I hope you enjoyed the race! I’ve spoken to lots of people since then that have told me they were on the edge of their seats and screaming at the television, so I hope you’ve recovered from the shock and thanks for the help!

Beijing might be over, but London's on the horizon.

The days since the race have rushed by in a whirlwind. Immediately after we stepped off the medal podium the madness started and it’s barely stopped since. That night we were taken into a press conference at the Olympic Village that started at 11pm and finished about 3am.

I received personal congratulations from the 1^st Sea Lord, and then of course there was the interview with Gaby Logan where slow-mo footage of Hodgey telling me he loved me was played to ‘Je t’aime’ – I haven’t been allowed to forget that since.

I managed to catch some athletics at the Bird’s Nest (what a stadium!), some wrestling (where I felt small) and the modern pentathlon (where I saw our girl Heather Fell get a silver).

In the evenings I was able to go with my girlfriend Sally to meet friends at some fantastic Beijing venues. London House was the pick of the bunch for me – an amazing outdoor venue in the heart of Beijing set up by Boris Johnson for British people connected to the Games and 2012.

It was a real home from home and a fantastic place to start unwinding and catch up on the BBC coverage on the big screen. We also met with friends from U.S. rowing that I know from my Boat Race days at America House and saw plenty of sports coverage on the big screens at the China Club where we were kindly invited by Omega.

On the last night in the Village most of the Team GB athletes got together outside our block of flats and met properly in a much more relaxed state. We stood outside chatting, having a drink and listening to music in what looking back now seems to be the calm eye of the storm.

Towards the end of the night I struck on the idea of putting up a human pyramid with a 6-man base, using all the athlete’s different body shapes to their best advantage – heavyweight rowers and judo players on the bottom, swimmers, athletes and canoeists in the middle and gymnast Beth Tweddle on the top. One of my friends thinks it is “probably the greatest achievement of the whole two weeks”!

Flying into Heathrow on the Team GB flight on Monday with the nose cone painted gold was a unique experience. Before then, we’d all been in a bit of a Beijing bubble and it suddenly dawned on us at the same time that lots of people at home have been following us too.

It’s been fantastic hearing all the different stories of support and celebration and I feel very proud to have come home to such a great country. Can you imagine how good our home Olympics is going to be in 2012? Count me in!

The party is over. The visiting army of fans, athletes, coaches and journalists that have been camped out in Beijing are taking to the skies and going home. The expected crush at the airport hasn’t materialized. The roads were clear heading out to the new Norman Forster confection on the outskirts of the city – it’s an odd number day on the roads – and the check-in queues no worse than a busy public holiday. The flight delays however are another matter.

There’s certainly a morning-after the night before feel and some far-away looks on many faces, preparing for long-flights home. Bodies are tired from over two weeks of watching, reporting and competing, compounded by the final blast of celebrations last night. And most people would agree it has been a blast, and the final hit of fireworks after the closing ceremony a fitting end.

The Bird’s Nest was so locked-down before and during the closing ceremony that it was difficult getting within half a mile of the stadium without official security passes. Around the perimeter areas, locals families and fans without tickets found positions to get a glimpse of the stadium and fireworks, or watch what was happening inside on the gigantic TV screens on Pangu Plaza that towers next to the stadium.

After the hand-over ceremony between China and the UK – this time going in Britain’s favour  – its London’s turn to be the holder of the Olympic flame.  There may be a feeling of burn-out here, but in four years time most foreign visitors to these Games will be ready to do it all over again in London.

BEIJING, China - The city has been plastered with Olympic decoration, from the Beijing 2008 flags that line the eight-lane highways, to the mascots that appear on billboards, shop fronts and as temporary tattoos on fans.

Beijing's Ritan Park offers a peaceful break from the Olympics-fever in China's capital.

While they'll all still be up until after the Paralympics, many of Beijing's parks have provided a break from the mass bombardment of Olympic decoration and branding.

Even though the Games are in their final throes, a visit to Ritan Park on Saturday morning revealed the side of Beijing life that outwardly couldn't give a hoot about the Olympics.

Only some strategically placed Fuwa in a shrubbery gave any hint that the Games were happening.

No one was even sure where the "protest zone" was in the park, as no one has protested there throughout the Games.

There was even a surprising absence of community security volunteers - locals keeping an eye out for anything amiss, easily identified by a red armband and a watchful eye. For all the visible and smiling Olympic volunteers, these other volunteers have been observing both locals and visitors alike.

The only hint of a protest be found was between some mahjong players, as the usual pursuits of tai chi and post-prandial strolls took place much like during any other sunny weekend.

Others made the most of the good weather by hitting the beach. It might be nearly 100 miles to the Yellow Sea, but Beijing's Tuanjiehu park attempts a bit of Bali, albeit with a fun slides and a wave machine.

Not quite Venice beach when it comes to beautiful bodies, it's a popular spot for Beijing families and a few expats beach bums, desperate for some sand between their toes.

If anyone had been inspired by Michael Phelps or one of China's myriad of diving medalists it wasn't showing. With the Games winding down, it's time to relax.

BEIJING, China - Yang Haisong, founder and lead-singer of Beijing indie band P.K.14 couldn't care less about the five-ring circus that's come to his city. Any why should he? The Olympics, it's not very punk is it?

Xu Bo, left, and Yang Haisong of P.K.14: Charting Beijing's teenage wasteland.

"They're about politics and commercial opportunities, everything but sport," he tells me as we sit outside some gleaming new towers in the city's charmingly named Central Business District.

The bespectacled 34-year-old songwriter and poet is a long-time resident of the city and someone who taps into the rhythm of the city more than most.

"Things are a bit crazy now in China, it's a bit of madhouse. The rhythm of the city has got faster. Every six months things are changed, and the last year with the build up to the Olympics it has been even more," he said, lighting up a contemplative cigarette. 

Just three years ago the skyscrapers looming above us were an architect's blueprint, and the transformation of the Beijing music scene, with new bands springing up all over the place, has been just as startling.

Yang and guitarist Xu Bo aren't sure if the changes are for good or bad. But things are certainly different both in the city and with the new bands that are emerging.

P.K.14 stands for Public Kingdom of Teens, but even though they're part of an older generation - the band has been playing since 1997 - Yang's devotion to the ethos of freedom of expression and music is as strong as ever.

"Really you can do whatever you want, there's more freedom now than 10 years ago," he said. The only threat of censorship from the authorities would come if there was swearing in the lyrics or singing about sex. 

"For a musician you just have to sing about what you want and pretend that the boundaries don't exist."

Some of his contemporaries have had the metaphorical clamps put on them because of the political content of their songs, but Yang hasn't experienced that. For him, everything is political and criticizing the government isn't the way in which he expresses his views about society.

But the anti-commercial attitude that P.K.14 and many of their contemporaries had is missing from today's bands

"It's just normal for bands today, consumerism and a commercial world is what they're used to," he said.  

Yang and P.K.14 have just finished a tour with one of the latest Chinese bands that are getting increasing international recognition, Queen Sea Big Shark. The tour was sponsored by Converse.

"It was a chance to tour and connect with other bands - that's the kind of DIY ethos we like," Yang said. Far from selling out, he and the three other members of the band all have other jobs as designers and writers.

Friendly and chatty Yang speaks excellent English but sings in Chinese simply because he can express himself better.

Many of the new bands sing in English, Xu Bo said. It's more a trend thing, says Yang, they can choose to be more international. But he doesn't judge if that's necessarily a bad thing, as long as they have something new to say. Whether they do or not is another matter.

After another cigarette and the feeling of being squeezed on a tour bus for two weeks still in his bones, Yang's choice was to call it an early night and look forward to a new tour in September.

BEIJING, China - It looked as if Yelena Isinbayeva's corporate obligations and the media-merry-go-round had taken it toll more than winning her gold medal on Monday.

No automaton: Winning Olympic gold is still a thrill for Yelena Isinbayeva.

She arrived at the enormous media center next to the Bird's Nest Stadium for her Talk Asia interview in denim skirt, flip flops and a grey T-shirt. It wasn't the tsarina of the pole vault but more a quite ordinary, but slightly tired, 26-year-old.

Perfectly ordinary, apart from the touch of bling watch on her wrist and, of course, her incredibly honed physique - she could probably crack walnuts in the bend of her knee.

Wearing dark blue nail polish, she unconsciously clutched her gold medal during most of the 30 minutes that CNN had with her.

Soft spoken and initially slightly bashful, she opened up as the interview progressed. As much as she's had plenty of practice talking about herself recently, it was clear it wasn't a tricky topic for her.

What did she think of her rivals? Her piercing blue eyes narrowed slightly, her soft  Russian accent snapped as she said, no, she had no rivals. No, no one could compare in her sport. True, she had beaten her nearest competitor to gold by a mile in pole-vaulting terms, but it was a rare glimpse into the steely competitor she is.

The only other question to get a similar intense blue stare was when asked what it felt like to be compared to Maria Sharapova. More than anything the dismissal of the question was because no girl like to be compared to others, "we all want to be the best in the world."

She batted away accusations that she only breaks world records when she wants and does so for financial rewards - it seemed a well practiced answer. If nothing else, she's a woman who knows what she wants and when it comes to her sport at least, knows how to get it.

For someone at the top of her game who dedicates their life to training and competing., there were heartening glimpses that she wasn't a sporting automaton.

She giggled like a school girl at a few questions from CNN's John Vause, and was relaxed and happy talking about her family, upbringing and sister back in Russia. Most of all she was still genuinely excited to have won her second gold medal, even if she and rest of the world knew it was almost a forgone conclusion.

Her tanned, pendant wearing agent looked on throughout proceedings occasionally checking his BlackBerry. London 2012 was too far away for her to think about, he said, and now he had to get her back to the Olympic village and on the 29^th back into competition. There was just time for a can of drink before she was off to pole vault another day.

BEIJING, China - Sitting in a taxi stuck in traffic somewhere in China's capital, I couldn't help but think what traffic must be like if the other "half" of the cars were on the same road at 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. during the afternoon commute. The license plate numbers indicated that today was an "even" day, meaning that cars with plates ending in an even number could hit the road today, while the odd ones take a rest. And the reverse will occur tomorrow.

Taxis are exempt from the odd-even license plate road plan.

This traffic control plan was put in place on July 20 for the Olympic Games and will remain in effect until September 20, three days after the end of the Paralympics. The government this week said the rule resulted in about 2 million cars off the streets and the reduction of daily emissions by at least a fifth.

This morning, I took the subway. Not only did a volunteer stand by the ticket dispenser machine - giving me change when I had only bills - another volunteer was downstairs ensuring that people who were confused would find the right way.

So if you're in a hurry and don't know your way around Beijing, take the subway, using taxis to and from your end-point subway stations. Buses are a fine way to orient yourself above ground, and if you actually have the time to kill and welcome adventure, I suggest hopping on the bus of your destination and then hopping off when a point of interest comes along. I did that once from Beijing University to Tiananmen Square, hopping off the bus when an inviting restaurant with large red paper lanterns caught my eye, and it turned out to be a "jiaozi" (dumpling) restaurant with hundreds of different fillings and a menu that carried the pictures of prior guests, including none other than Karl Rove and Colin Powell.

Beijing is a huge metropolis, with a total area of some 16,800 square kilometers, and six ring roads. Blocks in many parts of the city can be as gigantic as those in Las Vegas, thanks to very large buildings that have been erected.

Still, the best way to explore the city is to take a neighborhood, particularly in the historic core, and walk. There is plenty to see and places to happily lose yourself here in Beijing.