BMX

Today I went through to Glasgow, where I collected my volunteer's accreditation and uniform from the Exhibition Centre, and then headed to the UCI World Championships BMX Park venue at Glasgow Green. I had a spectator ticket that I used to watch the event until 14:00 when my shift began. The weather wasn't as bad as forecast, although there were two breaks for the lightest of rain before the final deluge at 18:00 that brought the event to a premature end. Given the spectacular tricks being performed, I can understand the need for a dry surface! 

For part of the day I was guarding the bottom of the steps up to the stand where the judges had a view of the whole competition area, and had had instructions on what accreditation was needed to get there. When a man in a suit and tie (who was leading a group) approached me, I was busy looking for the necessary symbol on his accreditation, when he said "I'm the President of the UCI". Perhaps he was pleased that I was doing my job, and he acknowledged me when he left 30 minutes later.

A more meaningful exchange came later, when a "famous" US BMX rider (triple X-Games gold medallist, Kevin Peraza - see extra) stopped off to chat with me and my co-volunteer for a good 10 minutes. Such a nice guy!

A moment of excitement came when an Australian rider crashed on a jump, and his bike flew off the course, landing close to me. In a moment I had to decide: do I pick up his bike and put it back onto the (raised) competition area? Or must I not do that, and leave it for him. A crash pretty much eliminates a rider from qualification, so it didn't "matter", but I could have saved him a few seconds in which he might have scored more points. In the event, he was off the competition area, and back up with his bike before I could get to it. I was later told that we should "get involved" if this happens!

When the rainstorm started, I was enjoying my meal break with P1nkdragen, who was volunteering on a different part of the site. 

When the rain stopped, there was a disappointingly amateur attempt to clear the water - they had far more volunteers available than equipment, and more squeegees than mops. Thankfully, when the rain started again, a decision to abandon the day's sport was made, and I made my way back to the station.