I got another chance to be an Olympic spectator as the cycling passed through town not too far from our apartment. I couldn't turn down the chance to see an event within walking distance, and anyway it was going to be over in a matter of seconds. We stood waiting with a pretty huge crowd and loads of volunteers kitted out in their purple uniforms and cheer, shepherding people across the road at crossings. Someone nearby was watching the tv coverage on their phone as we were waiting and could see that wherever they passing through at that moment it was pouring rain. And so we waited wondering whether the cyclists would arrive before everyone got soaked. We were teased a few times with the arrival of police escorts and team cars, each causing a ripple of anticipation to spread out in the crowd followed by a big sigh. In the end the rain arrived just before the riders, and in the space of about 30 seconds all the riders passed through and miraculously not one crashed despite going really fast on the wet road and through the tight curve we were standing at. At the end of the 30 seconds everyone was drenched and ran off just as quickly. It's nice to say I saw the race but I'm just as glad I didn't have to pay this time. Update: The cycling came our way again, this time the men's time trial. And they slowed down enough to actually see who they were!

I'd managed to ignore most of the build up to the olympics (beyond dreading what it was going to do the transport system) and not waste hours online trying to get a lottery-allocated ticket to the Olympic Stadium. So it was a bit of a surprise to find myself on the day after the opening ceremonies in the Olympic park, early on a Saturday morning in a Handball arena along with a thousand other ticket holders whom I wouldn't have been surprised to find out also had, until a week previous, no intentions of getting caught up in the olympic hype. We were all there to see the women's Angola and Russia teams square off, then the South Korean and Spanish teams compete. Aware that almost everyone there that morning probably had no idea of the rules, the MC went through everything during the build up explaining the rules and strategies of the game and trying to get everyone into it. With few people having any idea who to support, the crowd got behind the Angolan's once they were established as the underdogs; the Russian's became the heels and suffered all the boo's. Everyone got in to the atmosphere, but it still wasn't quite enough to stop everyone from dozing off by the end of the second match. We wandered around the park afterwards, grabbing a glimpse of the impressive velodrome and basketball court. The official programme was a fleecing 10 pounds for skinny magazine full of ads, the food was pretty awful, but it was well worth the trip on a cold July (summer!?) morning.