ever had one of those weekends that was so good, it could have had a soundtrack by the stereophonics?

i took the opportunity on saturday to blend most of the right ingredients – food, drink, people, sights, smells, motorcycles all together – in one blow-out day on saturday, lest i don’t get the occasion again for some time.

planning to bike into central london, i rose extra-early only to be greeted by frosty roads, so spent the morning dosing myself with finest vietnamese roast and tickling the cat; enough had melted by 10am to convince me that the roads would be safe, so i set forth to the food market.

my food market. mine mine. all mine. {insert sound of cackling laughter}

the trip to the market has become one of my private pilgrimages, and this weekend i’ve proven to my satisfaction that although the bike (currently) takes longer to get there – the journey is much more pleasurable, and convenient.

the new set of rubber on the bike is a massive improvement – i feel i’m going through a second phase of learning, learning how to be a biker rather than learning how to ride; stop-start, filter, lean, burn-off, grabbing a handful, grounding-out on bends, finding that you really can turn on a sixpence and stop on a dime…

not to mention that you can park right under the wings of the cathedral in some little nook smack next to the market for zero cost.

so: no congestion charging. no parking fees. 70+ mpg. enjoy.

hark to the peals of bells for the wedding – a full ring of changes for over an hour. smell the coffee and the bacon.

the stalls pass rapidly – fresh farm stilton, mahon, mojama, squid, olive oil, cep, white asparagus, bread, bacon, wild boar pancetta, fresh espresso that looks like pitchpine and tastes like heaven, and an infinite number of interesting little patisserie-cakes that you could die for; pretty women, exotic accents, weird fruits, vegetable-sellers singing opera, bowler-hatted butchers and boars, birds and hares hanging in racks.

chef’s paradise.

a couple of hours later and i felt sated, and the topbox was full. i blasted down the old kent road and stopped in at [www.bracken.co.uk] to gawp at the ktm off-road bikes [www.ktm.at] and to buy a gps power cable; thence homewards, stopping in at some friends’ house to say hello and watch a little rugby.

home fryingpan butter oliveoil sliced ceps basil sage grilled smokey bacon and sliced mediterranean tomatoes on crouton… plus a little stilton on the side.

pilsner. calvados. fruit and yoghourt. vegetate.

i put 100 miles on the bike, and it feels a lot freer-running for having had a good day out.

sunday’s been a lighter version of the same – radio, lie-in, cats, bike, shops, swapped a pair of earphones at dixons, blasted around for a bit, then stopped at some friends’ in bracknell; they had visitors whom upon my arrival promptly left and i was left again having to apologise around someone else’s inability to cope.

iain, charlotte and the kids were in good voice, nice to catch up, and i learned some interesting things about two-stroke engines and setting concrete posts during the visit, which is prettymuch par for the course. i always learn something new when i visit, not least from the chance to try out iain’s lpg-gas conversion upon his landrover and a full explanation of the little teething-challenges which he’s sorting.

anyway: sunset drawing in, more blasting, refreshing biting cold, rosy-pink moon, even more extreme lean angles, and pelting back homewards at speed.

it’s great. not better than sex, but certainly better that bad sex, and at 125cc, size does not matter. thoroughly recommended.