JOCK STROP

LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS PART TWO - posted 25 July 2012

The Games are now just hours away and the media and organisation cranked up to maximum volume riding on a high of expectation, only slightly dented by usual last minute glitches and patched over repairs any anticipated event from a wedding to a holiday always throws up but we can all overcome these painlessly.

Back in 2007 when London was awarded the Games, before the UK’s slide into obsolescence began to accelerate, the New Labour anticipation of future wealth and prosperity for British construction projects and 70,000 new jobs caused much needed promise for the run down north east area of the capital. However all these Olympic Games/World Cups, with the exception of China, have followed a similar construction cycle, utilising the same global firms all the way from planners to architects and actual assemblers for the past 30 years, employing an equally worldwide army of skilled workers honed on the large civil engineering projects like the Channel Tunnel, Hong Kong Airport, rebuilding of Berlin after the wall came down etc, etc and usual oil rig and transcontinental pipelines/railways/motorway workers who are prepared to work anywhere on the globe for the right price.

Anyone in the proximity of the Games site in the last few years would have been hard pushed to see these new jobs being done by the native population as the basic skills needed disappeared three decades ago as Britain abandoned its industry for the easy new technology pickings of the financial and service providers instead. So apart from the occasional Geordie or other northern accent or Paddy and Jock lilts, the majority of dialects heard there would be mid or east European. Catering and security alternatives would be all most locals could hope for and this was a reason many of the Tottenham ‘low life’ involved in last summer’s riots justified their behaviour stating that the Olympics would do ‘nuffing’ for them and they could not give a damn about the sporting element either.

Despite that the Games site took shape in a very short time and apparently within budget. No doubt, after all the dodgy financial disasters recently, the real auditors report will not be ready for a few years yet and the truth will be known. Having spent a solitary Xmas Day driving around a deserted Stratford I was very impressed by what I saw and was looking forward to the week’s holiday I had booked to help out at East London in preparation for our big day.  I’d attend some events if I was lucky enough to obtain tickets and take in the nearby atmosphere of the big ‘O’ occasion.  I’d then escape the city each evening by fast motorbike to spectate at the three GB v Poland test matches in rural Norfolk.

With that now kyboshed I still have the week off and for some strange reason I was sent a British Cycling ‘priority’ Olympic booking form for the cycling events and filled it in accordingly to obtain £300 worth of tickets, if I am lucky in the ballot, to see six events mostly at the Velodrome.  Alas so far no envelope has dropped through the letterbox yet! Still, being a tourist in our capital, parking the car in out of the way Charlton or getting the train up and cycling on into the city dressed each day in either an old East London CSC top or alternative Australian/Polish/Dutch cycle speedway tee-shirt will enable me to converse cycling talk with any foreign visiting enthusiast, interested Aussie barmaid or Polish waitress stupid enough to inquire of our sport after too much suitable refreshment has been taken, probably via a budget supermarket rather than a tourist pavement bistro will suffice as my Olympic experience!

Total Cycle Speedway

It is just a pity that the whole cycle speedway family could not act like the agipolitical groups like Smash Capitalism, Stop the Iraq War, Climate Change Eco Warriors, Anti Nuclear or even the Restore Hunting lobbies and, from Friday 27^th July, all 2,000 of us take a fortnight’s holiday and peacefully set up camp in the spacious Canning Town Recreation ground next to the East London track and operate a non-stop 24 hour cycle speedway bonanza for the duration of the Games. 

Imagine it, a real jubilee of racing featuring all our top national and international events for all age groups interspersed with free Come and Try It sessions for anyone and everyone of all nationalities, creeds and lifestyles that are interested, without the usual intervention of the H&S Gestapo or legal mafias of normal government. This should not be a problem as “Clipboard Charlie” (CSC’s foreigner watch warden) will have arranged his annual caravan holiday in Clacton to coincide with the OGs to get away from all these bloody foreigners invading his sacred country!

After only a few days this intense saturation coverage of “Total Cycle Speedway” will gradually have an effect on our Olympic visitors who will soon tire of the problems of attending the Stratford extravaganza, being stuck in endless traffic jams, long drawn out security and ticketing checks, the overpriced, watered down, cold food and warm sterile drinks and refreshments limited to the traditional Coca Cola, Budweiser, McDonalds, Col Sanders and Starbucks corporate catering outlets that are only available, disappointment of the ridiculous palaver of obtaining event tickets, harassment from chirpy cheeky Cockney ticket touts (or as the Tories would describe them, aspiring entrepreneurs identifying a challenging market led business opportunity!) charging astronomical amounts to bemused keen sports followers whilst the corporate spongers of the ‘Heat’ and ‘Hello’ generation grab all the best ones but take no notice of the action at all only attending ‘to be seen’.

All these ‘hurdles’ to negotiate whilst being charged £100 for an umbrella as it has not stopped raining since 1^st May only to find their wallets have been stolen whilst waiting in the mile long queues by internet organised marauding gangs of Romanian gypsy pickpockets and little or no sympathy from the locals as they are not interested in the games at all.

These Olympic competitors, officials and visitors might just dismount from their walking pace shuttle bus and go over and see what this cycle speedway is all about and be pleasantly surprised that this unheard of sport actually embellishes all that was once important to the Olympic cause – an amateur activity for all where the taking part is more important than the false glory of winning at all cost and soon the news would spread round the capital and others would be drawn to the shale spectacular and all our troubles would be over for good!

What Legacy?

Much has been written and discussed regarding the legacy these games will leave for the city and the UK and the following generations of sportspeople influenced by such sporting excellence. Unfortunately I am very sceptical over this as given the quickness of time and low attention scenarios of modern youth culture via the “Sad Summer Sofa Syndrome” that most would have viewed the games on TV and only a small minority would have actually got out and about and involved themselves in such sporting pursuits, the rest immediately switching back to the fake banality of the X Factor, Big Brother and Britain’s Got Talent as they frantically phoned for a pizza delivery without alighting from their horizontal viewing position.

It will be better for the post games authorities, rather than be left with an expensive, little used white elephant Games Village sell it off immediately to an enterprising entrepreneur to create a theme park to rival Disney’s international versions which would most certainly satisfy the locals, the proceeds used of course to return city bankers bonuses to their normal rates via deserved tax breaks and offshore transfers to these respected pillars of UK society. “East Enders Land” or “Essex World” sounds good to me.

Apart from the main stadium, all the other permanent indoor structures could easily be modified for immediate use. One could become a gigantic “Cup Cake Bakery”, another sponsored by Ronseal would make an excellent “Fake Tan Refinery”, a new silicone valley area would soon materialise, the Big Brother House returning to its original site next to the old Bow Monarchs track whilst all the ‘used once’ marquees from all the tented villages could re-invigour the traditional East End “Rag Trade” and all be turned into gigantic “Big Fat Gypsy Wedding Dresses” which would sweep gracelessly over the fine, recently fitted, expensive hard Serbian teak fine wooden floors of the many caravans and mobile homes in Essex trailer parks instantly liberated from the velodrome within minutes of the games closing ceremony. Add to that customising outlets for Vauxhall Super Nova and Gulf GTI hot rod fanatics or pink girlie stretched limousines and warehouses containing Wag Bags, designer trainers and all the usual branded bling clothing.

Apparently the aquatic centre (pictured above) for the swimming, diving and water polo has already been sold to a partnership consisting of a traditional East London restaurateur and a consortium of beauticians and hairdressers to create the world’s largest foot spa which doubles as an ecological fish farm providing immediately high protein sustainable food for a revitalised chain of pie, eel, mash and seafood outlets set to be the next fad in cuisine. To the uninitiated these foot spas contain tropical or cold water species of small fish or eels who feed off of the excess fat and hard skin of female humans’ feet whose lower extremities have endured physical torture from ill fitting white stiletto heeled shoes pirouetting round handbags for generations and have become welcome additional income facilities for the fashion and cosmetic industry in the UK.

The Olympic Pool will process the totty population of south-east England be they Chelsea Wags, Towie tarts or Ibetha gals at the rate the old Dagenham Ford factory turned out Cortinas in the 1960s. All they do is sit there, immerse their feet in the water, grab a ciggie, mobile phone and a copy of OK or a Kindle of 50 Shades of Grey and yak away to their accompanying mate Tracy while the fish dine. It all sounds a bit boring to me. You think you could jazz it up by chucking in a few Piranhas or baby killer sharks but maybe that is a bit cruel.

Given the aggressive competitive nature of the female species, dangerous Jacuzzi currents, chemically enhanced toxic damage from cosmetically discharged products in the water combined with vile nicotine and poisonous alcohol vapours, blood curdling deafening squeals from the over excitement produced through rough abrasive tongues, razor sharp teeth snapping out at everything that moves, sinisterly intertwined with an atmosphere of acute jealous possession, fear and animal domination the poor fish wouldn’t stand a chance!

All the buildings of course would be powered by natural power from the overflow from the giant solarium or lightning deflected from that strange piece of unfinished scaffolding dominating the main car park deflected from the Shard!

Finally, the disposal of the Olympic Stadium saga. Back in 1980 the Alexander Palace in North London was badly damaged in a fire and it was mooted at the time to demolish the remains and build the new replacement for the by now tired and run down Wembley to future Olympic Games standard there and have Arsenal and Spurs jointly share it similar to the way Inter and Athlectico utilised the San Siro Stadium in Milan. This made perfect sense, leaving the old historic stadium to rugby league, speedway, greyhound racing and increasingly staging rock concerts for elderly performers and similar aged audiences and other cultural events instead.

However agreement between the various parties in true British style was a no-no, so in the next 30 years many arguments ensued between the various sporting bodies, clubs and authorities resulting in the gradual improvement of all the under used major venues capital wide resulting in completely rebuilt Twickenham, new Emirates Stadium, new Wembley and new Olympic Stadium whilst demolishing the brand new only used twice Hackney Speedway, along with re-vamping most of the principle football grounds costing millions when one all-purpose one would have done fine after all plus a similar scenario took place in Manchester for their failed 2000 Olympic bid and we wonder why the UK is bankrupt today! Why did we not just use Manchester instead of London? At least they know how to deal with the rain!

The controversy over the continued ownership of the stadium, like the Millennium Dome a decade ago, will rumble on for years between footballing Spurs, West Ham and the Orient with the facility deteriorating rapidly until in 2025 London’s new Lord Mayor, Sir David Beckham, now married to the rotund Cheryl after the extreme severe dieting of the unsmiling Lady Posh caused her to turn sideways and just vanish one day and along with disappointed Olympic guardian Seb Coe finally throw the keys for the padlocked arena to Len Silver and once again the deserted, tumbleweed strewn run down East End hinterland would echo to the sound of throaty speedway exhausts with their addictive perfumed scent and “Make it a Date, Hackney at Eight” on a Friday evening may eventually lead to the resurrection of cycle speedway after all amongst the disused car parks and overgrown landscaped “bombsite” like terrain involving the feral unemployable mongrel forgotten youth population existing there!

Nightmare Scenario

Of course security at the Olympics is the priority discussion point given recent developments regarding Group Four Securicor perfectly illustrating the pitfalls of privatisation we will now have to rely on the Ghurkhas (squaddies) protecting us from the Burkars (suicide bombers), with the ever present terrorism threat but I am confident Britain’s respected Foreign Office and MI5 and are on top of the situation along with the armed forces and police, fire and ambulance services unless of course they too have been outsourced like the country’s utilities, communications, local government services and transport infrastructure etc has been given away to mostly foreign ownership.

If last summer’s riots had never taken place but ignited next week instead it would be game over for the Olympics for sure with only the remarkable success of the swift capture the majority of the perpetrators due to CCTV footage being the only positive outcome of that unfortunate occurrence.

However if it all ends in tears it will be because of a unique situation which will take the authorities completely by surprise similar to the way that just before the giant Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, killed tens of thousands of people but almost no animals, birds or marine life whom a sixth sense scenario alerted them to the impending trauma and they all took avoiding action immediately fleeing inland to higher ground, flying above the storm area or diving deep under the turbulent waters to safety.

This time a similar sub conscious happening could occur which would bring uncontrollable turmoil to London causing the complete curtailment and prompt abandonment of the Games and worldwide embarrassment for the country. Just imagine if the category of “S Word” people (Soap loving, snacking, Sky soccer subscribing, Sunday supermarket shopping, Sun reading and selebritary worshiping etc etc) whose interest in taking part in sport is minimal, that I have spent the past five years explaining to the CS world why their pastime has been compartmented into unsuitable participation windows because of them, preventing any future improvement, suddenly after watching the glitz and glamour of the opening ceremony on TV all 20 million of them in the South East of England decide unanimously without mentioning this to their immediate friends and neighbours to attend the Olympics the next day.

“Oi darlin’ how do you fancy goin’ up London tomorrow to see what this Olympics is all about. We’ll take the kids in the car and ‘ave a real jolly up, goin’ to that new Westfield Shoppin’ centre which is the biggest in Europe cause I’m pissed orf with borin’ old Bluewater and Lakeside (other mega concrete monstrosities are available!) and there is plenty of tickets available accordin’ to ma mate Trev who has just got a job in security there when he got released from the Scrubs.  We can see the BMX”

Thus the next day the capital of the UK becomes grid locked for a week as Suzuki Vitaras and other Taiwanese or Korean equivalents containing off duty road raged white van drivers, bored obese children, untetherd pit bull mastiffs and indecisive mothers diverge on the city, park anywhere and everywhere because S word people don’t do public transport which is only for these foreign visitors getting in the way of everybody all the time and waddle off to Westfield and the Olympic Centre hoping of course to see plenty of Celebes on the way.

Meanwhile the cycle race competitors, five minutes after the start, have to revert to cyclo-cross skills as they carry their bikes between the cars crowding the route or climb over discarded shopping trolleys like the marathon runners later would do as Paula Radcliffe hirples along the pavements and gutters ending up with a winning time I could have matched easily in normal conditions. Meanwhile bemused athletes and other competitors who made it to the running track appear in front of empty stands as ticket holders can get no nearer to the destination as traffic is at a standstill with the taxi drivers and tube staff on strike and helicopters grounded because of poor visibility from a million running exhausts. The impending rioters wring their hands in anticipation for a second opportunity when darkness approaches! No sign of Boris then and Cameron has darted off for a hurriedly arranged important engagement in the Falklands – Clegg’s in charge now!

Hopefully such will not happen and the big event runs to a perfect conclusion with victory and medals in great quantity to the host nation in baking hot sunshine, most of all turning our cycling stars into true lasting celebrities with Cavendish winning the road race, Wiggins complimenting his Tour De France victory with the time trial and repeated golds for Hoy and Pendleton with much dancing and singing in the streets from proud inhabitants in celebration.

This truly could be the “Last Hurrah” for a once great nation about to enter uncertainty as the impending great Scottish Salmond leap into full independence and fast track journey to a third world economy hastens the inevitable break-up of the UK whose remaining members will take the more cautious route to the same eventual destination this journey started out on in 1979 and we will experience the final death throws of the British Empire which in 1913 controlled two thirds of the world’s land area and half of its population and 100 years later the same sort of power is rapidly being increasingly wielded by a small group of individual men who hold all the cards, many unfortunately under the spell of strange religious zealots, mega media moguls and unsavoury regimes rather than true democratic principles.

Enjoy our Olympics, I certainly will attempt to.

LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS  PART ONE - posted 22 July 2012

 Games Preview

The big moment is almost here.  In less than a week the London Olympics will have started with, of course, an opening ceremony of gigantic size and over the top artistic presentation outdoing similar previous versions with little or no relationship to the sporting events to follow.

Since the financial collapse starting in 2008, these were assumed to be the “Austerity Games” but sadly the opposite seems to be the case. You would have thought in these hard times, a return to a simple march past in the stadium of each competing nation dressed in their track suits preceded by a Boy Scout holding a named placard following a local Pipe Band at the front and book ended by the Dagenham Girl Majorettes behind with possibly a fly past by a Red Arrow, would all that would be required on the day, saving the meagre firework display to the closing evening finale. 

East London’s track opening in 1986 utilised the Dagenham Girls.  Probably like Cycle Speedway competitors, the same ones are no doubt still marching out of sequence and twirling their batons 30 years on albeit three stones heavier.

If it is a pageant of noise, colour and entertainment that is necessary, one only needs to get along to any town centre high street on a Friday or Saturday night to witness the weekly parade of the pink, sossolled, scantily clad female elephants, rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses and the strange violent rutting ceremonies carried out by their opposing male stag suitors that are guaranteed to outdo any carefully choreographed alternative.

Racing Compromised

With the recent news of less than expected UK entries for the European championships, disappointment with the “single weekend” Veterans competitions, coupled to the dire wet weather this summer has thrown at us repeatedly, the usual predictable pattern of normal British competitions and cycle speedway still suffering from embarrassing off field disciplinary problems or varied refereeing interpretations, one can only hope that the Sky Television breakthrough of showing six Elite League matches, despite being broadcasted later on in the season, can bring back some success and credibility to the sport as the London Olympics rapidly approaches, regrettably a games too much as far as CS is concerned.

Consideration for qualifying for such a global event I believe requires a minimum amount of competitors (20 to 40 thousand!) from a percentage of the competing countries, so CS with only three or four nations involved and probably less than a couple of thousand riders in total, falls far short of that and will never ever become a contender.

The sensational news of Cycle Speedway alive and thriving in Japan offers encouragement for the future but could this be just another cul-de-sac like the Portland Holeshotters of 2011 appeared to be!

The initial decision to award East London the Euro Finals Day on the second

Sunday of the Games to utilise the expected event excitement seemed correct at first although it would have been a hard task for the club’s mainly elderly small membership to organise without outside help but previously they had coped admirably in staging the 2005 British Team Cup Finals and were set to similarly stage the England v Poland final test two years later when circumstances beyond their control intervened.

The subsequent decision to cancel the Euro Finals date was probably the correct one as advice from the Olympic organisers, Newham Council and the Metropolitan Police stated that the East London track, being situated on a prime communication route between the Games Village at Stratford and the City Airport, Excel Centre and the many Docklands hotels, would create timing and logistical problems and possibly compromise security issues.  So the finals were re-allocated to Ipswich.

However if they had gone ahead at East London, I do not think they would have been the success originally anticipated for a variety of reasons, some of which were instantly posted on Viewpoint but others which were more to do with the normal cycle speedway and stubborn British (English!) psyche regarding anything remotely foreign or different from the normal way we do things here.

Other disappointing news was the cancellation of the three Norfolk-based UK v Poland test matches prompted by the Poles prior to these Euro championships after last season’s successful series in Poland. Their excuse was that it would affect their preparation for that competition.  Surely it could only have enhanced it as it seems, as usual, GB prefers again to deflect their enthusiasm to the traditional home individuals rather than the second most important competition in international CS racing.

The European Individuals in fact tended to be, quality wise, in their infancy even better than the World versions when they were held in the northern hemisphere as the three inaugural meetings in 1994 (Almere), 1996 (Ravicz), - the best ever Cycle Speedway event and 1998 (Poole) turned out, amazingly all won by Norwich’s Andre Cross. Subsequent versions since then both in Poland and England have gradually become the property of the Eastern Europeans with less and less UK riders interested or making it through to the final each time with only proven foreign tourists, Lee Aris and Steve Harris (pictured below), still rising to the challenge regularly.
 

With the close proximity of the traditional ‘UK riders only’ British Individuals only three weeks after in Wales, I expect the normal excuses of “I’m saving myself for Finals Weekend” to surface in Suffolk’s preliminaries. This attitude is a shame but traditionally a British one as in other sports like horseracing, the Epsom Derby and Aintree Grand National are held in the highest regard by the general public.  Now, in this modern globalised world, many other races have superseded them in stature and prestige in reality the former being a ‘toffs’ race for entered at birth (like prospective Eton public schoolboys) male stallion thoroughbreds and the latter a cruel “demolition Derby” for geldings and forgotten cart horses compared to the likes of the Arc de Triomphe, Dubai Cup and Cheltenham Festival.

Legendary champion jockeys Frankie Dettori and Tony McCoy had to wait decades before winning each genre to gain credibility with the British public. Conversely Steve Harris, who has appeared in more British Finals than any other rider, getting on the podium but not winning, is not perceived in the same aura as others despite achieving the ultimate World championship title in Rawicz in 1999.  Harris has only failed to appear in the odd version internationally a few times and with his Polish League racing experience will still be up for the challenge in Suffolk.  Strangely several top English riders have in the past appeared for their country in the Nation’s Team match the day before but declined to even enter the Individuals.

Even the recent FA Cup Final has now become just a bit-part match played at tea time on a May Saturday sandwiched between a couple of Sky Premier League matches these days, yet it is still wrongly lauded as the ultimate football trophy by the traditional English public.

Olympic History

The Olympics came to London (White City) in 1908 and again in 1948 (Wembley) and now 2012.  Given the increase in actual worldwide nations, it is conceivable that they will not return to these shores for 70 years or so, a lifetime, but the natives of these privileged isles seem only to view it as an inconvience rather than the great occasion it is and are already complaining of the traffic, parking, availability of hotels, disruption of normal life and of course the cost and resent that it is run by a foreign body, the Swiss, insisting that the official language is French foremost and means the place will be flooded by bloody foreigners and they won’t be able to watch all their usual favourite TV programmes etc etc.

No doubt the Sun will run another “Hop off you Frogs” campaign like they did against Jacques DeLors’ Common Market 20 years ago to get English announcements only to pacify our xenophobic brain deads!

It seems, as we have recently witnessed, the British public are infatuated with all things Royal and welcome with open arms coronations, jubilees, weddings and even dead Princess’s funerals without complaining of the enormous costs involved as long as they get a day’s holiday out of it. The extravagances of the past month well illustrates this phenomena.

I am sure old Lizzie has grown tired of such occasions and secretly wishes ‘big ears’ becomes king after all while hubby Phil the Greek obviously could not be bothered to have commoners like Cliff Richard, Paul McCartney and the usual circus of karaoke mimers staging a pop concert in his front garden and faked illness to escape to hospital to avoid instead. I am sure the Queen would have preferred commemorating her 60 glorious years at Balmoral with her racehorses and corgis and the Duke content to shoot the odd peasant or two at Sandringham instead leaving these over acted celebrations to the ‘X Factored’ younger royals.

The Olympics are seen as a foreign intrusion into British life just like the visit of the Tour de France in 1993 and five years ago when the French graciously offered them to Ken Livingston as a token of friendship after being denied their own Olympiad by George W. Bush which enabled the UK to utilise these magical three days in South-East England as a logistical test to see if privatised, outsourced and chronically disorganised Britain would be up to the job of hosting the big event in 2012.

The millions of ordinary cyclists who descended on London and Kent for that amazing weekend were not disappointed.  Both these Gallic happenings to me were the most memorable times by far in my 35 years of habitation down here. Sadly cycle speedway used neither occasions to advertise their existence despite initial promises that they would get involved.

Of course the opposite reaction was amplified by the usual spoil sport Nimbys and Little Englanders who at every opportunity complained about the road closures because of these ‘French cyclists’ who we fought two World wars for and we can’t get to Tescos to do our shopping and we always like to go along to the garden centre on a Sunday afternoon! “Still mustn’t grumble!”

Cycle Speedway would, as usual, have insisted on that East London meeting starting at 1pm and finishing at 5pm and everyone being back home two hours later in time to watch the Sunday night’s cringe inducing Cowell krapeoky TV extravaganza, a time duration which will not capture any Olympic competitors, officials or visiting foreign tourists as all they would see from the shuttle buses to the Olympic Centre slowly passing EL’s Prince Regent Lane track prior to the start that strange ritual of sweeping and shovelling as if they are preparing or cleaning up after some sort of Dog Obedience Show whilst afterwards, on their return journey, only the strewn litter of plastic cups blowing over the deserted surface and no evidence of a cycling event having actually ever taken place.

However if the meeting had been held back to a 7pm start and exciting midnight finish under lights on a hot summer Australian/Polish type evening with “Coventry” style presentation, licensed bar and accompanying catering, this would have been attractive viewing for many inquisitive Olympic visitors and locals alike, creating definite global interest in future participation and delaying the eventual disbanding and closure of East London CSC whose keen, brave veteran riders can surely not last for many more seasons in a city of a million cyclists oblivious to our sport, a final outcome I am not relishing looking forward to penning the obituary to.

Ironically you will find more sporting cyclists at any rush hour set of traffic lights in the capital everyday than the paltry nine or ten brave souls who have kept the East London club going despite many failed attempts to woo the alienated local population over the past 26 years of our existence.

“But we have to work the next day, all the hotels are fully booked and expensive and there is the Congestion and Eco Exhaust taxes to pay and Finals Weekend in Wales is just three weeks away” will be the usual response from the CS faithful!  Get a life! You won’t have to do this for another 70 years. Sleeping in your car in a supermarket car park instead of a hotel, driving there during the night or staying 40 miles out of the city is no hardship once in a lifetime when the greatest show on earth is in town!

Part 2 - Total Cycle Speedway snares Olympic support? Coming soon.