The north-bank stretch of main road, on the riverside between Westminster and Tower Bridge, was closed off today for the final leg of the Tour of Britain (right).
It was quite exciting watching all the cyclists, skinned in garish colours and with insect-eye dark glasses, hurtling in and out with no regard to personal safety, jockeying for the best position. And that was just the spectators.
As for the race, finishing excitingly in front of the Houses of Parliament (right), it was that usual spectator sequence of (a) nothing happening
(b) police outriders come and go
(c) five seconds of a peloton whooshing past
(d) trailing entourage of estate cars with bikes on rooftop racks
(e) nothing happening.
But at least, this being London, it was on a circuit, so instead of it happening just once, it happened loads of times between 2 and 4pm.
The route seems to be the same one used by tomorrow's Hovis Mayor of London Sky TV London Freewheel Skyride, or whatever it's called now to please all the people who've chucked money in. I'll report on that in due course. Early word from reliable Southwark Cyclist sources is that the organisation is a shambles. We'll see.
Well, it wasn't actually the word used. It was another one beginning with 'sh'.
