I was supposed to bring my scooter home on Thursday but after spending a few hours out at the airport with a friend passing through, the rain hadn’t let up and not having ever ridden in Vancouver, not having ridden a scooter for 6 months, and not having ever ridden alone…. the rain discouraged me…. oh, and I hate being wet too. So I called Urban Wasp and said I’d pick it up Friday or Saturday.. weather pending. In the meantime I found a fun blog… Big Guy, Small Scooter that has made me realize I can venture farther than I thought I might…
Yesterday dawned with blue sky mixed with clouds and a warning of rain later in the day. I figured I’d better go get it and it would be better to do so before the afternoon rush hour hit. So off I went by bus down towards Granville Island. I always jump on the 240 to get downtown and had looked up the bus to False Creek, I needed the 50. But when I jumped off in from of the mall…I realized that Granville Street still isn’t open so all the buses that normally run up and down it…don’t yet. A moment of spinning in circles and I realized the only logical street that they would have moved to was Howe and luckily I was found the right stop. While waiting for the bus I realized that my layering wasn’t sufficient. I had a light fleece and over that a windproof jacket but I was shivering. Darn…fall came fast!
Made it down to Urban Wasp and decided to add a riding jacket to the final bill. The Insurance guy came in and set me up, and then I was almost ready to go. I was given the run down on the bike and then I was off…but I only went a block because I hate setting mirrors and stuff in front of people…I do the same thing when I rent a car…drive a block and then pull over to familiarize myself. I stopped behind the auto detail shop next door and one of the guys working there called out to me and said something like… “that looks like a really fast scooter!”
I spent a bit of time just scooting around the neighbourhood before heading out into traffic. Across the Burrard Street Bridge, down around and onto Beach Avenue. Before long I looked down and realized I was doing over 60km/h … and approaching the one and only spot I have ever received a speeding ticket in Vancouver…. in a 30 zone…. that would have been some serious irony. Over Lion’s Gate and safely home. A quick side trip to North Shore Toyota to get my deposit on the Tacoma back and then home again.
When Kirk came home he was surprised, apparently the bike was bigger than he expected… and he stole it for a ride almost instantly. It’s super fun but has a bit of a hesitation that we are hoping will smooth out since it is brand new. I was told in no uncertain terms that this little bike needs to be ridden hard as it is a “sport scooter” so I suppose that part will be Kirk’s job 😉
I think I am going to love my little Aprilia SR50! Oh the places we’ll go!