The following is an entry I sent into CBC Radio's Ultimate Canadian Commute Contest:

While I'm not sure if my commute is the ultimate Canadian Commute, I enjoy my ride to work so much that it's my ultimate West Coast Commute.

I live and work in Maple Ridge, a suburb of Vancouver. As an elementary school teacher, I have tried over the years to show, by example, how to do things in a green and environmentally friendly way.

Several years ago, I started commuting on my bicycle. There's nothing like grinding up a hill or zooming along with the wind in your face to relieve the stress and tension that can sometimes be part of the job.

As time passed, however, I found I was taking the family car a little more often - to pick up something on the way home or to grab a latté on the way to school or just because I felt I couldn't park the bike anywhere because it might get stolen. Sometimes, I just didn't feel like getting up early on a dark, wintry morning.

And then, about a year and a half ago, I got my Vespa! With 50 CCs of raw power, 100 miles per gallon and a tiny environmental footprint, I found the perfect complement to my bike. WIth the mild West Coast's climate, I can scoot, rain or shine, grab a latté on the way to work, and pick up a couple of bags of groceries (and even a bottle of wine) on the way home. If it's a nice sunny day or if I'm feeling a bit guilty about that extra dessert, I can ride my bike.

I have had the occasional scary ride (on both the bike and the scooter) where I've had to carefully negotiate some slush or gingerly putt down an icy road. But the thrill never fades - the feeling that every metre is like a restorative for my soul.

Often I take detours - down country roads past horse stables and farms or up into Golden Ears Park to see the mountains and the trees. I sometimes do this on my bike, but it's easier to do on my Vespa and I find that I have more time to do other things after I get home.

Am I saving the environment with my commute? Maybe, I sure want to make a difference with the choices I make, but the important thing is I'm having fun... on two wheels.

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.

Tokyo Bound

So my daughter, who is in French Immersion in Grade 10, is also in her second year of Japanese. I think she has an affinity for languages - her spelling certainly improves with each language learned!

As part of her course, she has the option of going to Japan during Spring Break with her school on a one week exchange. Well, we thought, great experience, make it so. She’ll be heading to Miyoshi, a city near Osaka.

Now, I worked for a year in Japan in an English language school in Tokyo way back in 1985. In fact, it’s where I met my future wife. Unfortunately, my daughter’s group is not going that far north.

Ah, but then (I think), I have my good friend who lives in Tokyo. We met while I lived there and have kept in petty good contact since (he visited out here a few years ago). And, I haven’t been to Japan in, oh, 23 years.

So the upshot is that I will be going to Tokyo while my daughter is travelling with her school, meet up with her at the end of her trip, take her back to Tokyo, and then show her around Tokyo. Also, a good chance to check out the scooter situation there. Maybe even see Kuni of the Vechs blog!

Yep, I’m Tokyo bound - subarashi!

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.

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...

Anticipation

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick entry to say that I’m finally feeling OK after a real nasty cold.

I missed a whole week of school which I hate to do - I haven’t missed that much time for several years. But, I think I’m getting smarter in my old age and thought that rest and relaxation would ensure that I wasn’t sick for Christmas. I was right!

After family dinners on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we went through the consumer orgy of Boxing Day. For our neighbours south of the border, I think it’s equivalent to your Black Friday in terms of sales. Boxing Day is a national holiday here in Canada and celebrated in many other commonwealth countries. It originally was a time for wealthier families to make a donation for the less fortunate in charity boxes. Now, it’s degenerated into a day (and sometimes, a week) where people can get the deal of a lifetime.

Only my eldest daughter was brave enough to venture out into the mobs. I spent the day fiddling with stuff that I got for Christmas.

Today, as the snow fell again, I contemplated my next ride. It’s been way too long and I am really anxious to get back on my scooter.

I received some new gloves in the mail a couple of weeks ago - they are warm and waterproof but I haven’t really put them to the test. In addition, I went out shopping today and bought a balaclava to keep my face warm and a down vest for my core.

Better prepared (I hope), I plan to scoot on out tomorrow, if the weather is not too cold and icy or snowy. Here’s hoping...

Been a Long Time Since I Blogged and Rolled...

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged. Too long.

Sorry.



So here’s the reasons why I haven’t made an entry for the last month....

1. School has been busy. I think I’ve mentioned this before. I’m teaching a split grade 6 and 7 class and it is a lot more work than a straight class. I’ve spent a lot more time this year marking and planning for two grades so I’ve really had to work at finding time for both riding and blogging.

2. I’ve been sick. Not deathly ill - just a couple of colds that have got into my chest. Makes me wonder if I was smart getting the flu shot. And, of course, like many other stupid teachers, I somehow feel that the students can only learn if I’m there. So then I’m exhausted when I get home and the cold lasts longer.... see where this is going?

3. School has been really busy. It seems like I spent weeks working on my report cards. They are onerous to complete at the best of time but our school is using a new, web-based system that should make things faster but, because we are piloting the system, takes a lot longer because of all the bugs.

4. The weather sucks. We’ve had way too many days of frost, black ice and snow in that last few weeks. I mean, come on, this is the west coast! I just don’t feel confident buzzing around on my Vespa when there’s snow on the road or big patches of black ice on residential streets.

5. School has been insanely busy. One of the events that parents look forward to, and some teachers dread, is the annual Christmas concert. Between being sick, teaching a split grade and doing report cards, I had to organize my group of 4 classes and get them to learn their songs, etc. in time for the Christmas concert that we presented three times.

Now, what am I going to do about these reasons?

1. I can’t change the fact that I’m teaching a split, but for some reason, the work load always seems to start to ease up after Christmas. Also, I’m trying some different things with another teacher that may make my life a little easier.

2. Right now I’m home. I’m intent on staying home until this thing has left my chest and I feel better. Hopefully, by Friday I’ll be back so I can at least say good bye to the kids until the holidays are over.

3. Report cards are done! Next term’s should go faster.

4. Cant’ do much about the weather, although it seems to have reverted back to the normal west coast of BC rain and gloom. Hurrah! I can ride in that! When I’m done my cold...

5. Christmas concert is over! Ho ho ho!

So, don’t give up on me - I do intend to keep blogging - I still have things to say... oh, and have a Merry Christmas - or Happy Hanukkah - or Joyful Kwanzaa - or whatever.

Near-Death Experience #43

I had to wait until today to write this as I was a little shaken up last night.

I have had a bunch of near-death experiences on the Vespa over the past year or so but 43 is just a guess - I don’t actually keep track of them. Usually, my near-death experiences involve circumstances out of my control - a bus pulling out into traffic, a car passing on the right, somebody turning in front of me - but my latest was a bit different...

It was an ordinary day at school. The kids were actually really good yesterday and I had an enjoyable day in the classroom. Unfortunately I spent a bunch of time in what I call ‘the pit” which is the communication closet where our servers are located. We were having problems with one of our servers and I had to figure out what was wrong.

After a satisfying teaching day and a not-too-horrid staff meeting after school, I happily hopped onto my scooter and headed for home.

The road I ride down on the way home, whether by bike or scooter, is a winding, steepish downhill road. I’ve gone down it probably a hundred times on my scooter and a thousand on my bike.

Last night, it was dark, and a bit rainy. Now, I don’t mind riding in the rain at all, especially on busy streets, but this street is dark, so it’s a little harder to see.

As I rode into an especially curvy section, a car approached going to other way. Because of the combination of his bright lights, the wet conditions, and my visor, I ended drifting to the right. I was also going a wee bit fast for the conditions I was in. By the time the car went past, I realized I was mere centimetres/inches from the edge of the road and a muddy, slippery fall.

In a flash, I went from safe, careful driving, to almost wiping out myself, and more importantly, my scratch-free Vespa.

Happily, I quickly regained the middle of the road and arrived home, imbibing a quick glass of red wine to settle my nerves.

And that’s the latest near-death experience. I know there’ll be more but, I console myself with the fact that, the more I ride, hopefully, the less they'll happen.

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).

It’s been a busy month. It’s also been a terribly wet month up here on the upper West Coast. And when it hasn’t been rainy, it’s been cold - at least cold for a West Coaster.

The main reason I am really aware of this is I now only have two choices for getting to school - my Vespa or my bike. That’s because number one daughter drives her sister, a neighbour and herself across town to the French Immersion High School every day. That’s mostly a very good thing but I am having to get used to being car-less this year.

This morning, the temperature dropped down to 3° C. (that’s about 37° F. according to a temperature conversion site) and it felt cold to me. Yes, I know, if you’re from the prairies or the mid-west or practically anywhere else but the on a coast, that’s not very cold but to a person born and bred being able to smell the salt in the ocean on a breezy day, 3° is really cold!

I don’t have a particularly long ride to school in the morning but I have been making a lot of trips on the way home in recent days. I’m beginning to find my choice of scooter clothing to be - well - not good enough for cold weather.

So what am I wearing?


In the rain, I have waterproof pants that I bought from MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop). They are completely waterproof and keep my legs warm in both rainy and cold weather. On Mondays, when I teach PE, I even wear them over shorts!


For my feet, I wear cycling shoe covers. These are pretty much waterproof and, as an added bonus, they keep your feet warm. Unfortunately, they only protect the top and sides of your shoes so if you step in a big puddle, your feet will get wet.

For a jacket, I wear a waterproof shell that is really waterproof - as long as I fold over and secure the velcro patches on the front seam. The times I forgot to do this, I had a nice big wet spot across the chest of my shirt. Thank goodness for air dryers.

I have a fleece or two that I can wear under my shell. In the rain, this works pretty well. When it’s cold outside, though, my core starts to get cold. I have put up to three layers of fleece and still will get cold, especially if I am going to the city.
As for gloves, I use kayak paddling gloves when it’s really rainy. They start off warm and work for a while but become soggy after awhile.

During cold weather, I wear lobster gloves - they are sort of like mittens but have two fingers in each part which gives you some mobility but also added warmth. Unfortunately, on longer rides, my fingers start to freeze, even if I wear another pair of gloves inside the lobster gloves.

So, that’s what I am currently wearing for wet and cold weather. Now to look at what’s out there that will keep me warm and dry - or, I should say, warmer and drier.

And, no, I haven’t managed to get my camera back from my sister yet.

*sigh*

Vancouver, Step by Step

Today was another one of those glorious days.

I had to go into Vancouver and decided to scoot in.

There are certain sections to a trip to Vancouver from Maple Ridge so I thought I’d share what the different phases are like. By the way, my apologies for the photos acquired from other sites - I left my camera at my sister’s house on Canadian Thanksgiving....


Maple RIdge - Pitt Meadows

This part of the trip is on the Lougheed Highway and is OK. It’s mostly flat so I can get going at a pretty good clip but I’ve done it a zillion times before so it can get a bit humdrum. Going over the Pitt River bridge is the best part simply because I like going over bridges!


Port Coquitlam - Coquitlam - Port Moody

The next part I don’t go on as frequently as the first part of my trip. The road is fairly flat but there are lots of different stores, lights to stop at, lane changes, and more than a couple coffee shops to stop at when I get too cold. Luckily it was a fairly warm and sunny day today so I zipped right through this part of my trip. I sensibly wore my jeans and had a couple layers under my gortex jacket.


Barnet Highway

I’ve blogged about this highway before. Since I can’t go on the freeway (not that I ever would want to with cars whizzing by at 100 kmh), this is my best route into the city. It is a very pretty ride, with lots of trees and Burrard Inlet to my right as I ride into the big city. There’s two lanes each way and one of the lanes is a commuter lane where motorcycles are free to go on. There’s also usually a fair number of cyclists on the route (momentary guilt) and I sometimes give them a polite ‘meep’ of encouragement when I go past. The only downside of this part, which connects Port Moody and Burnaby, is that it is mostly in shade because of all the trees and so can be quite cold.


Hastings Burnaby

Although Hastings Street has a bad name in the news, the part that goes through the city of Burnaby which is adjacent to Vancouver is quite nice. Two neighbourhoods, Capital Hill and The Heights, are particularly nice and have come back from bad reputations as a result of the residents turning things around. I really like The Heights as there are lots of ethnic shops and restaurants and, most importantly, coffee shops to stop at for a warming latté!


East Hastings

Once I enter Vancouver, Hastings is still not such a bad place. The Pacific National Exhibition is on the right and quiet residential areas fill out the rest. As I ride closer to the centre of the city, however, the street becomes more desolate and depressing. The Downtown Eastside is centred on this area with homeless people, drug users, and a host of other social ills. Still, I don’t mind riding through this area - people don’t antagonize me and it’s probably a good idea to be aware of what’s happening in this part of the city.


West Hastings

As I ride past the Church of Scientology, sort of a marker between east and west, Hastings Street changes to swank, stylish buildings and trendy, upscale malls such as the Sinclair Centre. It amazes me that in just a few blocks the cityscape changes from homeless people to high end designer stores. I ride on, to the edge of Vancouver, sunshine shining down on me as I scoot towards the North Shore.


West Vancouver

After scooting through the causeway of Stanley Park, I rode onto the Lions’ Gate Bridge for the first time on my Vespa. It was incredible! The scenery was beautiful and I felt so high up! I’ve been over the bridge thousands of time before in a car but never on a scooter. It was amazing. I rode onto West Vancouver into the Village at Park Royal to my destination, coffee with my wife at Caffe Artigianno.

And, wonderful as the ride was, after I had my latté, I smiled as I contemplated the ride home....

First Month Back and a New Chrome Visor

It’s been a while.

Oh, don’t worry, I’ve still been scooting, but I’ve been so busy with school starting up that I just haven’t had time to blog during the last couple of weeks.

I’ve settled into a bit of a routine to start off the school year. I ride my bicycle on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It’s about 7 or 8 kms but there’s lots of hills so it takes me about 25 minutes. I’m fortunate to have a shower at my school so I just get up in the morning, grab a quick breakfast, and head out the door.

Thursdays, I head out the door in the morning, hop on the scooter and meet up with a couple of colleagues at Starbucks for a casual breakfast. I’m ready to ride the scooter by Thursday as I seem to get home a lot earlier when I scoot. On Fridays, I also take the Vespa.

If I have an appointment (doctor, dentist, etc.) I take the Vespa on that day - I hate arriving at an appointment all sweaty and I’m paranoid about my bicycle, a Cannondale, getting stolen.

Anyway, when I arrived home tonight, I decided to tackle a project that I had been avoiding the past couple of weeks.

I had read on the BlogLX site about a slick looking chrome visor for the front headlight made by the Jettin company. I ordered the visor and waited in anticipation. In the meantime, I had the flat tire fiasco and lost a little confidence in my mechanical aptitude. And then....


I took out the chrome piece from the shipping box. It is truly chrome, not a hunk of shiny plastic, and was well packaged. There were instructions but they were for a GTS even though the visor is specifically for an LX. However, they are pretty similar so that’s OK.



I took out all the screws I could find on the headset cover and I proceeded to the pulling off the cover step. This proved to be the most difficult, as I had to bend the headset cover back and forth several times and in several directions. I was getting a bit discouraged when a loud noise - sort of a cross between a crack and a crunch - issued forth from the left side and the cover came free.


I then disconnected all the wires and took it into the kitchen to finish taking it apart and installing the cover. It only took me about four tries to get it lined up properly (this is good for me) and then I proceeded to put everything back on.

When I replaced the cover, I was again a bit discouraged as the left side was quite loose. Luckily, once all the screws were back in, it tightened up fine.


Now that it’s installed, I really like the look of the visor. It’s just a little modification but I think it looks outstanding - a really sporty addition. And,. overall, a pretty successful mechanical adventure!

Scootercast (SCTRCST) Interview

Just a quick post to say that last week I had the privilege of being interview by Dave Mangano of the SCTRCST podcast.

I was a bit nervous about the interview but once I connected over Skype with Dave, his calm manner relaxed me and I was pretty happy with the result. Dave did a great job of editing and asked questions that I enjoyed answering.

He asked me mostly about my experiences with scootering and blogging and we spent a bit of time exploring a couple of recent posts including my flat tire and my trip to Lynden in the US.


Unfortunately, when Dave asked me about the scooting situation, I had to tell him that I didn't really know. I guess I'm just not ready to get involved in big rides. Maybe next summer.

By the way, the photo montage was made by Dave. Not the best photo of me, in that tiny little helmet (I only borrowed it for a test drive)!

If you go to the SCTRCST web site, it's Episode 28. And if you haven't already subscribed to Dave's show, please do - it's a very enjoyable half hour.

Flat Update

Just a quick post to say that, after $300 (new tire, labour and servicing) I once again have my Vespa.

The folks at Vespa Vancouver were great - it was actually ready yesterday but I needed a ride into the city to get it. There was no problem with any part of the repair (well, after I recovered from fainting from the price). As for the $300 - hey, I think I save almost $1000 in just insurance compared to another car, let alone payments, etc.

And now I can have fun again!

Flat to School

Well, it was back to school last week.

After a summer of relaxing, some travelling, a bit of fixing up the house, extended family time and great guests, it was time to head back to the classroom.

As always, I looked forward to the first week with an odd mixture of dread, anticipation and excitement. Once I had my new students,. however, the dread subsided.

On the Vespa front, things were not as positive.

On the way to school on Thursday, it seemed to be going a bit slower. I thought about checking the tires but I didn’t have time.

When I left school that day, I went to an after school presentation on wellness put on by the district presented by Dr. Martin Collis. I hadn’t doubled anyone on the scooter for a while so when I doubled a teaching buddy, I was surprised that the scooter seemed a bit wild. On the way back from the presentation, I finally noticed that my rear tire was almost flat. I was luckily near a gas station so I filled the tire up with air and arrived home without incident.

Fast forward to Saturday. I downloaded a video on how to change the tire on a Vespa, gathered all the tools and studied the video. I then went out to my garage, thinking, I can do this! I arranged my tools and set my laptop on a shelf, set to the video.

Close to an hour later, I still hadn’t been able to get past the first step - removing the two screws that hold the exhaust system to the engine. My fingers are good for hanging on to things, squeezing things, and shaking hands, but they are not mechanic’s hands.

Disheartened, I slowly put back my tools, closed up my laptop, and shuffled back to the house.

I thought, instead of going into Vancouver to get it fixed, I’ll try someone local. I phoned up CR Cycle, the place where I’d first test driven a scooter. After salutations, the conversation went something like this.

“I have a Vespa scooter and I was wondering if you could fix a flat on the rear tire.”

“Well, a tire’s a tire, so we can fix it.”

“Great! Can you take it today?”

”No, we’re really busy so we wouldn’t get to it for two or three days.”

“OK. Can I drop it off today?”

“No, we don’t have room so you’ll have to make an appointment for when we have room.”

“OK. Look, if there’s a problem with the tire, can you replace it?”

“It depends if we have a suitable tire.”

“Well, do you?”

“I dunno.”

“OK. I’ll get back to you.”

Needless to say, I pumped up the tire, lashed my floor bike pump to the back bar of the scooter, and headed into Vancouver, stopping every fifteen minutes to refill the back tire. Of course, I was headed for the people at Vespa Vancouver. Although they weren’t able to work on it right away, they were happy to hold it there until they were able to fix it.

And now, I have to wait, Vespa-less for the first time in a year, until it is ready.

*sigh*