietly beautiful streets of Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea and across the Chelsea Bridge before catching a bus home from Battersea.

PS. This is a month old, probably needs a draft but if I don't post it now I never will.