Juxtaposition

I certainly wish that my commute was shorter and I remain a country-boy at heart; but I do actually quite like working in London. There’s always a buzz of energy. The way that the city has evolved means that tourists and office workers and tradesmen are always getting in each other’s way but in doing so they reinforce the human element that gets lost in other cities that have more defined “districts” that separate business from leisure.

In recent years there’s been a real surge in ambitious building projects in the capital and the juxtaposition of ancient and modern creates fascinating views whenever you turn a corner or find a new vantage point.

The glass edifices are not to everyone’s taste and some are making the case for future developments to use different materials & techniques that are more environmentally sound.

The client I’m working with at the moment has an office right on the river. The weather looked good this morning so I took the camera and bagged a couple of shots. The view of the Shard is from the alley to the side of the office; that of Tower Bridge is from the terrace outside the canteen on the 9th floor.

My Juneathon effort today was a 3.3 mile run. Steady effort throughout. Mile 3 was sub-9 and felt comfortable. I must remember to include some interval sessions to start lifting the pace.

Acts of kindness

Having resolved last night to cycle-commute to & from the station today, I set off this morning undeterred by the fairly heavy rain. It was only as I dismounted at the platform gates that I realized the bike-lock had been left at home. Choices:
Take a gamble and leave the bike unlocked
Wake up some friends who live near the station and put bike in their garden
Cycle home and in again through the rain
Hang around for 2 hours waiting for shops to open & buy new lock

I opted to take a chance. Working on the principal of hiding a tree in the forest, I slotted my bike into the most crowded part of the bike rack and hoped it would still be there on my return.

12 hours later, as I stood looking at the now empty bike rack and wondering if it was worth reporting the theft of an unlocked bike, a platform guard approached

“Don’t worry, we saw your bike was unlocked so we put it into the store room.”

What a star!

5 minutes later, giving profuse thanks, bike & I were reunited and on our way.

The 2 commute rides plus day-4 of the Kinetic Revolution 30-day challenge were the only Juneathon activities today. More was planned but the body was tired. I am trying to get better at listening when the body says rest; so no run for me today.