It's a Happy New Year!

Well, the first week’s done and dusted. The kids are all back at school and actually seem pretty happy to be there!

The highlight of the holiday was a ski trip to Sun Peaks ski resort, near Kamloops. We went up there with two other families and had a great time skiing, visiting and having the occasional glass of wine. The photos in this entry are from the trip and the red toqued skier is me.


I have been continuing my commute on the Vespa. The past week was good for teaching but not for weather. Rain, slush and cold have been the order of the day, but I still get that great feeling when I zip on down the road.

One bump on the road - there’s construction on my route to school and a couple of times I’ve cleared the flag ladies only to find myself heading onto big steel sheets that cover the road for 20 or 30 metres. They scare the pants off of me! Although I’m going slow, I don’t think that there’s hardly any traction on a metal sheet. Could be yet another near death experience!

Today, happily, was great day. It was sunny, clear and cool and I was happy to buzz around town for a couple of hours on the Vespa. My gloves are really working out well as my hands were nice and warm, and my down vest is becoming a stand-by, not only on my scooter, but when I am watching my daughter’s soccer game or walking the dog, etc.

I unfortunately forgot my camera but I am still smiling inside from the good feeling that sunshine and scooting create.

Safety on 50ccs

What with planning year-end field trips. marking final projects, avoiding writing report cards, and attending to my parental duties (year end shows/concerts and water polo/lacrosse games of my daughters), I haven’t had a lot of time to blog - nor do I see that I’ll have a much time for the next three or so weeks - but I’ll do my best to write something.

I thought I’d tackle something that is probably a bit contentious - safety.

First of all, understand that I come from a bicycling background. I’m a pretty safe cyclist - I wear bright colours, I always wear a helmet and gloves, I have lights and reflectors on my bike which I use, and I obey the rules of the road.

I have taken a lot of what I have learned as a cyclist and transferred that to my scooter riding. I think riding a 50cc scooter is not a huge jump from riding a bike and the skills I have developed as a cyclist over many years work really well on a scooter.

What skills? Looking everywhere to make sure nobody is going to kill you is a good one to start with. Anticipating that cars at intersections might not see me. Making sure I have lots of room in front of me so I can stop safely. Not doing stupid things because two wheels aren’t as stable as four.

The reader might think, where is this going? Well, we have had a spot of hot weather - 25 to 30 degrees C. ( I think that’s somewhere in the 80s F. - it’s been a long time since I’ve used that scale) - and I’ve been scooting around in (gulp) shorts and a t-shirt!

So, what do I usually wear when out on my scooter? A helmet - a half shell model that was the only one I could find to fit my head in the Vespa store. It has ear flaps to protect my ears and a visor. I bought a clear shield from Helmets R Us that snaps onto the front and is great in rainy and cold weather. I actually have it down most of the time unless it’s really hot. Full face helmets scare me - the only time I put one on I had a heckuva time getting it off my head without removing my nose. I do plan on getting a 3/4 helmet - I think that would be a good compromise.

For a jacket, I usually wear my red, reflective gortex cycling jacket from Mountain Equipment Coop. I realize that it’s not that much protection if I fall down but my rationalization is that I’m not going a whole lot faster than on my bike. It’s most important, in my opinion, for people to see me. If it’s really hot, and I’m going on a local trip, I do sometimes just wear a t-shirt. My bad.

I always wear gloves - sometimes two pairs together if it’s cold and wet. I have some leather gloves but prefer full fingered cycling gloves in warm weather and lobster mitts or kayaking gloves in cold or rainy weather.

As for pants, I try to wear jeans but I do sometimes wear slacks (on the way to work) or even shorts (which I feel a little guilty about). Mind you, riding with my shades on, in shorts, and wearing a t-shirt on a sunny day is a wonderful feeling. Guilty pleasure, perhaps?

Footwear? Running shoes. Sometimes I wear suede shoes that fit higher up the foot than running shoes.

I am always open to change so I may wear ‘safer’ clothes in the future but I’m OK with what I’m wearing now. I do go faster than my bicycle and if I did fall off my scoot at a fast speed, I have no illusions about the potential for serious injury. However, I try to ride as safely as possible, without taking stupid risks, so I hope to avoid serious injury. After all, the only time I’ve crashed on my bicycle was when I couldn’t get out of my clipped pedals and fell down - at a stop sign!

Ok, so that's what I currently think on safety on a 50cc scooter. Go ahead, let me have it....

Spring Break Part 1

Ahhh, Spring Break...

Well it’s been quite a week..

On Monday, I went to the doctor to have my stitches removed - and when I asked him how much longer I had to wait until I could wear a helmet, he said, “Ten minutes.”

So, Tuesday, I hopped on the Vespa after what seemed an eternity and scooted into Vancouver.

The forecast was for cloudy skies turning to showers in the afternoon. When I left Maple Ridge, it was cloudy but behind me was a ridge of sunshine under the clouds. Twenty minutes later, when I went over the Pitt River Bridge, monsoon-like rains washed over me. The rain continued to fall but varied as I went along my favourite route into Vancouver.

Going to Vancouver is a bit of a challenge for me on a 50cc scooter. It’s about 50 km (around 30 miles) taking Route 1, which is the freeway, but my scooter is too slow and is not allowed to go on the freeway. There are some other choices, but my preferred route is to take the Barnet Highway. It’s usually pretty quiet and is quite scenic - it goes along the southern shore of Burrard Inlet which is like a fjord that is the northern border of Vancouver. It goes by some industrial sections and shipping areas. In the picture at the beginning of today’s entry, you can see some piles of yellow stuff behind the trees. Those are sulphur piles and the colour of those on a bright sunny day are like powdered sunshine.



There are a number of different places along the Barnet including a gun club (gee, do Canadians actually do that sort of thing?), a marina, and a velodrome for bicycle racing. Eventually, the Barnet changes into Hastings Street as it goes through the city of Burnaby. The road goes through a nice area called The Heights which has a number of different ethnic stores and restaurants. When I’m really cold, I sometimes stop here for a bite at Quiznos or have a latté at one of the authentic Italian coffee shops.

When going along Hastings into Vancouver, the street takes a turn for the worse. This area is the downtown east side - the poorest postal code in Canada. I don’t have to ride through this part of town, but I tend to do it to remind me that there are a lot of people who need help in this world. Then, I turn up Main Street and on to wherever in Vancouver I want to get to.

Although it was raining for most of the day, I kept dry. At one point, I wore paddling gloves under my lobster mitts and my hands stayed dry and warm. It felt good to be out riding again.

Wednesday was car buying day. I finally got rid of the Ford Taurus wagon that is falling apart and bought (leased, actually) a Mazda 3 Sport. It’s shiny and smells very nice!



Today, I had an appointment back in New Westminster. A couple of trucks honked at me while I was on the Mary Hill Bypass but that was OK. What really bugged me today was when I got to my appointment. There was a parking space that was too small for a car but plenty of room for my Vespa. As I was sorting out my pet carrier, an elderly man got out of his car and asked me, “Are you going to leave that thing there?”

He had a full metre behind his care and he didn’t sound particularly angry, so I smiled and said, “Yep.”

Then he said, “I don’t know if there’s enough room for me to back out. If there isn’t I’ll just flatten that thing.” And then he went back into his car.

At the time, I didn’t think he was serious but, as thought about it, I began to get a little worried. As it turned out, his car was still there when I left but it made me pause and think about the incident. Usually, when parking or getting stuff out of my Vespa, people who talk to me are friendly or just asking questions. This is the first time where someone was actually angry or upset about the Vespa.

Oh well, I’ve got another week to relax and think about what happened.

Ahhh, Spring Break...