Cornering

What a day!  As I had no volunteer duties I decided to head to town to watch the men's elite road race.  Glasgow was in top form, the crowds were great, the volunteers and stewards had got the crossings down to a fine art, the donut shop had stock - all was good!

Spent a bit of time just soaking in the atmosphere and checking how far away the race was, then stuck out a space past Buchanan Galleries which looked good for blipping.  Super exciting to see all the riders going past, and the Peloton was really colourful in their national strips.  Saw riders from Morroco, Japan, Brazil, Uganda, Monoco, Colombia and all sorts of places.  I gave the Kazakhstan team an extra cheer after seeing them out and about yesterday.

After the third loop, I went down the road to catch one of the downhill corners - I think today's blip gives an idea on how sharp and steep these corners are. Before heading for the train home, I had to check out Montrose Street which was the big climb of the circuit.  The crowd here were wonderful.  A big flag in UCI colours stating 'Mon Yersel Pogacar' showing the usual Glasgow Spirit, plus people climbing all over buildings in various precarious positions, the worst being balanced on top of bike railings.  At the bottom of the hill I found a spot to watch the climb and was amazed at how fast they go up a 14.5% incline.  To me they feel like a brick wall!

Also at the bottom of Montrose, had the highlight of the day where I met a mum, dad and their daughter and son who were on shoulders shouting 'Allez, allez, allez, go, go, go!' everytime the cyclists came past.  Their mum said they were 'well trained' - definitely the cutest part of the weekend.

I headed back home in time to catch the end of the race on the telly, and it was a good one!!  also then went through many photos to see if I blipped anyone I recognised. Got a couple of half shots of Pogacar, and a couple of Van Aert, possibly a blurry Van Der Poel. 

Really fab day, Glasgow has done itself proud, I love this city and what a great event it's been so far.  Looking forward to getting back on shift tomorrow.