Olympic Torch – Disillusionment Content

I was riding in the Purbecks on Saturday and there was a poster in Corfe for the Torch Relay, the poster was sponsored by MacDonalds – says it all really.

You should see the amount of restaurants (ironic name) on site, including what will apparently be the world’s biggest McDonald’s. Quite ironic and a sure sign of the state of things I thought to myself.

@IanMunro

Cheers; I did my stage last night; it was enjoyable enough; the GPS baton you carry looks massive; but feels ok once you get used to it !

All felt a bit random meeting people in car parks to exchange a plastic tube but I’ve raised a fair amount for charity off the back of it; so it’s all good in my book 🙂

Steve

Cool!
How grippy was it? Knowing how much I sweat I did ponder whether wearing cycle mitts might make sense.

Back on the Olympic Torch, it is mostly fluff to try and drum up some interest in a school sports day in London village.

However, that bloke who did 300yds today; without legs and having his head opened up by a bomb was properly inspiring.

+1 on the massive sense of underwhelming over hyped bah humbuggery.

Figured out it was heading through the town where I work at lunch time, so instead of being in town, thought I’d head up the road (before town) to see it first, 25mins of standing in the wind and rain, road closed, potholes filled in, grass cut etc.
then police motorbikes, then more, then two white BMWs then a coca cola wagon, samsung bus and some other sponsor and that was it. WTF?
So I’ve stood in the rain for 25mins (why I don’t really know) for the thing to be driven past at 50mph.

Fail.

And in town wasn’t much better. Apparently it was raining too hard so they didn’t really run either, just walked about 200m down the main street then stood in the coca cola wagon and back in the cars and off, at speed. Yay.

Few weeks back trying to get from Glasgow to Fort William the 2hour trip turned into 4hours because of emergency road works to tart the place up in time for the torch. grrrr!

I saw it going up the gondola at Nevis range during the downhill world cup, but didn’t know it at the time as I did not have my glasses on. I thought it was a piss head hanging out the Gondola with a bottle of whisky.

I saw Jack Charlton carrying the torch in the toon with a walking stick but full respect to him. Nice chap. I just happened to be nearby when the torch went passed. 🙂

My daughter went to see it with the school, she said she would rather have been at double chemistry.

My daughter summed it up when her school went to see it,posted on the other lympic torch thread. My son seen it at Fort William the earlier weekend and did not bother go and see it.

I really do wonder what those of you who have become disappointed with the relay were expecting to see? It’s a national embarrassment, as are the crowds of wide-eyed droolers who go to watch it.

“People of Britain! Show some class and don’t go to watch it! They may be able to edit out any protest but they can’t edit out indifference”

the throng of bodyguards in tracksuits with their fingers in their comm-link ear pieces. I think I can just about make out someone holding a torch in there…somewhere

That’s because this country is full of massive to$$ers whose only thought would be to sabotage the events

And why not? I wish that the relay had been under siege from Land’s End. Instead the only admitted disruption came in NI from a few burned-out old Taigs. This country is pathetic!

The torch relay should really have been done as a massive ‘pass-the-parcel’ with everyone passing it to their next door neighbour

ah so thats what that thing up the Nevis gondola was. Ithought it was someone sat on top of lift for a joke with music booming out, didn’t realise at all it was ‘the torch’

Im actually quite looking forward to the olympics been over and the buildings gone as its a freaking joke.

It goes through my home town today! Luckily I’m at work avoiding it all.

How much is all this t*ss costing us? Why is the fire risk being paraded outside of London? It’s the London Olympics: it’d be nice if they left the rest of us out of it (especially paying for it). If we want in we could go down “that London” and have a look….

I saw the face of the old boy (must have been well over 70) carrying the thing, and how much it obviously meant to him to be carrying the torch, the first time it’s been in his country in his lifetime

Not if he was in his 70s – London Olympics 1948, but I dunno if they had a torch back then.

Doubt they did in ’48 as it were the Nazzers that started the ‘tradition’.

seen it 4 times (work related)

The general punters can’t seem to get enough of it.
I was shocked at how many turned up at media city at 6am on a very wet Sunday morning to see it off, well over 1000..

@IanMunroe

I wouldn’t worry on the grippiness; it’s really not that heavy (though gloves might be a good idea thinking of how many people have sweated on it – wish I’d thought of that now ….)

Weirdest thing for me was that after about 8km I though ‘hmmm this is getting a bit tiring’ so swapped arms; had to swap back after about 20m as I’d got so used to the feeling of it in my other hand that it felt all wrong !

The torch relay in 1948 was from Greece to London, so it’s possible that someone might have seen it then.

what a load of old t*ss. came through our village today, wife dragged me down there as it was passing the local pub. think she was quite excited about it and slagged me off for being so cynical.

after watching the coca cola bus, the samsung bus with a few young lasses banging out clubbing music, and people on buses shaking peoples hands as tho they were celebs, i vaguely saw the top of a torch pass through hordes of screaming villagers. blimey 😯

the general opinion afterwards was “is that it??” er…… what did you expect?? im sure the lasses carrying it had done something worthy for the honour, but….. its not very relevant is it :-/