Zero Avenue

Today was another glorious summer day.

I decided to go south of the Fraser River, similar to my ride to Glen Valley, but this time continued south towards the US.


My first stop was Bradner. Bradner is one of those little communities that have been around forever but are now part of a larger town or district (in this case, Abbotsford). I took a photo of the general store - and there isn’t much else. There’s a school a couple of other rural looking stores, a police station, and a bunch of houses.

I discovered that the village of Bradner was founded in 1910 and was named after one of the first settlers. Apparently, it is known as the daffodil centre of the Fraser Valley and has hosted a flower show since 1928.


I continued south, taking a detour at the Lotusland Winery. Lotusland is one of the nicknames for the Vancouver area and describes the relaxed, laid back, attitude of many people here as well as the temperate climate. Some say the name also has to do with our fairly liberal drug policies.

Anyway, I liked the name a lot - so I tried a couple of the wines. The rosé was a bit harsh - it definitely had a raw tinge to it. After nibbling frantically on a cracker, I tried the pinot noir. It was a lot better (although I think that, in comparison to the rosé, anything would have tasted better) and I bought a bottle. That night, the bottle was OK, just nothing to write home about. Still, the wine is organic and I am pleased that the wine industry is responding to public demand for organic and eco-friendly wines.


I then continued south until I reached Zero Avenue. This road runs parallel to the US border - literally inches from the border. On one side of the border is Canadian road, Zero Avenue. On the other side of the border is the US road (West or East Boundary Road) that runs parallel to the border. In the middle is a ditch about six inches / 15 cm deep with some bushes in it. In the above photo, Canada is on the right and the US is on the left. There’s no red line, no lasers, no barbed wire, just some bushes in a ditch. Lots of houses have the border as the end of their back yard!

I took a quick photo of one of several metal markers. I was careful when I took my photos that I didn't stray across where I thought the line was. I was tempted to creep around the marker to take a photos of the words “United States” on the other side, but something stopped me from taking a chance. With my luck, a rookie border guard with something to prove would spot me and chase me down, even on my Vespa!

It’s been said that Canada and the US have the world’s longest undefended border. Post 9/11, it’s nice to see that this part of the border hasn’t changed a lot. There are few steel towers on the US side that apparently have high powered cameras and I’m sure there are some other measures that people aren’t aware of. Still, it is heartening to see that, as two countries, we can still trust each other, at least along Zero Avenue.

Saturna Island

As promised, I’ve included a whole raft of photos from our recent trip to Saturna Island.



Saturna Island is one of the Gulf Islands that are between the Lower Mainland (where Vancouver is) and Vancouver Island (a large island with several cities including a favourite tourist destination, Victoria). The islands continue into the US but are called the San Juan Islands in the States.



I have been to several of the other Gulf Islands, but not to Saturna before. Our company from Scotland invited us to stay with them as they had booked a house for a week.



The house we stayed at (the water-colour was done by our friend Cindy) was very nice - and lots of room for eight people. It is called Pacific Paradise and was only a few minutes walk to the beach.



One of the wonderful things about Saturna was the wildlife. There was a flock of wild turkeys on the road on the few occasions that we used the car.



The sundeck out the back of the house was a great place to relax, have a drink, read, and look at wildlife. There were deer coming through regularly - sometimes up to five at a time, nibbling on the grass. They were not nearly as skittish as most of the deer I have seen.



I spent the early mornings walking down to the cliffs near the house and casting my line.



There were some holes in the rocks that caught several of my lures but I did manage to catch a couple of red snappers and hooked into a couple of monsters that I wasn’t able to land. The snappers were a bit small so I chucked them back into the sea to grow a little more.



I have no photos of this but the best part of fishing was when I had reeled in on the last day. As I was collecting my tackle, a pod of orcas swam by, not 10 metres from the cliff I was standing on. Amazing!



On one of the days, we hiked up Brown Ridge which is right on the top of the island. The views were breathtaking.



The trail was actually a mountain goat path so it was definitely single file!



After our hike, we went to the Saturna Winery. They had some nice wines with their pinot noir being the one that is available in liquor stores.



We also discovered a great rosé and a super light red that are both perfect for sipping while the barbecue is on.



There was some nice views from the outdoor patio where we were eating. While we were leaving, the kids managed to find a big flat rock to launch themselves onto.



During the last day we were on the island, we spent a few hours at the beach.



The water was, well, bracing, but there were only fifteen or so other people there. We also went over to where the cliffs were to find some more orcas. While we didn’t see any, there were some otters and seals that were very entertaining.



Alas, our trip was over that afternoon as we headed out and caught the ferry back to the mainland. As the island receded from view, I thought, this would be a great place to take my Vespa!

Rant!

Todays' blog entry is a bit short - I'm actually going through my photos of Saturna Island for a bit of a travel blog but something happened to me today which really made me, well, pissed off.

I was riding on a fairly quiet road - it's an arterial route but not tons of traffic- a two lane road with a solid yellow line down the middle. I was going up a hilly part at around 35 km in a 50 km zone and I noticed a black pick-up truck right behind me.

Now, at this point, I guess I could have avoided any problems and pulled over. But my feeling is, my 50 cc scoot is licensed and insured as a regular vehicle and maybe the guy behind me needed to be a bit patient and stop tailgating me. Besides, I knew that as soon as I reached the top of the hill, I would pick up speed and be back to 50 kms again.

As I approached the crest of the hill I looked in my mirror again and the black truck seemed pretty darned close. I went over the crest and went down the other side.

When I was about half the way dow the hill (and going at the speed limit) the truck pulled into the left lane around me - but there was a car coming the other way! He roared by me, just clearing my Vespa, and swerved back into the lane in front of me in the nick of time.

If that wasn't enough, after about 30 metres, the truck turns left off the road! He saved about 8 seconds in his day by passing me! Plus, he managed to both anger and terrify me and lord knows how the other driver was feeling. And for what?!

And it gets better...

We have a roundabout in or neighbourhood - it's by a park and it's there to slow down traffic at the intersection. Roundabouts are not all that common here so there are signs telling people how to enter them, how to turn, and that vehicles entering the round about have to yield to people who are already going around it. Pretty clear, right?

Well, I am already in the round about and signalling left. A white van enters the intersection just as I am about to turn in front of him. I blast my horn (although my horn really only makes a pathetic 'meep' sound) and slam on the brakes so he doesn't hit me. He merrily goes though and doesn't even slow down.

The thing that really got me about the two incidents is that they both happened close to my house! People in my own neighbourhood driving like jerks!

OK, rant over - stay tuned for pics of Saturna Island.

Tour of Vancouver

We’ve had the good fortune of having visitors from Scotland over the past couple of weeks. I went on a teacher exchange about six years ago and my family got to know a good number of different people in the village where we lived (Ardaneaskan) as well as the town that was up the road (Lochcarron). Our visitors were good friends with my whole family and it was wonderful to show them around town.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have done some touring around Vancouver. I thought I’d share some places that I have particularly enjoyed visiting lately.

First up is the Vancouver Aquarium. It is in Stanley Park, a huge park area attached to the downtown area of Vancouver. It’s a 1000 acres and is actually a bit bigger than Central Park in New York.



There was once a zoo but there was public pressure to get out of the zoo business and just concentrate on aquatic creatures. There are some seals, otters, whales, etc, but they tend to be rescue animals rather than animals captured explicitly for the aquarium. There are shows but these tend to focus on the animals’ natural abilities rather than tricks.

There are also a huge variety of different tanks, an amazon area complete with a zillion butterflies, and lots of interactive displays for the kiddies.



Next is the Vancouver Art Gallery. We saw an exhibit called Monet to Dali. This is a great cross section of artists on loan from the Cleveland Museum of Art. I never realized that Cleveland had such an awesome collection of paintings.




Outside the gallery, which is located in the old courthouse, there was a film crew filming a large group on the steps leading to the front. The gallery often is used in movies and TV shows for - you guessed it - a courthouse.




The last interesting thing was a countdown clock beside the gallery. The Winter Olympics will be held in 2010 in Vancouver. Reaction to this upcoming event ranges from ecstatic excitement about what is going to happen in three short years to upset grumblings as the costs rise and construction takes over the city.



The third place that the females in my family especially like is Robson Street. It is a shopper’s paradise - several blocks of different stores, ranging from touristy and tacky to music to high fashion to great restaurants.



Of course, I like to spend my time wandering around and people watching. I really don’t like the shopping part but I do like looking at the different kinds of people - different nationalities, rich and poor, young and old.



I also like the unusual things that happen to make their way to Robson. In one block there were two unusual cars - one advertising a restaurant and the other - well, it looked interesting!



Inside one of the stores, there was this old Harley - looks like a heavy duty bicycle with a motor - obviously a precursor to the modern motorcycle.



The final stop for this tour of Vancouver is Little Italy on Commercial Drive. This is the kind of place where you’ll find scooterists getting together before a ride. I also like the sense of humour for some of the signs in the area.



We had a great lunch at an Italian restaurant. I was particularly struck by the pizza oven - not only how it looked, but also how well it worked. I love true italian style pizza.



After a great meal, we headed back home - well, actually, it took a couple of days to see these attractions but what the heck. I guess there are a lot of things to see in Vancouver....

Exploring Glen Valley (instead of Amerivespa)

I spent some of this weekend regretting missing the Amerivespa in Seattle.

I’ve never gone to Amerivespa before but since I’ve been riding and blogging, I feel that I have a potential connection to the scooting world and thought that being in Seattle this weekend would have been incredible. There are lots of people that I would like to meet in person - Dave from SCTRCST, Little Billy, Orin from Scootin’ Old Skool, and many more.

I also was toying with the idea of figuring out a route from Vancouver by Seattle on a 50 cc scooter. I had even gone to Google Maps and checked out a route avoiding highways.

But. alas, we had good friends arrive from Scotland and, as well, I had previously volunteered for a bike patrol shift on Sunday.

So, instead of feeling grumpy about things, I decided to go for a ride.



I went across the Albion ferry once again and rode to an area between Langley and Abbotsford called Glen Valley.

Usually, I take fairly busy routes with traffic, people, etc. Today’s ride, however, was very peaceful. There were few cars on the road and no people, just trees, fields, and sunshine.



While riding, I saw a sign for the Fort Wine Company. I took a slight detour and headed towards this winery which is situated in an area of farms. As I approached the parking lot, I was pleasantly surprised to see a fair in progress complete with tents, people in costume, samples of food and... wine.



There were a few wine tasting booths, each with several types of wine to sample. I was careful to have only a couple as I didn’t want the wine to affect my driving.

The Fort’s wines are all fruit based wines (blueberry, cranberry, etc,) and I tried one or two but really don’t like fruit wines (other than grapes, of course!).

The next wine, made my a company called Township 7, was quite good - the rosé was crisp and clear and the merlot was actually very nice.

After leaving the winery (which was a bit of a chore as their parking lot was thick with gravel), I continued on to Glen Valley Regional Park. This is actually a couple of parks on the shore of the Fraser River. There were picnic tables and benches and I found it to be a nice place to sit down in the shade and have a brief rest.



I spent another hour or so exploring the area. I really enjoyed the peaceful roads and picturesque scenery as the wind breezed over me.

Later, I was back on the Albion ferry, headed for home. On this ferry, motorcycles get to go to the front of the line, avoiding the long car line ups. I was chatting to a guy with a big Harley about a seal we saw in the river. I haven’t quite figured out how motorcyclists and scooterists generally feel about each other but I’ve found that my experiences with motorcyclists - whether they are weekend riders or Hell’s Angels - to be a pretty friendly group of people.



After returning home, I felt refreshed and looking forward to my next exploration. But I was still a little bit sad about that Amerivespa thing....

Day Tripping

Now that school’s over for the summer, I thought that I would be blogging way more frequently than I am now. Unfortunately, life got in the way. Stuff happens, things got busy, and I kept forgetting the camera. Luckily, I remembered Friday when I went on a ride combined with some errands.



The first photo is in Maple Ridge. When I have the time to take the backroads, there are so many picturesque sights and pastoral scenes, that I think I could just feature shots of horse country in Maple Ridge and I’d have a year’s worth of photos.

After a latté with a good friend at Starbucks, I headed off to Port Coquitlam for a massage therapy appointment. I hadn’t been for over a year and my back was getting quite sore.

My massage therapist is a smallish woman by the name of Anna. She’s a bit shy but also good natured. Although she is sometimes tentative in conversation, it never fails that she finds the most painful knot in my back in about 4 seconds and then works it for a good five minutes until I can’t stand it any more - then she repeats with a different spot - on and on - for 45 minutes. The thing is, I don’t particularly enjoy the massage therapy while it happens, but, man, does it feel good after!



Between appointments, I had some time to scoot so I headed north up a part of Poco called Burke Mountain. The most difficult part of the ride was trying to take a photo that showed how steep the hill was! I tried a few different techniques and ended with the photo that you see. It was a nice place to ride as there was little traffic and some nice shady parts. It was a hot day - around 32° C. - and shade was a very good thing.

Speaking of traffic., my last appointment was in New Westminster and I usually take the Mary Hill Bypass because it’s the most direct route. Unfortunately, cars zoom along at a pretty fast clip and there are a ton of big trucks rolling by. It’s also quite hilly and there are long stretches where I am stuck doing under 50 km/h.

I had a little extra time, however, and I decided to take the Lougheed Highway all the way. This stretch of road used to freak me out when I was a kid because there was a couple of mental institutions on the road - big, institutional, grey, faceless buildings with high fences and barred windows.



There is still one left - that’s noted by the red arrow in the photo - but there are not many patients left. Most have long been returned to the community, for better or worse, living in group homes or cared for by family.

The traffic still goes by pretty quickly but there were very few trucks, less traffic, and pretty flat roads. It added some time to my travels but reduced my stress level significantly.

The last little incident - I was stopped at a light and some guy on a motorcycle pulled up beside me. His bike had a huge engine - the word Valkrie was on it - and it looked like a big American car engine turned on its side. Anyway, the guy was very friendly and we had quite the chat while waiting for the light to turn. I’m beginning to realize that all of us people on two wheels are sort of in the same club, whether you’re riding 50ccs or 500. It’s a nice feeling.

Reaction Time

Time to start blogging again.

Report cards are done, school’s almost over, and summer holidays are just around the corner.

When I first bought my Vespa, there was a big range of reactions.

One was along the lines of “You look like more of a Harley rider,” which may allude to my size. My response is that I have always loved the look of the Vespa - and it takes me back to those backpacking days in Europe over 25 years ago. Harleys, I am sure, are well built machines but, having a retired cop for a father, I always associated Harleys with Hells Angels and organized crime. Mind you, there’s a link between Vespas and Mods and rioting on beach towns in Britain but that all seems rather cool in a way and very distant.

Another reaction is, “Why would you bother? You’ve got a car where you don’t have to worry about weather.” I guess I’m turning greener as I get older. Cars are great, don’t get me wrong, and I do drive my Mazda a few times a week, but the Vespa is great on gas - much better than a car - and because it has a four stroke engine, I feel pretty good about the amount of pollution it creates. Also, with my eldest daughter driving now, I find myself without an option for a car most days as she drives her sister and a friend to high school every day.



Friends that know me say, “But what about riding your bike?” They have a point. I love riding my bike but I have to get up about 20 minutes earlier to do so. Those 20 minutes are nearly impossible to manage lately. I only ride my bike about once a week where last year it was closer to three times a week. The other factor is the Vespa is just so much fun to ride! I hope to work on this area next year.

Then there was the, “What are you doing on a scooter with such a small motor?” reaction. As I’ve previously mentioned, I don’t need a motorcycle license with this scooter. The hassle of getting a learner’s license, taking a couple of tests, etc., etc. are just too much of a bother right now. Also, I like the challenges that go along with riding a small motored scooter in an urban and suburban area.

Finally, there’s the, “Those things aren’t safe,” reaction. My father-in-law, another retired cop, is quite vocal about all the horrible things that happen to motorcyclists when they crash. I know that falling off my scoot at 50 km/h is very scary and could seriously injure me but I still feel that I’m a lot safer than being on a 650 motorcycle and not a lot worse off than being on my bicycle.

So, what are the pictures of the two scooters for? Well, one colleagues reaction was to buy her own scooter! The two are parked just outside the staffroom of my school. It’s an electric scooter and she just loves it.

Now, that’s the kind of reaction I like!

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....

A Giant Win

Alas, another blog entry which has nothing to do with scootering.

I’ve been a hockey fan ever since I was in Grade 4 or 5. Maybe part of being Canadian is a love for hockey, especially around the playoffs.

I remember when the Vancouver Canucks joined the NHL in 1970. I was in Grade 5 and it seemed that we had arrived! Teams like the Montreal Canadians, the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers actually came to Vancouver to play hockey! Those were heady times!

As the years have passed, my “fan quotient” has risen and fallen with the Canucks fortunes. Twice in my lifetime, the Canucks have actually made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. Twice, they have returned home empty-handed.

Still, I have hopes that one day they will win the cup. Maybe.

Which leads me to what happened this week.

Players that are around 16 to 20 years of age are eligible for junior hockey. Those players that are really good end up being drafted into the NHL.



Vancouver has its own junior hockey team, the Giants. The Giants really came to light when the NHL was on strike - hockey starved fans flocked to see these youngsters play with so much heart and not so much attitude. And with tickets selling for between $16 and $18,. there wasn’t a big hit on the pocketbook. What was really interesting is after the NHL strike was over, the interest in the Giants didn't wane.



I’ve been to a few games this year and the hockey is great. There’s the typical hockey essentials: excited fans, goals, cheerleaders, fights, and more fights. But there are a couple very nice extras - this is like a regular hockey game with draws, music, instant replays, great food, t-shirts, and other gimmicks - and the players play their hearts out.

There are certainly a lot of players in the NHL that play hard - but sometimes a person might wonder if they are playing - even with those huge salaries - as hard as they can.



I have no doubt that the young men (and occasionally, women) playing in the minors are playing their very best all of the time. And this past couple of weeks, the best of the junior league hockey players in Canada played in a tournament called the Memorial Cup in Vancouver.

And finally, for the first time in my life, Vancouver won the cup.

No, it wasn’t the Canucks - but who cares...

Go Giants, Go!