“I know one thing: Ken Livingston is a folk hero.”
I’m writing this on the train home to Devon after a weekend in London for Le Grand Depart of Le Tour De France. And what a grand depart is turned out to be, with the abysmal English summer finally giving way to a couple of days of glorious sunshine. The crowds were astonishing all the way around the prologue route and in the parks. We walked out from our hotel on Trafalgar Square to beside the Serpentine gallery, where we perched by the intermediate timing stand for a while. I would concede however, that watching bike racing from the roadside is not the most exciting experience in the world, however excellent the atmosphere, so we adjourned then to Hyde Park where we proceeded to watch the racing on one of the giant screens. Here too, the atmosphere was terrific, with everyone in good spirits applauding the riders’ exploits. There was of course a big partisan appreciation for David Millar and Bradley Wiggins, but there was as much if not more applause for the awesome ride that Fabian Cancellera put in at the very end of the afternoon which destroyed the rest of the field. It was truly an amazing sight to watch him ride.
What was equally great to see was the way that the whole thing seemed to go off without a hitch. The sight of hundreds of thousands (i read a million quoted in the papers!) of people dissipating from the parks and the route after 6.30 or so was quite mind-blowing (especially for us country folk).
I guess the roll out from The Mall this morning went smoothly too, though it was a little early for us, so by the time we got out into the open air David Millar was already well into his early attack. We had thought about spending a couple of hours looking at some art, but instead took advantage of the sunshine and the giant screens in Trafalgar Square. It would be great if they kept those there for the entire duration of Le Tour, but I guess that would be a step too far!
Now I often come home from London feeling sorry to leave it, but this time I felt that tug to remain stronger than ever. Maybe it was the atmosphere of the crowds that helped restore a semblance of faith in the goodness of humanity, or maybe it was just because of the sun shining for the first time in an eternity. Whatever, it was a magical weekend, and as we checked out of our hotel, Ken Livingstone appeared behind us, doing the same, so C thanked him for giving us such a wonderful time. It seemed the least that we could do.
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