Monday 19 January 2009

Thawing Out




Yeah, I know, I’m Canadian and I should accept the cold.


But I spent the last 4 weeks or so with my scooter in the garage!


This is not normal weather for the West Coast - or the Wet Coast - of Canada.


Finally, the snow is starting to go. FIrst we had huge amounts of rain and some terrible flooding in the Fraser Valley. Then there was some sun and even a bit of warmth. For the past few days now, we’ve had a blanket of fog over the whole Lower Mainland for most of the day.


However, I did have the opportunity to ride to work a couple of days last week. I was pretty please how easily my scooter started after 4 - 5 weeks of cold weather. I usually ride year round so I hadn’t taken any special precautions for the cold. I had to start it about 5 times before it caught but was fine after that.


The second day I rode was a bit of a dumb move. It was cold and as I came to the first stopped sign and put down my feet, my shoes skittered on the black ice on the road. I was determined to ride, though, and carefully made my way to school. On the way home from school, I was shrouded in a blanket of fog but at least the ice was gone.


On the weekend I planned to go for a ride but the fog worked against me during the times that I was able to get away.


Big, dirty lumps of snow are still on the side of streets and piled up on lawns. Usually, when snow falls here, it’s washed away by the rain in a day or two. This is unusual to have such a cold snap. And the fog caused my Friday night bike patrol shift to be cancelled. Rats!


Oh, and count me in as one of those Canadians who's excited that Obama got elected!

5 comments:

Baron's Life said...

Hang in there spring is around the corner

Steve Williams said...

Winter has been hard on me too. There have been fewer riding days and my willingness to tolerate the cold seems to be declining. I actually went out and bought a Battery Tender this year.

As the Baron said, spring is just around the corner...

Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks

Dave Dixon said...

Baron
Hmmph! And it just snowed again today!

Steve
I admire your ability to ride in the cold in your part of the world. It gets a lot colder there than here. Still, I was amazed that my Vespa started relatively easily after a few weeks of inactivity, something that doesn't usually happen with me.

Heinz N Frenchie said...

We read about the flooding and the extremely cold weather in the Northwest and thought about all of our scooter friends. Be extra careful and don't ride in icy conditions. Steve Williams and Irondad have some very good advice on that subject. Sending warm thoughts your way.

Dave Dixon said...

Heinz and Frenchie
I do read and try to take the advice of more experienced riders but, unfortunately, I just want to ride sooo bad some days! Guess you two don't have any ice problems!