This weekend was the start of the Pan Am Games which Toronto is fortunate to be the host city for this year. The Pan Am Games are the same as the Olympics but only for the Americas. With no Russia, China, or Europe its easier for many of the smaller countries to win medals and have some success in preparation for next years Olympics.

Unlike the Olympics which is traditionally held around an Olympic Village the Toronto games are spread out across the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario. This helps spread out the venues over many neighbouring municipalities giving them an economic boost and a global profile, but makes going to multiple events a nightmare with Toronto's poor transit infrastructure.

Getting tickets has also been a problem. The media keeps claiming tickets are unsold but when I tried the website they were all outrageously priced so high I didnt bother trying to get any.

Fortunately where I live on Lakeshore West many of the outdoor events will be held in my community so I can see them for free. This weekend was the Womens Triathlon on Saturday followed by the Mens Sunday morning.

A friend and I were going to go biking to check them out. Lakeshore was closed to traffic which is how I got the schedule of local events with the road closure notices.

Near Jameson Ave was the turn for the runners to curve back towards Ontario Place. On the south side of Exhibition Place we had free outdoor seating to see the finish line. We had missed the cycling portion earlier and the lakefront was closed off for paid spectators only to see the swimming leg earlier.

We saw the runners finish and a lot of waiting around for the medals ceremony.

Chile won the Gold. The people watching on the stands on the opposite sides probably paid expensive tickets. As this was only the first full day of the games I'm sure crowds would get bigger on our side once word got out.

We went biking along the new Harbourfront bike lanes on Queens Quay. St Lawrence market was also bustling with a performance stage from some Flamenco dancers.

The Distillery District was where the Athletes Village was so we went to check that out. Ther was another performance stage for Latin music.

The athletes village was closed to the public but we could see the flags hanging from many of the balconies.

Down in Harbourfront there were more interesting curved inflatable tents with events. One was for Japanese drummers that invited people to participate.

It was an interesting first weekend. We were out biking for five hours. My friend said she would go back to see the Mens Triathlon Sunday morning but I needed a rest.

I wasnt bothered about not having tickets to events as when I was in Korea Daegu already hosted the IAAF Championships in 2011 where all the worlds athletes came for Track and Field events and I had an 11 day media pass. Daegu also hosted the National Sports Festival University championships shortly after with synchronized diving, weightlifting, wrestling, gymnastics, so both were my taste of having a front row at the Olympics.

Here is my write up on TheKoreaBlog where I saw Usain Bolt set a World Record and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies http://blog.korea.net/?p=4814 and the Daegu National Sports Festival http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/1/1350333441/tpod.html
Everyone is getting spoilt by the Pan Am Games and a lot of people are talking about another Olympic bid. Toronto lost out in 1996 and 2008 so enthusiasm fizzled but the Pan Am Games will probably change that.

In the next few weekends there will be the marathon and cycling in my neighbourhood again, so more free front row seats.