I must confess; I’m not all that fond of heights.

I’m not quite out of the mould of the former Arsenal and Netherlands striker Denis Bergkamp where I refuse to travel by plane but I do so with great reluctance because I believe that if God had wanted us to fly, he would have armed us with wings.

With that in mind, I set off to the Olympic Park building site in Stratford on Thursday morning to attend the launch of the National Lottery London 2012 Games hot air balloon which I was set to ride in.

The balloon, I was reliably informed, was set to be tethered to the ground via a rope and I was therefore not as apprehensive on my entry into the Olympic Park as I might have been had I been set to head some 2,000 feet into the sky in a vessel that does not appear to me to be all that safe.

After all, a hot air balloon as no seat belts, no obvious mechanism to head steadily in a particular direction and its powered by "hot air" for goodness sake.

The hot air balloon, which is going on tour across the UK, was devised by some creative individual to "thank Lottery players across Britain for their contribution to London 2012 and to highlight the role that people from across the UK will play in helping to host the world’s greatest sporting event."

While I cannot be described as a hardcore gambler, I admit I have dabbled in the Lottery on more than one occasion in search of vast sums of money and I am delighted that the money I have spent (or lost) on my Lottery tickets is contributing to London 2012.

But to thank me for my contribution by sending me up in a balloon? I’d probably just prefer a pat on the back and six-pack of beers to be honest!

But anyway, it was a pleasant morning, the Olympic Park construction site was looking phenomenal and I reminded myself that the balloon was indeed "tethered" to the ground. In addition, Olympic canoeing gold medallist Tim Brabants, gymnastics bronze medallist Louis Smith and 400 metres hurdles bronze medallist Tasha Danvers, were all in attendance for the launch so at the very least, I though it would be great to chat to them.

However, as I approached, I noticed a few things that made me feel uneasy. The balloon was actually tethered to three 4x4 vehicles and one of the men in the cars was driving forwards and backwards which made the balloon go up and down. I don’t know a whole lot about the mechanics of hot air balloons but that didn’t seem overly safe to me.

The second thing was that when the wind picked up, the balloon began to shake violently and lose control. Before it was my turn to go in the balloon, I saw a few heart-stopping moments including one perilous flight where my esteemed insidethegames colleague Alan Hubbard and his crew made an aggressive crash landing after the wind picked up. They must have hit the ground at around 30 miles per hour and for a few seconds a feared for the safety of Alan and his fellow passengers.

Thirdly, and perhaps most worryingly of all, I spoke to a rather dizzy looking Louis Smith straight after he had flown in the balloon. It was obviously not speaking to Louis that worried me but that fact that one of the world’s top gymnasts, a man who flies off asymmetric bars, rings and pommel horses on a daily basis, looked nauseous after his flight could not be good news.

"I’m okay with flying in stable vehicles like planes," Louis told me. "But it is very unstable in there and it moves all over the place."

"Thanks for the advice, Louis," I replied in my least sincere of expressions.



It had just gone past 9.00am and it was finally my turn to go in.

I approached the huge balloon rather nervously where I was accompanied by Louis who was having about his fifth flight of the day. There was an Olympic medallist onboard every balloon flight with Tim, Tasha and Louis rotating flights and I admit that I did feel sorry for Louis when I saw him reluctantly climb aboard looking increasingly uncomfortable.

"Hold on," said the man ‘steering’ our hot air balloon ride and suddenly, a deafening blast sounded inches above my head as a flame shot out into the balloon lifting it off the ground.

One thing I had not anticipated was the noise and the heat that the flame would produce and it made me jump to such an extent that I clung to a rope inside the edge of the basket for support.

As the balloon lifted off the ground and reached full height, some of my anxiety left me. The wind had dropped and I had a great view of the Park.

The Olympic Stadium was glistening in the sunlight and the world suddenly seemed very calm. I even had time to take a few pictures and as long as I didn’t move around too much or look up (which for some reason made me feel unstable) I felt okay.

However, as we began to climb higher, the balloon began to shake as it became more exposed to the wind.

We started to move around gently at first but it was getting progressively more vigorous.

I glanced over at Louis who looked about as secure as I felt. But instead of betraying my fear, I smiled as if I were enjoying the turbulence.

As the balloon turned, I had the feeling that I might fall out and I began to wonder if a 25 metre fall would actually kill me. Bizarrely, a thought came to me that plunging to your death in the Olympic Park would perhaps not be the worst thing in the world as I might get something in the magnificent Park named after me. However, I realised that such a monument would be very little consolation to me and my family and I clung on to the rope even more tightly.

We quickly started to descend as I heard the shout "Bend your knees". I did so in the knick of time as the thud to the ground sent shockwaves through my body.

I climbed out of the balloon rather happy to be back on the ground but pleased that I had been ‘man enough’ to go up in it.

The balloon will now visit some of the major cities in the UK giving members of the public the chance to fly in the balloon while being accompanied by elite athletes. The balloon will visit Birmingham on July 27, Manchester on August 16, Cardiff on September 14 and Sheffield on September 28 while it is scheduled to visit further cities in 2011 and 2012.

If you are planning to go up in the balloon, I’m sure you will enjoy it but if you like heights about as much as me, my advice is to check the weather forecast well before your flight and ensure that there is not a breath of wind. And if you’re an adrenaline junkie, go up in the balloon in gale force winds and I hope that works out okay for you!

Tom Degun is a reporter for insidethegames