My weekend started early. I picked my brother up at 2pm on friday and drove him to the doctor's to have some stitches removed (he's just had a knee op). This took hardly any time at all and soon we were M4 bound, heading east for a night out in Thatcham with club member Simon Morgan.
We got off the motorway at the Chippenham exit and headed for a village near Calne where we were due to pick up an ebay item that my brother had won last november but hadn't been able to collect. We did the deal and set off for Simon's on the A4 which runs parallel with the M4. The A4 was the main arterial route between London and Bristol before the motorway and as such it has some very prosperous towns along its length.
The run through Marlborough, Hungerford and Newbury was really nice, albeit slightly surreal. By now it was close to Friday rush hour and I imagine the M4 was getting crowded with commuters. We, on the other hand, were belting along a country road with hardly any cars in sight, admiring the view of a white horse carved into the hillside near Avebury. I've not used that road much in the past, but I will be doing so again whenever I get the chance.
At Simon's we were fed by Sarah and returned the favour by doing a plumbing repair. I had opted to leave the tool bag on the van before leaving just in case such an event arose. Sarah drove us to the nearby pub and, ensconced in some leather chairs, we stayed there until closing time.
We made a rapid exit on Saturday morning because Mrs Onepot had said "Be back home by 12". I was running on time and arranged to meet her and the boys in a cafe for lunch. After that I spent the rest of the day working on my house, plasterboarding a ceiling.
My wife normally works Sundays, but this week she had the day off so I had a pass to go to the local bikers caff. I set off around 8.30am and rode a route suggested to me by RobG. The weather was glorious, but deceptive, it was bloody freezing! By the time I got to the caff my hands were dead. There was nobody I knew at the caff, but this isn't an impediment to a man of my disposition and within the hour I had chatted to a lot of interesting people. BJ turned up with his son and we had some scoff and a natter. Amongst some nice bikes were a ratty ES2 Featherbed cafe racer and an obscenely expensive chopper:
My favourite was a 'distressed' bobber:
Apparently it was only built a few years ago, but aged by design.
I set off for home, but en route took up Squirrel's offer of a cuppa at his Llantrisant home (which he is on the process of knocking down). We had a natter and a cuppa and he told me that his XT is running a lot better after some TLC. By then the temperature had begun to match the sunshine and consequently the ride home was considerably more enjoyable than the ride out and some serious 'hooning' was indulged in.
Back home I got stuck into the house again and did some good work on the room I am renovating. Wifey was pleased enough with the result to wave me off to the pub and I met up again with BJ for a couple of pints. A good end to a good weekend.
GC
