Thousands of people in the streets, protesters with black flags and balaclavas, and a wall of mounted cops blocked the route. The poor torch runner got redirected down an industrial route instead. You'd think my neighbourhood would like the torch, given how much it looks like a giant spliff.
I'm pretty sure the whole plan to run the torch down Commercial Drive was just a misdirection, to get all the anarchists concentrated in one spot that was easy to divert around at the last second. Once they saw the torch run divert, the protesters marched up the drive to intercept the torch at 1st Ave, but the mounted squad intercepted them at Charles St, as you see here. The protestors diverted into an alley to get around the mounted squad, but this maneuver caused them to slow down and lose cohesion, since many of them preferred to beat their drums and shout "Get those animals off those horses!" at the police. After the torch was clear of the neighbourhood, the police rode off, and everyone went back to drinking coffee and plotting their takeover of the world, while the schoolchildren that had gone on a special field trip to see the Olympic spliff all pouted and cried.