Saturday 28th July – Olympics 2012: London

We flew back to the UK just in time for the start of the Olympics and the P’s came down from Derbyshire to visit.  As a concession, we were obliged to order a large screen television for the Games which was delivered just in time (we had got rid of our old television when we set off on Pyxis).  As it turned out, we found an HD television was a real bonus for watching the action and for the spectacular Opening & Closing Ceremonies.

Just before we went out to the Ionian, we went up to Derbyshire to see the Torch Relay which came down the hill on which my parents live.  It was a great day with crowds lining the streets and cheering the participants on.  The police motorcycle riders leading the event were great ambassadors for the event, motivating the crowd ahead of the torch bearers.

This time, we had the cycle races taking place on the roads around where we live in Surrey.  The first weekend we went with the P’s, Richard’s mum and Claire down to West Byfleet to watch the Men’s and Women’s cycle races as they whizzed past.  The crowds were out in force and with the roads closed it was great to walk around the village without any traffic.  Once again the police motorcycle riders and lead crews were great.

Claire had managed to get tickets for Centre Court for the Tennis in the ballot and so the two of us were able to go up to Wimbledon on the Monday.  As chance would have it, the draw meant that Federer was playing which made it even better.  Having been to Wimbledon for the Championships previously, the atmosphere there somehow felt quite different for the Olympics, more relaxed.

On the Wednesday, we met up with Brian at Esher for the Men’s and Women’s cycling time trials and were able to watch Bradley Wiggins whiz past on his way to the Gold medal.

It was great to see the UK so upbeat and positive for a change.  The television coverage was great and we were gripped by the variety of sport for a change.  The fact that the UK did so well in the medals was an added bonus.

Chesterfield: Torch Relay

West Byfleet: Cycle Races

Wimbledon: Tennis

Esher: Cycle Time Trials

© Pyxis 2012