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.

What an idiot!

What an idiot!

When I took my dog for a walk this morning, and I saw the cyclist sloshing through the slush on the road. that was the thought that crossed my mind. How could anyone try to ride through that crap?

A few hours later, as I was scootering through a slushy road, I thought,

What an idiot!

When I woke up this morning, I really wanted to go for a ride today. I had new gloves, a balaclava and down vest that I wanted to try out in the cold weather. But the roads on my street were slushy and, being smart, I didn’t want to take any chances.


After lunch, however, thanks to good ol’ west coast rain the slush had all but gone in my neighbourhood and I had a change of heart.

I suited up with winter boots, rain pants, fleece sweater, down vest, waterproof jacket, balaclava, and new gloves. Then I headed out, taking a similar route to my Cold Ride a month ago. It was around 4° C. (about 40°F.) so it was a good test of my equipment.

I was warm - toasty in fact. The first half hour was great - warm and happy to be on my scooter after a long hiatus. Then, as I got closer to the Stave Dam, more and more slush was on the road. I thought, that’s OK, there’s still the tracks where cars have been driving.


As I approached the Stave dam, I stopped and assessed. The road was covered in slush at some places. At that point, I had to make a decision - press on, or return. I decided to carry on.

Luckily, I had been catching up on my SCTRCST podcasts the previous day and was listening to Dave Mangano interview Steve Williams of Scooter in the Sticks about his winter driving. Steve’s advice was to take things slow, especially around the curve and he also talked about riding the scooter like a bicycle. I took this advice to heart, using a bit of self-talk to slowly manoeuvre the slippery, hilly sections.


One thing, though - I was warm the whole time. My fingers were a bit cold but the rest of my body was warm and dry.

Although the ride through slush and even some snow caused a bit of white-knuckling, I was fine because I was taking things as slowly as I needed to and I wasn’t freezing. I realized that being really cold on previous trips affected my judgement - sometimes when I'm really cold I feel that I am in some sort of fugue state - but not today. I was warm and alert.


By the time I crossed the bridge that went over the Fraser River, I was in typical wet, rainy, sloshing weather that I am very happy to ride in. I warmed up my hands with a coffee at a gas station (after filling $4 worth of gas - compared to $45 or so for my car) and headed through Glen Valley towards Fort Langley.


I was successful in avoiding a lot of traffic and really enjoyed the ride. I stopped in Fort Langley for a latté and then took the Albion ferry back across the river.


Funnily enough, I was the only vehicle on two wheels for the first time since I’ve been taking the ferry with my scoot!

Back at home, I was quite happy to sit down and have a glass of wine - a lot different from jumping, shivering into a hot bath or shower like I have after previous rides. Except for the chilly fingertips, the ride was a warm success. Even if I was being a bit of an idiot...

Cold, cold ride

Saturday was a beautiful day. After days of rain and gloom the sun had finally come out. I felt warmer, better, more positive. A perfect day for a ride.

Unfortunately, life got in the way. I had laundry to do, a bunch of wine to bottle, the dog to take for a nice long walk.... By the time I wheeled my Vespa out of the garage, it was 3 o’clock and the streets were all in shade because the sun had gone behind the clouds.

Never mind, I thought. Take the day.

I put on a few layers and grabbed my newly returned camera. Unfortunately, there weren’t any extra batteries in the house but it seemed OK when I tested it at home. I decided to take a road (Dewdney Trunk Road) that heads east and is a lot less travelled than the highway. I was a bit cold at first but the sun peaked out from behind the trees every now and then. The first photo I took was on the side of the road where I saw a horse, sheep and a llama all together. Talk about getting along!



I continued on until I reached the Stave Falls Dam. I took my class here last year as they do a great tour of the old dam there including the turbines and an interactive area. I stopped at the entrance to The Power House (as it’s called) and, what do you know, the camera’s batteries died after the first photo. I decided to continue east along the road, despite the absence of photos, and see if I could hook up to Mission.

The road seemed to go an awfully long time . On a summer day, all of the trees and lack of traffic would have been fantastic. Unfortunately, I kept getting colder and I had images of of my frost bitten body being picked over by a couple of bears getting ready for winter. Finally, I came to a crossroads and, as luck would have it, I took the right turn and ended up by a place called Hayward Lake.


It was one of those moments where the cold seem to disappear. The sun was setting by the lake and the view was breathtaking. I stopped for a couple of minutes and just stared into the sunset. Luckily, the batteries had warmed up enough in my pocket so that I could snap a couple pictures.

A few minutes later I was on the Lougheed Highway. I had about ten minutes of two lane highway and I did not enjoy myself. The speed limit is 80 km/h and there was a lot of traffic. With no place for cars to pass me, I ended up spending half the time on the shoulder while cement trucks, SUVs and black pick ups zoomed by me. It was a relief to get to the Mission Bridge.

I crossed over the Fraser River into Abbotsford and started back towards home. I stopped at a gas station to see if they had any batteries (they didn’t) and when I returned outside, the warming effects of Hayward Lake dissipated. I was cold and the 25 minute trip to Fort Langley was uneventful except for the shivering and teeth chattering as I figured out my route back. As I explained to a fellow bike patroller Friday night, I didn’t know what cold was until I got my Vespa!

In Fort Langley, I stopped for a latté, warming my fingers and my insides before hopping the ferry and getting home. I parked the Vespa, walked stiff legged into the house and took a long, hot shower.

But you know what? I still can’t wait for my next ride!

Here's a link showing the ride - about 90 km and 2 and a half hours (including the brief warm up in the coffee shop).

Golden Ears Ride

Last month, when I tried to ride to Golden Ears Park, it was closed due to the severe wind storms. It recently reopened so yesterday, I took advantage of the fine weather we had to go for a scoot into the park.

The first photo shows the entrance once you pass the gate. The mountain goat carving has always been associated with Golden Ears Park. There are usually two carvings, one on the other side of the road, but that one has been taken away for minor repair.

The park staff has done a good job of cleaning up as here was little sign of the damage by the wind. In one area, there was some heavy machinery tucked away in the forest but other than that, the park looked fine.



The park is at the base of the Golden Ears - two mountain peaks - so the ride is mostly uphill. It’s not too steep a grade so I kept a good speed up in most parts. The road is paved all the way and is in good condition. My main concern was for a wandering deer or bear to cross the road while I was riding past.

It was a little chilly, even on such a sunny day, but it felt so good to be out in the sunshine, zooming along, that I wasn’t really bothered at all. I’ve had a couple of rides in the sun this week and it makes it so much more enjoyable - less of a challenge, but a lot more fun. I’ve only had the scooter since August so more than half of my riding has been in typical rainforest weather conditions.



I parked briefly at the boat launch area (beside the no parking sign) and watched some boaters take their boats out of the water. Even though I felt a bit of warmth while standing in the sun, I am sure that it was quite frigid on the water. I love to fish in the summertime and go out on a boat but this time of year is still a bit too cold for me.

Speaking of parking, Golden Ears Park, which is a provincial park, started charging for parking of vehicles a couple years ago. The charge is $1 an hour or $5 a day. Many people are upset with this as traditionally government parks have been free to park in. Apparently the compliance rate is only 30- 40%.



I finally stopped in at the day area called Alouette Lake (no, I didn't pay for parking). This is a great area for families to come as there are many picnic tables, lots of trees, a big beach area (although the beach itself is rather pebbly and the water is - well - glacier fed so it’s a wee bit cold), and basic conveniences like bathrooms. We used to go there quite often when our girls were small and didn’t care how cold the water was. There were a few families there when I wandered around, wearing big coats, hats, and gloves - as I said, it was a bit chilly.

Afterwards, I zoomed down he mountain. By this time is was later in the afternoon so it was quite cold. Luckily I had my lobster gloves in the pet carrier so was able to stay pretty warm.

As I returned home, to face the pile of weekend marking from school, I felt good that I had taken a bit of time for myself to clear my head and recharge.

Steep Ride, Cold Ride

New Westminster is a community between Maple Ridge and Vancouver that is perched on the water of the Fraser River. The land slopes down to the water throughout most of this small city and, as a result there are many steep hills throughout.

I had a doctor’s appointment earlier in the week after school but I didn’t know if my Vespa could make it up the hills so I drove the horrid Ford Taurus. Today, when I woke up, I decided that I needed to find out whether my LX50 was up to the challenge.

It was cold for this time of year, 3 or 4° C., a vicious mix of sleet and rain was falling from the sky, and it was quite windy. I thought about going on a shorter ride but decided I had enough layers to survive the snow and rain.

After crossing the Pitt River (mentioned in a previous blog) I went on what is called the Mary Hill Bypass. I hadn’t been on this road since the day I bought the Vespa. At that time, on a nice sunny day, I found it was a scary road with lots of curves and fast, roaring traffic. A few months and 2500 kms later, even on a wet, cold morning, the road was just fine to ride. I think this is because of the experience that I have gained so far - I am more confident on the curves and have a better idea when I should slow down, how much I should lean, and how much I should turn. I’m still pretty slow when turning 90 degrees, but better safe....



After around 40 minutes I was at the ‘bottom’ of New Westminster. I found a route that was still hilly but not crazy-steep like some of the other roads. I had no problems going uphill and pulled over a couple of times when my speed was slow and there were a few vehicles behind me.

By this time, my hands, even though I was wearing my 'lobster' gloves, were pretty cold and I thought I’d stop for coffee at Starbuck’s in downtown New Westminster - but in this area of this city there are parking meters everywhere and I didn’t have any change. I’m not sure what New Westminster’s policy on parking on the sidewalk is, so I decided to head back rather than get towed or ticketed.

I went back with no problems except that my hands were slowly turning to sticks of ice. I thought that I’d stop at the Starbuck’s just past the Pitt River Bridge in our neighbouring community of Pitt Meadows. The Starbuck’s is beside an empty movie theatre and is usually pretty quiet. The thought of having a big mug of latte and a scone while I warmed up kept me going the last km or two.

Alas, when I arrived, I walked through the door and not a seat, not one seat, was empty. After lining up for my coffee, I went outside with the lone smoker and the other unfortunate people who couldn’t get a seat and slurped back my coffee, shivering. Five minutes later, I was on my Vespa and headed for home.

As feeling slowly returned to my hands as I warmed them over the heat register, I took heart that, overall, the trip had been a success.