Monday, September 10, 2007

the 30 mile bike ride and other tales

Simon:

It was about time I got a bit of exercise, so today I got the bike out for the first time since July. I used to cycle to work before I moved to Wood green, but then it only took 5 minutes to walk, so I put the bike in mothballs so to speak. I'd arranged to meet an old friend today. Isla is the owner/manager of the Barnes Bookshop and the Kew Bookshop, and I went down to Barnes to get some advice. It's a long way from Wood Green to Barnes (about 15 miles), and so I pumped up the tyres and set off with a bit of trepidation. It took a while and I took a wrong turn in Hammersmith, but when I got there I had a really great chat. The bookshop in Barnes is gorgeous, and Isla's really tailored it to appeal to her customers. Wood green and Barnes are miles apart, not just in distance, but in the market, but it gave me a lot of inspiration. During lunch Isla gave me some fantastic advice, and cleared up a couple of concerns that I had. Nice ciabbata too.
I did a little tour of South West London after that, visiting Waterstone's in High Street Kensington and Notting Hill. I signed up for a Waterstone's Loyalty card too. Now that, Alanis Morisette, is Ironic.

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