TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

CYCLING time trials closed many roads in Glasgow and Dunbartonshire on Wednesday, though you would have been forgiven for thinking Armageddon was what was happening instead.

No newspapers today, said my local supermarket. Blame the cycling time trials.

Closed today and tomorrow, said a sign in the window of the restaurant closest to me. It’s the time trials.

Neither of them were even on the route that European Championship time trial cyclists were following.

We’re stranded; we can’t get to work, swathes of the Greater Glasgow population complained. It’s time trials chaos. Roads we normally drive along are closed.

Yes, a warning that would be the case was issued in March.

It all seemed rather reminiscent of another recent apocalypse, the Beast from the East – which, in fairness to those who took the week off rather than put Wellington boots on, at least arrived with less warning.

Of course, the closure of 100 roads was inconvenient for many. But the eagerness of some to become a victim of it bordered on fanatical.