"HONESTLY," the woman sheltering under the umbrella outside All Bar One on St Vincent Street told her friend, "this weather isn't usual for Glasgow in August." Her companion's poker face betrayed no reaction.

Across town, outside Debenhams in Argyle Street, a New Zealand girl called Claire complained: "This rain is - hellish," while behind her a tall, rangy bloke in a Sierra Leona sweatshirt nimbly picked his way through the puddles.

In truth, with the wind and the driving rain, it was at times almost like a late-winter's day yesterday afternoon as Glasgow hosted the final day of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The sun came out now and then and, seeing that it was an uneven struggle, retreated behind the clouds.

But here's the thing. No matter how hard it rained, Glaswegians and visitors alike were determined to enjoy the sporting action.

They turned out in their thousands on Glasgow Green, where the men's and women's cycle road races began and ended.

In the city centre they stood patiently behind the barriers that lined the cycle route, cheering enthusiastically as the competitors, the race vehicles and the motorcycle police flashed by.

Peter McFadzean, 81, from Ayr, had been waiting behind the barrier on West George Street for an hour and a quarter when The Herald spoke to him in mid-morning.

He said he had been impressed by the Games: "Terrific - couldn't have been any better." He had taken a special interest in the boxing, and liked the young Scottish flyweight, Reece McFadden, and his semi-final victor, Australia's Andrew Maloney.

"The Games have been good for Glasgow, and Glasgow has been good for the Games," he added. He would miss it once it was all over - "you miss the atmosphere and all that. It has been marvellous."

Half an hour later, out on Glasgow Green, a couple of hundred people were content to watch the women's race inside a marquee, on four large TVs arranged in a square. Across the Green, stalls were doing a solid business: coffee, venison burgers, ice-cream, milk shakes. The people at the finishing line applauded lustily as Lizzie Armitstead and her retiring team-mate Emma Pooley made it a one-two for England. There were patriotic cheers for the first Scot home, Katie Archibald.

Jacqueline Smart, 32, one spectator spoke for many when she said: "It's been fantastic. Glasgow should be proud."

Scott McClung, 36, from Glasgow, with his five-year-old daughter Lucy, said the Games had been good, "especially the first week, when the weather was really good".

Back to the city centre. Queues and more rain.

On George Square, people queued to get into the huge merchandise shop. Inside, armed with branded souvenir mugs and hooded tops, they queued for up to 15 minutes at peak periods. "I'm skint now," said Doug Foster, here with his young son, as they neared the tills, "but it's been worth it".

Had he enjoyed the Games? "On telly, mostly, but I wanted to see the cyclists. Shame about the rain."

This was a day when you had to stand in line to even cross the road; the cyclists, of course, had to be allowed past first. "Fancy having to queue to cross the road," one woman observed as she and her friend waited for eight minutes outside the side-entrance to the Millennium Hotel before being allowed on to George Square.

In the end, the rain and the queues did not count for much. Patience, endurance, and good waterproofs were in abundant supply.

All that mattered yesterday was the chance to see the Games before they finished: to witness the final day of the biggest multi-sports extravaganza Scotland has ever known.