As you like it

Just when you thought it was all over and the best had passed, the Olympics delivered another magical day.

I dropped Ben and Rob off at the station and cycled accross town to the park aware that I only had a few shifts left to go. Now my mind starts to wanter to what is it going to feel like to go back to work and try to take some of the positives with me.

There is a massive feeling of uplift as you walk onto the Olympic park. As I walk in I say hello to a few members of the public and have a quick chat to find out what they are going to be seeing. Then there will be all the good mornings with the security staff and anyone else. Finally you are in the park.

We are quiet agian as every thing is running smoothly which means that I get the chance to meet a friend Candi who has been lucky enough to get tickets to see the hockey and I direct them to have their photos taken with the torch that David Beckham carried.

While we are waiting for things to happen we get Gold and Bronze in the triathlon and the office starts to buzz. Then it's another Gold for the dressage and you can feel the exitement levels increase around the park as the word goes round.
I get a chance to watch the BMX athletes practice. I think this is going to be one of the events of the games. It looks amazing and very difficult. Lets hope the GB athletes do well.

And as if things haven't been good enough so far I get asked to help out in the Velodrome for the afternoon session. I think most of the others on the team know that I am a cyclist and they have been very generous in giving me some very good things to do. An afternoon supporting the press in the tribunes means that you get to watch the sport (providing there are no issues) from one of the best positions in the house. The only think lacking is the crowd. Fortunately in the Velodrome the crowd are never far away and although you are removed, there is still a fantastic atmosphere.

To be able to watch sport of the standard that I saw yesterday evening was a dream come true. Laura Trott was fantastic. For someone who is only 20 she showed a greatr deal of composure.

Victoria Pendleton looked to have an off day. Whether that was down to pressure or not I do not know. In the first heat it looked to me as if Anna Mears tried to unnerve Pendleton as they were coming towards the line and maybe it was that and the resulting relegation that meant that in the second sprint she wasn't in the right frame of mind as Anna Mears wone comfortably.

Chris Hoy was simply untouchable and the icing on the cake is that we had Matthew Pincent watching a couple of yards away.

Team pursuit

That was a one off. On the site where I first raced my bike I stood and watched four men drive a crowd in a way I have never experienced before. Music, drama and the arts can move, but not a whole crowd like those four young people did this evening. The volume,the intensity and the passion were all there in floods. Excitement and happiness oozed out of every pore of every one of us. Thursday was good, but the drama lasted only 40 odd seconds and it was over in a blink. Last night we were treated to just under four minutes of world record breaking drama.

On a side note a little thing I did which made me feel good. Before the race started I was standing in a place were an officious games maker kept on moving people on. A more than your jobs worth kind of bloke. Whilst stading there I noticed an Australian man trying to get a decent place to watch the race and the officious games maker was telling him to move on. So I offered up my place to which the Aussie said thanks. Then he followed it up saying his son was racing in the Aussie team. I've taken his photo and email address and I'm sure that this is just the start of the story as I will email him and hopefully find out more.

 

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Cycling

Thursday was the first day of competition in the velodrome and all those involved in bringing it together finally got to see that their plans worked. Apart from the disappointment in the women's team sprint everything went to plan.

For me it couldn't have started better as in the afternoon I was asked to stay up in the press area within the velodrome. The press occupy a large chunk of one side near to the finish line. Most places offer a good view, but the press have some of the best seats. The afternoon ebbed and flowed. Whenever a member of team gm took to the track the noise of the crowed increased to the extent that it was hard to hear what was going on. The afternoon built up to the finale which was the men's team sprint

It was a magical afternoon. The finale came when the men's sprint team took to the floor. It was tense and the crowed hushed as the gb took the starters orders. If you watched on tv you don't hear the fact that in the dome the cheer travels round with the riders in a mexican wave. It's intense. Within only a few seconds it's gold! And we all calm down.

I'ts probably the only time I will get to see an Olympic gold won and it was a very up lifting experience.

 

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Sport - it looks very different from here

It's a strange thing that for the most part I haven't much of a clue what is going on at the Olympic games. I have no access to television when I get back to the van which is probably a good thing as it means that I get to bed at a decent hour and don't have the temptation of more sport.

For the most part we focus on the sports we are involved in and have an intimate view of what is going on. Every now and then our focus changes when something big is happening. Today that was the first gold medals which meant that for a few minutes our office came to a halt, the volume on the TV was switched up and the cheering started as the girls got closer to the line.

 

I was hoping for a repeat when I was eating my lunch in the break out area. Unfortunately it was only a bronze for the rowing 8. You could see the mood rapidly changing from calm to really excited and back to subdued.

 

Basketball

A blog written by someone working at the Olympic games just wouldn't be complete with at least some mention of sport. It's a strange one as I am actually not getting to see that much. We are dipping in and out. The offices where I work we have live feeds from all of the action going in at any one time in all of the venues. However given that there are so many nations and people with different sporting bents represented we never have the same thing in for long. It's a constant channel hop.

On Monday evening towards the end of my shift I was asked if I wanted to watch the next basketball match. There was no way I was going to turn down an offer like that. I donned my team GB t-shirt and went to the break area where we were told to meet. A number of other people turned up and we were ushered into the arena to the best court side seats where we were privileged to watch Australia against France in the women's basketball qualifying. As we sat there a match of a very high standard unfolded.

I have never been to a proper basketball game before, but after the spectacle I saw, I am a complete convert and I can understand why it is so big in the USA. It's fast, committed and above all utterly engaging. The players give their all and for a non contact sport it is very physical. I certainly wouldn't mess with any of the girls on the court. They were tough mean and dedicated to the job.

Australia got the better of France to start with. However by half time it was still too close to call. France had a very good third quarter and looked like they would go on to win. The Australian girls never gave up and were two points adrift as the clock was rapidly counting down. In the very last throw they scored from away out to level the game. The arena went wild. The uninitiated like me assumes that they would both share the points, but no. 5 more minutes of the best sport possible. France narrowly winning in a very dramatic game. Almost as as good from a drama point of view as a five day test where the outcome is uncertain until the final session.

It is a shame that it is not possible for all the spectators to shake hands with the sports women. They certainly deserved it and I can not recall seeing sport that good so intimately. With big stadium games like football or rugby you are removed from experiencing the little things going on in the field of play. Not so with basketball.

There is so much more that could be said. The half time dancers, the compare and the crowd all came together to create an unforgettable experience for every one there.

My journey

Now that I have things more sussed I have worked out the best way to get from the campsite into the Olympic park and it is adding to the positive experience that I am having. Once I have crossed the busy A10 I can pick up the lee valley cycle path where I quickly enter into another world away from the concrete jungle and bustle of the London road network.

There are very few other people around early in the morning and not many more in the evening. Given there are so many people living within spitting distance it seems strange to me that it's not more crowded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been lucky so far with the weather going into the park. A couple of mornings have been bright and clear. If I am working on an early shift then the sun is just rising as I leave the campsite at 5:30.

All the pictures have been taken whilst riding my bike and are snapshots of my view of the day. Hopefulyouths give an idea of how nice the lee valley is.

One sad piece of news is that a fellow cyclist was killed yesterday just outside the Olympic park by a bus.

NB this is work in progress and I will update it as I get time.

 

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Day two another early start

I wake at 4 and quickly fall back to a deep sleep so that when my alarm rings at 5 I don't really feel much like getting up and on the road for work. One of the things that I have thought is that since I am a cyclist and I have the dram ticket of working in the velodrome that I should cycle as much as possible during the games. It's about a 15 mile run into the Olympic park along the lee valley. 20 years ago the lee valley was an industrial wasteland which nobody visited. These days you can cycle into london in complete safety without meeting a single car.

As I am not 100% sure about where to get onto the cycle path and I am in a hurry I cycle on a fairly quiet road. It's Sunday a lovelly sunny morning and there are very few people out this early. After a while I see a sign to the cycle path and I am off the roads and into another world which leads me through lush green fields and scrub land to the Olympic park.

The walk in is very uplifting and I make a mental note to relish every moment.

My day has a different feel as mostly it is spent in the velodrome. Occasionally we get to go upstairs in to the arena and watch what is going on. During the build up to the first race all the teams have been allocated two hour training slots. Big names from all over the world are there in front of me as I watch. It is really a dream come true to be able to see and be part of the build up to something great. The British cycling team is at the top of their game and we are all hopeful that something will happen in the women's road race to make up for the previous days disappointment in the men's event.

Later on I go back up into the arena and before me the gb team are on the track and I have the privilege of seeing them. Chris Hoy passes within inches of where I am standing. All the while the women's road race is being played on the big screens so that the athletes can watch as they train. A big cheer goes up as lizzie Armistead starts team gb on their meadel quest by getting silver.

A day in the life of an Olympic games maker

As the alarm goes off I wake feeling very tired from the lack of sleep, but it only takes me a couple of seconds to realise that it's the first day if the olympics and I will be there working behind the scenes. I am out of the house as quickly as I can and out of the house across a ver quiet London at just before 6.

As I cycle I keep seeing other people with their games maker uniforms on. I catch the eye of a black lady with a walking stick standing waiting for a bus as I come though hackney and we smile and share our moment. Before I know it I am cycling into the bike park at eaton manor. For me the ride has brought back lots of positive memories as the site of the Olympic park is where the east way track used to be and where I started racing my bicycle

As I walk in there is a good feeling both from within and also more importantly from without. Games makers proudly ware their uniforms and make sure they say a happy good morning to everyone around. This is not a Butlins type of good morning that has been trained in to a workforce but a very genuine and natural kind of good morning that comes from people relishing and embracing their role in making the games happen.

There is a certain amout of confusion as to what all the new starters are supposed to be doing, but I find the office I am working out of and get to meet up with other members of my team. We have a diverse range of people working from students on technology courses to project managers from house hold name companies.

It's good getting to know them all and finding out about why they are at the Olympics.

As part of our work we get to see the games from a different angle as most of the time we are behind the scenes. On occasion I go out front of house and I wish that I was doing the meeting and greeting as it looks such fun. However by the afternoon I soon realise that what I am doing is rather special as I see far more things which are needed to make an event of this scale happen.

On occasion when things are quiet we get to watch some of the television feeds of the things on around us.

By e time my day finishes I am still on a high and the tiredness from the previous couple of days fails to materialise. I go back to islington to collect my stuff and then cycle back up to the campsite which is some 15 miles north just the other side of the M25 in Hertfordshire. I get back to the site and head off to buy some food . Sea bass with a Bierce blanc, green beans and potatoes, followed by cheese and a nice glass of red. It's been a long day and I am very tired and soon I slip into a most welcome sleep.

What a night - the opening ceremony

We make it to our campsite, park the van up and get our bikes out. Now speed is the essence of the day as we know that if we don't get down to Victoria park we will miss the chance to watch on the big screens which have been setup.

The quick change from van to bikes comes back to bite as when we arrive in hackney I discover that my wallet is nowhere to be found. I rack my mind. Have I lost it? I can remember leaving it on the dashboard of the van but I can't be sure. Fortunately a friend Rachael is at the front of the queue and very kindly offers to lend me £50 which I gladly accept with a huge feeling of relief. I give the boys some money to get some food and leave them in the queue while I go off to drop out stuff in islington where we are staying. On my way back to Victoria park I learn that my wallet is safe in my van and I can relax and enjoy the evening. It's nearly 5 when I get back to the boys and the queue behind them snakes it's way back into the distance.

After an hour we are let in and we get a good place near the biggest screen and watch the bbc coverage. The atmosphere is fantastic. Happy people from all over the world are coming together to share and experience the Olympic games.

The red arrows roar overhead on their way across London to loud cheers and we all tingle with the anticipation. Finally the ceremony starts and the crowd falls silent as we watch the greatest show on earth unfold. We are within a stones throw and we see the queen and Craig Daniel make their dramatic entrance. For those nay sayers out there yes it really happened!

Time wizzes by as there is just so much to take on board and before we know it the athletes are entering. The crowd lulls, however every few minutes a contingent jumps up and cheered as their athletes enter the stadium.

Before we know it the finale starts and we can see the fireworks over the park. Wow!

We finally hit the sack back in islington just before two am still buzzing with excitement. My alarm has been set for 5 but I am very happy that I have taken as much from the day as possible.

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It's the day we have all been waiting for

I wake very early, far too early with a real sense of excitement within me. I try to go back to sleep as I know that I have a long day ahead, but it's just not going to happen as I have far too many things going on in my mind. There are lots of things to put into the van and i am hopeful that I can get Ben and Rob up so we can leave at a decent hour.

As I am lying in bed the Chris Evans show starts and I decide to text in. 15 minutes later the following is read out "Morning Chris, can all the Olympic games makers be in your club? We are more excited than even you. James" I know I am going to have an interesting day and I decide that the way to wake the boys is to go over to the church and ring the bells at 8:12. We live right next door to the church so I hope that it's going to work.

8:12 and I start to ring one of the church bells along with 3 other regular ringers. As we ring they gently try and press gang me into learning. The bell ringing trick works and as I get back into the house Rob is up and moving around. For some reason he is a bit grumpy so I leave him to wake up as I load the van.

After much cajoling I get the boys moving and we pile into the van. Rob starts to play the guitar and I am a very happy person with the buzz of the day and all the stimulating things happening around me.

 

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Initial thoughts

I have decided that I should record some of the experiences and emotions that happen to me as I start a unique ans exciting journey over the next few weeks as a games maker at the Olympic games.This morning I have woken at an early hour. Part of that is down to the excitement that I feel building withing me. It was over two years ago that I heard about the fact that volunteers would be needed to help at the games.

Being the sort of person who likes to be busy and get involved rather than stand on the side and watch. Last December I went for an interview and back in march three days before my birthday I received the most fantastic gift - the chance to work at the games in the velodrome, bmx and basketball areas. It's two days to go and I'm just about to start my last day at work.