It seems wherever I turn there is some kind of media blaring out about the Olympics. It's not even started yet but already it is getting to saturation point for most Londoners. This morning the discussion I heard on the radio was about Olympic Lanes. These are not the lanes in which athletes can be seen racing hard against each other, but rather the lanes where traffic will be allowed to run just of the purpose of Olympic sponsors. There must be a great deal of these sponsors because the lanes run through half of London. The worse thing about them is they will be restricted only to officials and sponsors, no other car driving Londoner is allowed to use them. The lanes have been marked with the five Olympic circles symbol just so people are quite aware of them. If someone is caught using the Olympic Lane and they are not authorised then they will be fined. These lanes were not built just for this purpose, they were built with the funds from taxpayers of London and are actually pre-existing roads. As London is pretty close to traffic grid lock restricting these roads will lead to grid lock in East London. This subject is talked about all over East London. On the radio, on TV and by Londoners. I personally take offence such lanes should exist. When my hard earned tax payers money built them in the first place. The total cost of the Olympics to London has been 9.3 billion pounds. Therefore I've come up with a plan. It's my bicycle. If I can find an Olympic Lane near me I will make an extra special effort to cycle along it regardless of what they think. I have no number plates so it don't matter if I'm on camera. In fact it's about time we revolted.
Clogging up the arteries of London will have resounding effects. Commuters will try to use alternative roads, but will then find there is a mass of other commuters also trying to use those same roads. The gridlock will end up in emergency services also being grid locked, unless they are also allowed to jump in on the Olympic Lanes. If there is an accident with an Olympic vehicle on one of these routes then there will be another backlog on the actual route with Olympic traffic. If anyone else thinks they are going to get to the accident spot they have got another thing coming. It isn't going to happen. In trying to make transport more efficient for the Olympic crowd it could be they have just created the perfect gridlock scenario, it's waiting to happen. In the meantime I'll get a little pull along attachment to my cycle. In it I'll put refreshments from non-Olympic sponsors and sell them to those stuck in the grid lock. Tin drinks, sweet snacks, ice creams. Perhaps some very non-Olympic sandwiches. I will not sell any of these items at the extortionist rates the normal Olympic vendors will want. I'll make a fortune.
While also listening to this morning's news I have heard about how many officials from different countries have been selling their Olympic tickets for ten times the face value of the tickets. Considering many of these are in their hundreds of pounds the black market trade means some officials will be thousands of pounds happier. I don't have any, I wasn't invited, poor old me on my bicycle trying to negotiate gridlocked lanes will not get to see a single blade of the Olympic grass even though it's only three stone throws away. My only thoughts on this is anyone who has a ticked should first be ID'd to ensure it is the legitimate owner of the ticket. In the UK we have laws against ticket touts so selling of an Olympic ticket wherever you happen to, and then to get away with it in London may not happen. Be aware. I nod my head. Yes. Those men with blue helmets will nick you. I'd like to know what the Olympic Committee have got to say on the matter. Then I'd also like to know what our mayor Boris Johnson has to say. I'm sure he wouldn't be to happy and would give the men in blue a nod and a wink to be actively seeking these ticket holders. Mind as long as he lets the cyclists do what they want to do then I got no problems with it. OK better go get busy. Where can I buy 52 loafs of bread?
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