Cool Ride

Although I ride the Vespa most days to school these days, I haven’t gone on a longer trip the last couple of weeks. Today, I had an appointment in New Westminster after school so I took advantage of the sunshine and went for a ride.

I was able to sneak away a few minutes early from school - I was worried about being late - and took the most direct route. Unfortunately, that meant taking the Mary Hill Bypass. And that meant riding amongst numerous buses, trucks and other large vehicles. Thanks to the early start, though, I was able to make good time as the sun warmed me up.

I arrived a half an hour early so I headed to the local Blenz coffee shop for a latté. I believe Blenz is a Canadian coffee company and this one is four stores down from a Starbucks. The Starbucks is a smaller store and is always quite crowded while the Blenz store is quite a lot bigger and not quite as busy. The actual latté is different in both places but both are tasty. The latté was enhanced with an Espresso Chocolate biscotti!

After my appointment, I thought I’d head down to the Casino to spend my obligatory $5. Imagine my shock when the parking lot no longer offered the first hour free! Majorly ticked off, I decided to take my money and go home.

The ride home was a lot cooler. Most of the roads were now in shade as the sun was beginning to set. I was wearing my balaclava, down vest, fleece sweater, several more layers, jeans and shoes. Most of the way I was fine, but because I didn’t put rain pants on (to block the wind), my knees were cold. Also, as I was just wearing regular shoes, my toes were a bit cold, too. Additionally, I had cold fingers and my core got a bit chilled on the downhill parts. On the bright side, I was able to take the longer, less busy route which had a lot fewer trucks. Overall, a good ride.