[Closed] Olympic Time Trial - Spectating

Wasn't planning on going to this but &*(^ it, I now really want to. Will probably ride to the Cobham stretch so keen to see who else if up for this and/or any recommendations as well.

Tarp

Watched the road race at hampton court on Saturday and that was great. Really good atmosphere, with strangers all chatting to each other and having a good time. It's a good spot and I'm tempted to go back. hampton court road / chestnut avenue jn (bushy park) has a nice pub, with plastic glasses available for standing out on the barrier having a pint, and the blokes will be slowing a little to take the corner so should be good for photos. I reckon that's were I'll be if its sunny.

And does anyone have a copy of the starting order? Seems like the powers that be want to hold this back for security reasons until Tue or Wed.

not managed to find one but the men's race starts at 14:15, there are up to 45 riders setting off at 90s intervals so with some non-starters they will be all on the road by 15:15. with a 44km course taking about an hour they should all be done by 16:15.
I read something about the top guys being seeded, so expect Cancellara, Martin, Wiggins and Froome to all be setting off from 3pm.

Seeding would make sense. Think I'll take in the latter part of the women's race too - might as well, eh?

I'm also off to watch it armed with a complete lack of local knowledge. We're staying on Portsmouth road opposite the river and whilst this is on the route they will clearly be going past at ridiculous speeds so really want to watch on a corner for those added milliseconds.

Any thoughts on the on the Kingston Bridge area?

Alternatively it looks like there might be a big screen at Weston Green but I can't find many details. Anyone know anything?

It's a very flat course. The only bit where there is any gradient is on the Portsmouth road between Cobham and Esher by westend common/ Claremont.

Jbig, Sigma sport is right next to Kingston bridge on the Hampton Wick side. I'd hazard a guess that they will have something going on, being a proper roadie shop and having the TT on their doorstep.

Another one planning a day trip with minimal local knowledge. Thinking Bushy Park too, but was wondering will it be accessible from Hampton Court station, or am I better off going to Teddington? Am guessing latter may be better for crowd avoidance anyway.

jbig, Kingston bridge will be a good spot for them slowing, but I'd guess it will be very crowded and difficult to move 'cos its a natural pinch-point, Get there early if that's you're plan. And expect a lot of Kingston workers to pop out for the afternoon.
But all the good spots near transport will be busy, so you take your chance wherever.

Thanks all.
Sigma Sport certainly look like they will be (rightly) making the most of it so could well be an option. Clearly any good spot is going to be busy, particularly if as you say Loum there will be workers coming out of their offices.
Suppose its a matter of weighing up how comfortable we want to be for 5 hours with how much we want to see of the riders. One to mull over on the train up tonight.

wait4me,
I'd guess Teddington station will be quieter, but if you do use HC station then cut through HC grounds and out the far gate to avoid the crowds at the ticketed area.

Still no sodding news on start lists. Stoooopido.

why are the start times so important?

Hijack, but does anyone know if Cancellara is definitely riding, he looked pretty second-hand after saturday?

Matt

This says he should be...

http://www.london2012.com/news/articles/cancellara-confident-time-trial.html

riding AND winning

Any MTB on Esher Common or Oxshott Heath or Walton Common? I am thinking of going with a friend and two kids and it would be fun to combine with a short-ish cycle somewhere especially if we can avoid traffic jams and parking problems!

Start times:

14:15:00 37 LAHSAINI Mouhcine MAR19850823
14:16:30 36 GIL MARTINEZ Tomas Aurelio VEN19770523
14:18:00 35 HAGHI Alireza IRI19790208
14:19:30 34 AKDILEK Ahmet TUR19880310
14:21:00 33 NAZARET Magno Prado BRA19860117
14:22:30 32 BEPPU Fumiyuki JPN19830410
14:24:00 31 BAZAYEV Assan KAZ19810222
14:25:30 30 McCANN David IRL19730317
14:27:00 29 BAK Lars Ytting DEN19800116
14:28:30 28 ALBASINI Michael SUI19801220
14:30:00 27 DUARTE AREVALO Fabio Andres COL19860611
14:31:30 26 BOOM Lars NED19851230
14:33:00 25 BAUER Jack NZL19850407
14:34:30 24 BRAJKOVIC Janez SLO19831218
14:36:00 23 BODNAR Maciej POL19850307
14:37:30 22 GILBERT Philippe BEL19820705
14:39:00 21 VINOKUROV Alexandr KAZ19730916
14:40:30 20 HESJEDAL Ryder CAN19801209
14:42:00 19 CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan ESP19870427
14:43:30 18 FUGLSANG Jakob DEN19850322
14:45:00 17 OLIVEIRA Nelson Filipe S. Simoes POR19890306
14:46:30 16 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald NOR19870517
14:48:00 15 NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas LTU19880130
14:49:30 14 MENCHOV Denis RUS19780125
14:51:00 13 WESTRA Lieuwe NED19820911
14:52:30 12 KIRYIENKA Vasil BLR19810628
14:54:00 11 LARSSON Gustav SWE19800920
14:55:30 10 ROGERS Michael AUS19791220
14:57:00 9 GRABSCH Bert GER19750619
14:58:30 8 CHAVANEL Sylvain FRA19790630
15:00:00 7 FROOME Christopher GBR19850520
15:01:30 6 PINOTTI Marco ITA19760225
15:03:00 5 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon ESP19831124
15:04:30 4 PHINNEY Taylor USA19900627
15:06:00 3 MARTIN Tony GER19850423
15:07:30 2 WIGGINS Bradley GBR19800428
15:09:00 1 CANCELLARA Fabian SUI19810318

oooh.
this will be good.
just hope the rain stays away - couple of showers forecast, but rain and leafy Surrey roads do not mix...

step outside of the house sit on the grass verge and watch them zip by, had a sneak preview today as they all went out for a practice ride wiggo and froome looking quick as were martin and cancellara.
It's going to be a good day tomorrow

Thanks swedish. where did you find it? interested in the ladies tt too.

Nice one Swedish. I've now found the ladies ...

Women’s Startlist
12:30:00 24 FERNANDES SILVA Clemilda BRA19790625
12:31:30 23 SUNDSTEDT Pia FIN19750502
12:33:00 22 de VOCHT Liesbet BEL19790105
12:34:30 21 MOOLMAN Ashleigh RSA19851209
12:36:00 20 CORDON Audrey FRA19890922
12:37:30 19 ANTOSHINA Tatiana RUS19820727
12:39:00 18 TCHALYKH Elena AZE19740325
12:40:30 17 GUDERZO Tatiana ITA19840822
12:42:00 16 RAMSDEN Denise CAN19901121
12:43:30 15 ZABELINSKAYA Olga RUS19800510
12:45:00 14 FAHLIN Emilia SWE19881024
12:46:30 13 WORRACK Trixi GER19810928
12:48:00 12 CANTELE Noemi ITA19810717
12:49:30 11 GILLOW Shara AUS19871223
12:51:00 10 van DIJK Ellen NED19870211
12:52:30 9 ARMITSTEAD Elizabeth GBR19881218
12:54:00 8 JOHANSSON Emma SWE19830923
12:55:30 7 NEBEN Amber USA19750218
12:57:00 6 POOLEY Emma GBR19821003
12:58:30 5 HUGHES Clara CAN19720927
13:00:00 4 VILLUMSEN Linda Melanie NZL19850409
13:01:30 3 VOS Marianne NED19870513
13:03:00 2 ARNDT Judith GER19760723
13:04:30 1 ARMSTRONG Kristin USA19730811

I live next to sigma sport , I was thinking of starting at horsehair at one end of Kingston bridge for the women's and move over to the bushy park and the Diana fountain for the men's, or basically float around from the kingston end of the portsmouth road, market place, Kingston bridge, to bushy park area, all in all only about a 20 min walk so no need to stay in one place?

Vaguely considering parking in the sticks and riding in.

would that be a daft idea?

Also thought about doing that but didnt want my bike with me all day.

Yeah, could be a bit awkward - depends on density of spectators I suppose.

Anyway, can't spare the time now - will build a bike while watching it on TV instead.

On the road race loads of people had their bikes with them, just found a spot where they could stand their bike behind them. The men's race was jammed, the ladies less so but still plenty of room for bikes on Box Hill. The TT's are on a work day so I think there will be plenty of room aside from the real choke points.

I was thinking the same as loads cycled in for RR. Probably going to drive to Cobham area and watch on road and big screen. Hope the parking is ok

We're cycling to Hampton Court then gradually working our way out to somewhere like Hershham then shooting up to Esher to catch them coming back in. We'll be on Bromptons, so easy to move and pack down out of the way. Worked well on Saturday at Hampton Court.

I'll be doing something similar aP, but on a proper bike
it can't be as busy as the road race, but will still be plenty of people I reckon

@teamhurtmore - where is the big screen ? Planning to catch the train out of London and was thinking Bushy Park. Cobham screen possibly be far from station ?

Good info on TT locations, example below

[url= http://www.gosurrey.info/assets/other/spec-map-tt-hersham-cobham ]Cobham/Hersham sector[/url]

Cancellara was riding the practice yesterday, no sign of his arm still hanging off....

I live just off the P'mouth road - so I am going to check the lie of the land in a moment. All the roads are closed leading to the course -so v.easy to mooch about by bike at the mo.....

If you are going to watch anywhere between Long Ditton and Hearts Boat Yard it is a very slight down hill - speed v. fast when they paractised yesterday.

[url= http://www.elmbridge.gov.uk/leisure/olympics/livesites.htm ]Linky[/url] to big screens ...

I plan on driving up from just South of Bristol shortly, parking somewhere outside London and cycling in to watch, maybe at a few places.
Now to find some cheap parking!!