Mass civil disobedience planned in London on day of Olympic men's road race

Damn hippies can go f--- themselves. I'll show them civil disobedience if they spoil my enjoyment of the race.

I know Ms Mendoza. I met her when she was working for a major UK Bank. Hypocrisy?

Unfortunately in the UK, legitimate protest usually means a few well-intentioned people organizing something, that then gets hijacked by the kind of scumbags who crawled out of the woodwork during last years riots.
Get Hinault in as a consultant and give 'em some 'European' style policing!

Anyone who has seen the later stages of an 'organised' summit finish in Le Tour knows that people in the road hold no fear for some riders - in fact some may not notice the difference.

This is England, remember - what counts as social disobedience here is a Saturday morning stroll in the street for some Romans.

I can sympathise with them a little...I'm attempting my very own protest against this destructive capitalist society by covertly undertaking a long term infilatration project which started when i was very young. I decided that the best way to try and overcome this social injustice was to work hard and gain qualifications enough to make myself irresistable as a potential employee to one such capitalist outfit, I have then covertly begun a journey of self advancement, remaining undiscovered so far im finding myself advancing up the corporate ladder almost undetected purely by a regular input of effort and focus on delivering their shallow results...

There is some self sacrifice of course, I am missing around 9 to 10 hours daytime TV most weekdays, and on occasion have to purchase some smart clothes to keep the disguise in place

One day I hope to reach the very top and believe me I will unleash hell...

Or I might just retire and ride the bike

I don't really agree with any of their points. They have a right to protest if they wish but not at the expense of others. Not sure how these things work, but could it work in team GBs favour? If a break is up the road and they stop the race do they start them off together? As long as it ends in a clean sprint i'll be happy!

I don't agree with the negative chat around the Olympics either. For most of the events it is the pinacle of their sport, it gives the smaller sports in the world some exposure to replace the wall to wall football/rugby/cricket we have. Fair enough they are expensive and there are sponsors to help reduce the cost but I dont mind a few adverts. The capital expense is making up for poor facilities anyway. It was embarrassing that our capital didn't have an indoor velodrome/50m pool/decent athletics venue.

While I agree with some, if not most, of the grievances these groups have, I do hope that they protest in such a manner that does not put those competing or volunteering at risk.

In fact, I would go so far to as to suggest that measures are brought in to impose very harsh fines and long jail terms for anyone convicted of a reckless act that injures a competitor.

Charging to watch the road race at Box Hill is sufficient reason for a protest alone, never mind all the other stuff on top!!

I fail to see these "protestors " point in some ways but in other I have a sympathy. The merchandising deal as mentioned about are immoral yet who is actually brave enough to mention this. I hear little in the press.
Having said all that i also have to admit to what is gradually turning from apathy to dislike about the whole affair. I was most pissed off when London got the games, predicting much of the disquiet now obvious.
Its obvious that the evnt has little to do with most of the country. We could get or even afford tickets, nowhere outside of London is being treated decently and as some one who lives in the provinces down the M$ it is just an irrelevance at best.

For those of you who believe that politics has no place in sport then i hope to hear you rejecting the idea of politicians turning up to be photographed with winners and bask in their glow for all the electorate to see.

Agree with many of the comments above, the Olympics is turning sport into a joke. I feel sorry for the sportspersons embroiled in all this but good luck to the demonstrators. It makes me proud to be British.

Anyone remember that guy in a stage of the TDF a few years back who snuck onto the road in full replica team kit and bike just behind the lone climber about to win the stage? Liggert went crazy trying to identify the rider until he was quickly pulled down by officials. The !rider not Liggert...

The Olympics is a joke as far as sport is concerned. It is the biggest publicity advert in the world. The sport is beside the point as far as the IOC is concerned. They use it to enrich themselves in a manner that is amoral, unfair and has nothing whatsoever to do with sporting fair play.

It would be ironic if one of the few Olympic events that can be watched, along most of its route, free would be targeted by people against the commercialisation of the Olympics.

Colin Lynch wrote:

It's amazing how people can't manage to get off their asses to support something but only manage to get out there in order to stir sh!t up.

They never think about the athletes they are hurting who may have spent their entire lives at a shot at the Games who may suffer because of their mis-placed angst.

Protesting - as a way of showing support for something you believe in - arguably requires more effort and commitment than passively 'supporting' an entertainment event.

I certainly don't want to see any events disrupted 'during play' - mainly because it turns the athletes into political pawns (if they aren't already) but frankly this olympics carries such a massive stink that I would welcome some peaceful and highly visible sh!t stirring.

I do hope that the events proceed uninterrupted and that no-one gets hurt but actually I have a lot of sympathy with the view that the games has become a grotesque parody of the original Olympic ideal, and I do hope there is a successful peaceful protest against it.

I won't refer to the event by name because to do so might well invite a legal action for breach of copyright in the event's name - it is that absurd. Some businesses have indeed been taken to law for the simple act of combining the name of a capital city with a calendar year!

I recently had my first pop at buying tickets - under pressure from my family - and discovered that "as Visa is a Proud Sponsor of the [you-know-what], only Visa cards will be accepted for payment for tickets. If you don't have a Visa card f*ck off (actually I made the last bit up, it suggests where you might apply for one).

Because McDonalds and Coca Cola are proud sponsors, you won't be allowed to take food or drink of any other brand into the stadia. Never mind if you don't want rotted teeth and hardened arteries.

London taxis will not be allowed to pick up anywhere near the Stratford site because Addison Lee (honestly, I am not making this up) is also a proud sponsor. Cabbies are not very chuffed about this and many are talking of refusing to take fares to the site, although technically they must.

You won't be able to ride a Boris Bike anywhere near the site because Lloyds TSB is a proud sponsor and Barclays is a competitor.

You will take your life in your hands if you ride any kind of bike there, as the suprerficial cycleway stops short of the stadium.

Of course, if you are a proud sponsor you will be allowed to convey yourselves and your business guests via the Zil Lanes - sorry, O[] Route Network - but otherwise you will have to endure cattle conditions on public transport in the remaining half of the road space available. Your journey to and from work will be greatly lengthened but never fear, Boris reckons it is a great idea to stop for a few pints before you set off home and collect your car from the suburban station where you park it.

Not a city in the world has, on reflection, made a financial success of the games. Not even Sydney, where a variety of stadia are now mouldering just as the London stadia will when the whole caravan moves on in September.

When did "reclaiming" come to mean "f*cking it up for everyone else"?

Who said they were targetting the men's road race? Or even likely to? The only quote used was from Lord Moynihan which was *not* made in relation to the Our Olympics campaign.

Seems ironic that they shoud protest during one of the more accessible events - I can see the logic from their perspective, but (Box Hill notwithstanding) this is one of the 'free to see' events.

I can also sympathise hugely with the whole way in which tickets have been distributed - it is feeling like a rather 'corporate' games.

As a cyclist though, I hope this dies without a whimper - I would hate to see this screw up what is a major season goal for many riders.

I think there was mention of a protest during the Giro yesterday too!

Can France give Bernard Hinault a place on their team? He's useful when the race reaches protesters blocking the route:

From inrng

It's amazing how people can't manage to get off their asses to support something but only manage to get out there in order to stir sh!t up.

They never think about the athletes they are hurting who may have spent their entire lives at a shot at the Games who may suffer because of their mis-placed angst.