Olympics/Paralympics

Would you be surprised to learn that Chris Hoy's bike broke two days before the start of Olympic competition in Beijing? Thought so. Chris Boardman made the revelation in his presentation to UK Sport's annual World Class Coaching conference this week.

The story's a remarkable tale of ingenuity, bush mechanics at its finest. As you know, it had a golden ending. Well, several. It goes a bit like this:

If they come close to matching the exploits of their team-mates a couple of weeks ago they'll be able to put down a proportion of their success to Jaffa Cakes, Yorkshire tea, white vinegar and the Crafty Cockney.

The Paralympic cycling team are applying the finishing touches to what they hope will be a glorious final chapter for the sport here in Beijing, with a little help from those who set the wheels rolling during the Olympics.

The two squads pedalled side-by-side at the Manchester Velodrome in the build-up to the Games and have been busy swapping intelligence since arriving in China.

Some of it has been predictable, some of it less so.

It seems a little unfair when you had 10,708 athletes competing for 958 medals in 28 different sports, but the Beijing Olympics will mainly be remembered for the deeds of just two young men - a 22-year-old sprinter from Trelawny, Jamaica and a 23-year-old swimmer from Baltimore, USA.

In the space of a few weeks here in China, Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps transformed themselves from notable names within their own sports into global sporting superstars.

One was fuelled by chicken nuggets and yams, the other by fried egg and cheese sandwiches with extra mayo, but on track and in water, they each made the impossible seem easy.

Laoshan BMX track, Beijing

This could be the first thing Chris Hoy has got wrong in months.

Before coming to Beijing, he said that if he had to put his mortgage on anyone winning gold out here, he'd go for Shanaze Reade.

The track legend doesn't have to worry about losing his home - His Royal Hoyness can probably take his pick of Scotland's castles and palaces right now - but he might have a job to do with Shanaze later on.

The 19-year-old from Crewe, who hadn't lost a BMX final for three years before this morning, was distraught after wiping out on the last corner and seeing her medal chances disappear in a faceful of yellow dirt.

With my event, the men's mountain bike cross country, coming up on Saturday, all is going well but I'm getting bored with waiting and just want to get on with it.

The training camp in Chanping, north of Beijing, went really well and was a great location with good roads and a relaxed atmosphere.

Since coming to the Olympic Village things are a bit busier but all is still good.

The success of the other Brits - and in particular the cyclists - is amazing and great to be involved with it, and hopefully I can add to it on Saturday.

The course has been made far tougher than the test race last year and is now a real test. It will be every man for himself out there as there is no hiding.

Athlete's Village, Beijing

I am physically and mentally drained.

The main emotion this morning is less exhilaration and more a mix of relief and exhaustion.

For the first time in months and months I'll be able to walk up a flight of stairs without worrying whether my legs feel tired.

To finally get it all finished is a wonderful feeling. For five days I've been battling to keep my head above water.

I can pinpoint times in the last four years when I've gone through real suffering.

Certain sessions I've done have been simply horrendous. The only thing that gets you through is the thought of the Olympics and the gold medal.

Laoshan Velodrome, Beijing

A few days ago I asked the slightly ridiculous question of who is the greatest Olympian of all time.

What prompted me to do so was having seen Usain Bolt's euphoric assault on physics in the 100m and the finale of Michael Phelps' accumulation of gold medallions in the pool.

But "GOATs" are a bit like London buses at the minute: none for ages and then three at once.

Now, I'm not going to suggest Chris Hoy is the greatest anything ever - I'll leave that to others.

I'm just going to tell you if there is a humbler, more inspirational, more personable Olympic sporting great out there, I would like to buy that person Beijing's finest steak supper and hear their story too.

Laoshan Velodrome, Beijing

The performance of the British team pursuiters is still floating around my head even after a night's sleep.

They have been contenders and medallists at World Championship and Olympic level for around a decade now, but finally pulled off the big one after winning a bronze medal in Sydney and silver in Athens.

To do it in a world-record time of three minutes 53.314 seconds was jaw-droppingly good - it was more than eight second faster than their silver-medal winning time in Athens and just short of five seconds faster than the Australians who beat them to gold.

But the thing that strikes me is there's every chance Britain will be just as competitive in four years' time.

Don't get me wrong, I'll never tire of hearing the national anthem at an Olympic venue, as the Union Flag begins its journey up into the heavens.

But that's five times God's Saved the Queen at the Laoshan velodrome so far and as I watched the Australian film crew trudge off disconsolately on Monday night, there was a small part of me (OK a very small part), which felt a little embarrassed.

Are we too good at cycling?

Or should we bask in the glory of it all - in the knowledge that it can't last forever.

This is getting silly. So dominant is Britain at the Laoshan velodrome that even rowers are winning cycling golds for us now.

Chris Hoy's story is remarkable enough - taking gold in a completely new discipline after having his favoured event taken off the Olympic schedule.

But at least that was still in the same sport.

I'm just getting my breath back after another special day at the Laoshan velodrome that will stay with me for a very long time

Three medal events, two golds, a silver and two bronze, with gold and silver guaranteed in the women's pursuit on Sunday as well!

Every rider in the British team to appear on the track so far has managed to win a medal, but leading the way on the first two days of competition has been the unofficial leader of the team, Chris Hoy.

Chris Hoy said it would take a "special ride" to beat the British Sprint Team in Beijing and boy was he right! No-one was equal to the efforts of Messrs Staff, Kenny and Hoy over three laps of the track as the British cycling revolution rolled on.

I was slightly less confident than Hoy at the start of the evening after listening to the French broadcasters next to us talk up their own team's chances. The French had been half a second faster than the British trio (with Ross Edgar instead of Kenny) at the World Championships in Manchester.

But Hoy knew how the team were performing in the run-up to these Games and was less surprised than the rest of the velodrome when they smashed the world's best time in qualifying.