WELL, are you spell-bound by the gruelling course of the Olympic flame? Did you thrill at its passing or just catch a fleeting glimpse as it was driven by at high speed? I could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that this Park and Ride progress might not be entirely in the Olympic spirit.

Should this continue into the Games, are we to be treated to run ups to the javelin or pole-vault being conducted by SUV?

Will marathon runners be conveyed over the first five stages by coach? I am certain the original Olympian competitors did not say to themselves, “Oh, hang this for a lark; let’s just jump on the nearest chariot.”

In this era of dumbing down and health-and-safety hysteria, perhaps we should be used to this kind of debacle. It would have made a refreshing change, however, to have seen the torch rekindle Olympic values of endurance and integrity.

Julian R Powell, Malpas Park, Newport