Cyclists' eye view of London

My Sunday morning cycle ride into Victoria would have been ideal, only I was delayed at Buckingham Palace by the crowds gawping at the changing of the guard or some such flummery. An officious little police community support officer forced me to take a detour.

On the way back two delays: the crowds at Speakers' Corner (please reassure me that most people go there to laugh at the cranks and fanatics) and then the gridlocked roads around Lord's in the wake of the world Twenty20 final. Jubilant Pakistan fans mingled with the eternal jackass in a large car doing his damnedest to knock me off my bike.

These little vignettes of London life doubtless reveal something about the nature of the country today. It is damnably inconvenient.