Celebrities and Nutters

Wellington being a small city has it's share of characters inhabiting it, and on any given day you can spot TV stars, socialites and maybe even the Prime Minister. But you're more likely to see some of the stranger citizens, such as Blanket Man or the guy with the gammy leg which he drags behind him around town.

The shop has had a good mixture of the famous and infamous lately. A good customer of ours is TV One presenter Simon Morton. I didn't know who the hell he was when he brought in his new Stumpy for a service, he was just a friendly dude with a cool bike. That same night though, I got a text from Matt saying "TV One, that guy with Stumpy in shop today". And there he was, presenting a series called "Why We Buy", all about consumerism and retail. Really good show. And he loves his bike. Obviously good taste.
Bald men prefer Stumpjumpers...

A few days later it was again Matt whispering "that guy's off 60 Minutes". Mike McRoberts also reads the nightly news on TV3, and he was checking out a few Specialized road bikes... didn't buy anything though. "Here's the news... Tarmacs Rock!"

Then there's the nutters. A guy came in the other day wearing tattered old clothes, a beaten cycle helmet adorned with Holden bonnet badges, and what I would describe as a cape, more like an old bedspread with a crown insignia on the back. A cane wicker basket hung from a piece of rope around his waist. Matt was serving him while we looked on in bewilderment. He wanted to lay-by a tyre... $20 we're talking. Matt asked him his name and had trouble not laughing in his face when the answer came back "Emperor Andrew Brian Bernadotte". I kid you not. I saw His Highness yesterday in Dixon St, he was right next to my car as I sat at the lights... wish I'd had my camera, he looked well regal astride his mighty steed, observing his subjects as they tried to avoid him.

A day later a scruffy long haired old bloke who looked like he'd swallowed a sheep bailed Nathan up for 20 minutes with his brilliant idea of a "one-piece bike". Matt concluded that 'one-piece' probably meant 'one-piece of shit'. While he was talking, a large trail of snot hung from his nose, which Nath enjoyed a lot... he then produced a A4 piece of paper from his pocket and cleaned up the mess, sort of. We saw him walking past the shop today, and I've never seen so many guys make a run for the safety of the workshop so fast! Luckily, he kept on walking. He looked scarily like this...