Olympics Update the One!, on Dispatch from the Razor's Edge

So yesterday was the first actual Olympics-day-stroke-workday – and thus the big test if anything/everything would work.

Anecdotal evidence before this was that traffic was at much lower levels than normal – for instance in Piccadilly Circus, where I was on Friday. And Monday on the Cromwell Road, a major artery that runs right by our street, it was like a ghost town. People I've talked with think Londoners have just totally heeded the advice not to drive. I also think a ton of people have gotten out of Dodge – and those with cars obviously have the wherewithal to do so. Anna also reports from commute hour that the Piccadilly Line – normally a nightmare at that time – was "dead". Who would have thunk the Olympics would solve our transport problems?!

Even the PM braved the Tube!

And from my run yesterday, I can also report that:

The Olympic Live Site in Hyde Park is enormous and pretty, and appears well-run, and is also a secure site, which wasn't obvious from the video I saw. It evidently has the largest Olympic viewing screen in the UK.
Russia Park, which they've constructed in Kensington Gardens, is a terrible place to hang out if you dislike long-haired, longer-legged-than-you-might-have-imagined-possible, catastrophically pretty young Russian women.
I ran by two Team GB athletes, and a coach, who were strolling the park! Before I could think of anything cleverer to shout, I shouted, pumping my fist, "Team GB!! Good luck!" (I've now got an offical Olympic Team GB logo t-shirt to wear for the remainder of my runs this fortnight…)

Tommorow: Cycling time trials at Hampton Court! And this Saturday – we may actually brave the Olympic Park itself! Very exciting. Hmm… maybe we can even score some of those tickets that have been going begging…

london london 2012

Dispatch from the Razor's Edge is owned and operated by novelist, technologist, vegan, exercise junkie, classical liberal, rambler, and Londoner Michael Stephen Fuchs.

Fuchs is the author of the novels The Manuscript and Pandora's Sisters, both published worldwide by Macmillan in hardback, paperback and all e-book formats (and in translation); the D-Boys series of high-tech, high-concept, spec-ops military adventure novels – D-Boys, Counter-Assault, and Close Quarters Battle (coming in 2016); and is co-author, with Glynn James, of the bestselling Arisen series of special-operations military ZA novels. The second nicest thing anyone has ever said about his work was: "Fuchs seems to operate on the narrative principle of 'when in doubt put in a firefight'." (Kirkus Reviews, more here.)

Fuchs was born in New York; schooled in Virginia (UVa); and later emigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lived through the dot-com boom. Subsequently he decamped for an extended period of tramping before finally rocking up in London, where he now makes his home. He does a lot of travel blogging, most recently of some very long walks around the British Isles. He's been writing and developing for the web since 1994 and shows no particularly hopeful signs of stopping.

You can reach him on .

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Dispatch from the Razor's Edge is owned and operated by novelist, technologist, vegan, exercise junkie, classical liberal, rambler, and Londoner Michael Stephen Fuchs.


2023 >> 2022 >> 2021 >> 2020 >> 2019 >> 2018 >> 2017 >> 2016 >> 2015 >> 2014 >> 2013 >> 2012-12-25 2012-12-20 2012-12-18 2012-12-16 2012-12-14 2012-12-10 2012-11-11 2012-10-25 2012-10-15 2012-10-06 2012-10-01 2012-09-30 2012-09-28 2012-09-27 2012-08-13 2012-08-07 2012-08-06 2012-08-04 2012-08-03 2012-08-01 2012-07-31 2012-07-30 2012-07-27 2012-07-07 2012-07-04 2012-06-24 2012-06-23 2012-06-22 2012-06-21 2012-06-20 2012-06-19 2012-06-18 2012-06-17 2012-06-16 2012-06-15 2012-06-14 2012-06-13 2012-05-23 2012-05-01 2012-04-01 2012-03-18 2012-02-04 2012-01-27 2012-01-10 2011 >> 2010 >> 2009 >> 2008 >> 2007 >> 2006 >> 2005 >> 2004 >> 2003 >> 2002 >>	Olympics Update the One! So yesterday was the first actual Olympics-day-stroke-workday – and thus the big test if anything/everything would work. Anecdotal evidence before this was that traffic was at much lower levels than normal – for instance in Piccadilly Circus, where I was on Friday. And Monday on the Cromwell Road, a major artery that runs right by our street, it was like a ghost town. People I've talked with think Londoners have just totally heeded the advice not to drive. I also think a ton of people have gotten out of Dodge – and those with cars obviously have the wherewithal to do so. Anna also reports from commute hour that the Piccadilly Line – normally a nightmare at that time – was "dead". Who would have thunk the Olympics would solve our transport problems?! Even the PM braved the Tube! And from my run yesterday, I can also report that: The Olympic Live Site in Hyde Park is enormous and pretty, and appears well-run, and is also a secure site, which wasn't obvious from the video I saw. It evidently has the largest Olympic viewing screen in the UK. Russia Park, which they've constructed in Kensington Gardens, is a terrible place to hang out if you dislike long-haired, longer-legged-than-you-might-have-imagined-possible, catastrophically pretty young Russian women. I ran by two Team GB athletes, and a coach, who were strolling the park! Before I could think of anything cleverer to shout, I shouted, pumping my fist, "Team GB!! Good luck!" (I've now got an offical Olympic Team GB logo t-shirt to wear for the remainder of my runs this fortnight…) Tommorow: Cycling time trials at Hampton Court! And this Saturday – we may actually brave the Olympic Park itself! Very exciting. Hmm… maybe we can even score some of those tickets that have been going begging… Tweet london london 2012 ← before \| contribute comment ↓ \| after →