Saturday, August 25, 2012

The end of the road

That expression can be ominous.  Reaching the end of the road is seldom a good thing.

This is an exception.  Perhaps because it's the end of a road, not the road.  The land you see here used to be a golf course.  It's a short ride from home.  The pavement peters out, and leads to trails through the woods.

On Saturday morning I was off to get a haircut.  With a little time to spare, I took a little joy ride.  I had in mind Steve Williams' classic photos.  I was actually thinking of going off-road a little ways to get more of a Vespa-in-the-field look.  However, where I was, at the end of the pavement, was a good fifty feet beyond the 'no motorcycles' sign.  I wonder if it applies to my scooter?

Working against me is the manufacturer's plate with the VIN that says my Vespa is a motorcycle.

I snapped one more picture, fired up the bike, and headed to my 9:00 o'clock appointment.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Parking in Vancouver

 Sonja and Bob both say that Vancouver is not a friendly place to park powered two-wheelers.

I was in Vancouver, staying across the street from the Vancouver Art Gallery.

I stole an hour from my duties at the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries Annual Governance Conference to visit the Matisse exhibit at the museum.

Strolling across the street, I couldn't help but notice a few motorcycles and scooters parked on the museum's grounds.  Protected by the museum, the PTWs seemed immune from Vancouver parking demons.

I couldn't manage a picture on the way to the museum, when there were four or five bikes parked. When I stopped to snap a picture on the way back, there were only two PTWs left, including this nice Vespa S.

During a discussion with my colleagues, several people mentioned that Vancouver city hall was very focused on making Vancouver bicycle-friendly.

Why not adopt the Montreal BIXI system, Mr. Mayor?

Montreal and Toronto have seen their bicycle scene grow amazingly with the BIXI system acting like a catalyst.

Mr. Mayor, if you do that, not only will you be joining Washington D.C. and London, as world-class cities with BIXI bikes, you'll also do the city's motorcycle and scooter commuters a big favour!

So come on, Vancouver, two-wheels all the way!!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Pump it up!

When you only have two wheels to rely on, the condition of your tires is not just important, it's critical.

Making sure your tires are in good shape is important.

A visual inspection, particularly of the rear tire on a Vespa (or any other scooter for that matter), is essential.  Paying particular attention to the rear tire is important because it wears about three times faster than the front tire.  A visual is good, but it's not enough.

Low tire pressure is a very bad thing.

If your tires are only a few pounds shy of the recommended pressure, you will be sacrificing 5 or 6 miles per hour at full throttle.

On city streets you might not be fussed about it, but if you take expressways and usually ride at the top end of your bike's ability, those 5 or six miles per hour will be sorely missed.

If your bike is slower, it's because under-inflated tires have so much more rolling resistance. Even on city streets that means that fuel consumption is way up. With a Vespa, a full tank at current prices in Canada costs seven to ten dollars, no big deal. But it does mean more annoying trips to the pumps that could be avoided.

If the tire pressure gets really low, the usual sure-footed behaviour of the scooter becomes downright squirrely.

I have felt what that's like because last year I was plagued for a while with a slow leak.  Any seams in the road make the bike squirm in a queasy way.

All of which to say that proper tire pressure is a must.

There are a few quirks of scooters that make keeping an eye on tire pressure a pain.

First off, unlike a car where a walk-around visual inspection will allow you to spot a low tire, the tires of a bike at rest, particularly a scooter, will always look fine, even if all the air has escaped. If the tire is actually flat, you're more likely to feel it in the saddle. I don't actually know this for a fact, I've never really had the experience, thank heavens.

If the tires are low enough to cause queasy handling you won't be able to tell sitting on the saddle at rest. The tires might seem too low on a visual inspection with a rider on the saddle, but when you're the rider on the saddle, you can't see the wheels, let alone the profile of the tires.

This means that regularly using a gauge to determine the pressure is critical. You shouldn't ride a powered two-wheeler if you don't carry a pressure gauge all the time.

That leads to another point.

Getting to the rear tire valve stem on a Vespa is a T-O-T-A-L P-A-I-N!

Reading the pressure is only mildly difficult. Topping up the tire is enough to coax the Pope to swear.

Why? If you're asking, it's because you have never done it.

The rear valve stem is most accessible with the valve at the 6 o'clock position.

The Vespa's muffler is like a blimp that prevents seeing and touching the valve stem simultaneously. You can see it, if you get down on your knees and rest your forehead on the ground. But when you reach for the valve stem with your hand, unless you've got a black belt in Yoga, it's just damn near impossible to see what you're doing.

Let's say that you've persevered, and gotten the stem cap off, and read the pressure, and you need to add five pounds.

If you're really unlucky, you've found this out after riding to the gas station.

Adding immensely to the fun you're having, is the undeniable fact that the damned muffler is as hot as your toaster-oven halfway through the morning toast order.

I guarantee that if you try to top up the air, you will probably succeed, but not before the tire rotates in one direction or the other (two or three times), the air hose falls off the stem (two or three times), you fumble trying to seat the air hose (two or three times), end up releasing more air (two or three times), and before finally getting air into the tire, you've burnt your knuckles on the muffler (two or three times).

Now you know why many Vespa owners ride with less air than they should. Which brings me to the point of this post, along with some really good news.

Yes Virginia, that are some tools and tricks that make it all much easier.
  • If you can afford it, get a compressor.
  • If you don't have a compressor and must ride to a gas station, wear your gloves to top up the rear tire to ward off muffler burns.
  • Get a Griplock for your Vespa.  Not only will it help keep your Vespa safe, you can apply it to the rear brake lever once the wheel is at the six o'clock position and it will keep it there.  If you're not sure what a Griplock is, check out this post.
  • If you aren't getting a Griplock, take along a Velcro cable wrap thingy and use it to hold the rear brake lever compressed.
  • Go to your local Walmart and pick up this dandy tool:
You clip it onto the valve stem where it stays put, the gauge shows the pressure, and there is a trigger to add air, and a bleed valve to release air.

Simple genius.  Almost painless.

And so it would have been for me one morning last week.  However when I was topping up my tires I spotted two more stone chips, and the one one the right is a doozy!
 Consider this graphic evidence that riding ATGATT on every commute is a wise choice.  If a kicked-up stone can gouge a metal cowl, do you need to have that stone tear a strip off your calf in rush hour traffic?

How distracting would that be?

Friday, August 17, 2012

Parking in Toronto


Montreal's popular public bike share system is in London, Washington D.C., and other cities, including Toronto.

Just as in its birthplace, BIXI stands have spawned scooter parking in Toronto.

Walking up Bay Street on my way to a meeting yesterday I felt compelled to snap this picture as further evidence of this BIXI-related urban scooter-friendly trend.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Lunchtime trifecta

There is no doubt in my mind that Vancouver has the best restaurants in Canada.  I say that because Vancouver restaurants offer fascinating, delectable, beautiful food that you'll be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in Canada.

If Vancouver is number one, then Montreal is a very, very, very close second.

One of the aspects of Montreal's food scene that makes it so special, are the many small chef-owned restaurants that offer amazing food. Vancouver has a similar food scene in that way.
Triple Crown Dinette, is a tiny little restaurant.  Open all of eight weeks now, no tables, no chairs, just a homey little counter place with mismatched stools and a wonderful open kitchen.  Some (perhaps all?) of the entrepreneurial twenty or thirty-somethings who operate this tiny morsel of foodie heaven, are relatively new Montrealers, originally from Victoria on Canada's west coast and the US south (Kentucky, or Tennessee, I think, I should have been taking notes).
Googling the restaurant (that only has a Facebook page, not its own website) immediately yields the restaurant review I caught in the weekend paper, a Yelp! entry, and this foodie blogger's review as well as a number of other references.

Here's a map if you want to get to this gem:

View 6704 Rue Clark in a larger map
The recipes come from the chef's southern roots, specifically from his grandmother.  It's all good mouth watering food and southern hospitality rolled into one very satisfying experience.

How do you not have fried chicken with mashed potatoes, cream gravy, and a tall glass of lemonade?
The fried chicken was tender, juicy and tasty, perfectly cooked and seasoned, with a light impossibly crisp deep brown flaky crust that crunches then melts in your mouth.  The cream gravy was spicey but perfectly so, not too hot. Take a bite-size morsel of chicken on your fork, dab on some potato and gravy, and boy-oh-boy you have a scrumptious bit of food that cannot possibly be improved upon.  Easily one of the very best servings of southern fried chicken I have ever had.

The lemonade was the perfect beverage for this meal.  Made from freshly-squeezed lemons, not cloyingly sweet as lemonade often is, but perfectly tart, and just sweet enough to marry with the other flavours to make this a perfect lunch.

Add to that some fine, homey hospitality, and it's a tiny slice of food bliss.
Parking is little Italy is a pain, but not if you arrive on a Vespa. I parked mine on the sidewalk across the street where it fit perfectly between the trees without obstructing the way for pedestrians. Oh so appropriate in little Italy.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

What is it, really?

It's not a house, it's not a building, most aren't shelter. No walls, often barely a roof, though many have floors, some have seating, none are home.

They occupy space. They have a purpose, but they aren't useful in any normal way.

I have one, do you?

Mine comes from China. It provides shade, mostly. It almost serves a practical purpose. But it's not just the shade.

I think they serve our minds, much more than they serve our bodies. I think they are worth thinking about.

I like to look at them, like this.
Or this.
Or this.
They invite us in. I enter. Being in, is, well, not as satisfying as looking in, or more correctly, looking at.

I look from it, like this,
I can't see it when I'm in it, so it adds nothing, not even shelter. The view might be very nice. Often that's why it's there. Sometimes not.

I think they are mostly symbolic. They evoke the things that in reality they're not. Shelter, home.

Unlike homes and shelters, they don't exclude anyone. Most are public goods. Anyone can enjoy them. Anyone can feel sheltered, safe, at peace, almost at home in them, near them.

So I like them, and have enjoyed taking pictures of the ones that are here, and there, along my slow commute route.

And I've enjoyed thinking about them while writing this post.

How about you?

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The Pointe Claire windmill

If you live on Montreal's west island, it's hard not to become aware of the Pointe Claire windmill.

That's because it is part of the city's coat of arms. Here's a link to the city's website.

It's equally true that unless you are both curious, and willing to go out of your way, you might never realize that there is an actual windmill.

And unless you Google a little, you might never learn the history of the mill.  The mill was built in 1710 and restored in the 1960's.  There are only 18 left of the 250 windmills originally built in the province.  You can find out more about three of them right here on this blog.

See what you learn when you join the ranks of the scooter commuters?  All it takes is a few minutes and a Vespa.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Weather watch

We have been blessed with the most incredible weather in 2012, and this summer is spectacular.

I have only ridden in the rain once.

It's still important to watch the weather carefully.  The other night there were massive towering clouds building in the west.

When I reached the lakeshore there were blues skies overhead, but I was riding straight into a storm.

That's when I stopped to take this picture.

Where is that rain falling?  It's really hard to tell.

Five minutes further along the commute the streets were wet, and water was dripping from the trees.  I stopped in the Dorval village and hauled out my rain gear.  Better dry than sorry.

As it turned out, it was a precaution taken for nothing.

Later that evening torrential rain fell and thunder shook the house.

Nothing makes for a better summer riding season than bright, warm, sunny days, and rain at night.  If I were master of the weather, every day would be like that.


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Grey is beautiful too!

Just because you can't see the sun doesn't mean that there isn't beauty all around.

One morning last week the sky was looking bleak. The aftermath of stormy weather that only lifted before dawn.

I stopped mid-commute to take this picture.  Overcast skies have been a rarity this season, so when you see a scene like this, it's worth snapping.

Looking at the lakeshore, you'd never know that tucked in among all that greenery are hundreds of suburban homes, or that I walked ten feet from Lakeshore Road to snap that picture of Valois Bay.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Fraternal twins

 One block over from my office there is a public relations company.

Parked prominently on a stone landing between the building's ground floor reception area and the sidewalk you will often spot a couple of Vespas.  I think of them as fraternal twins because they are the same LX model, in different colours, but with identical custom upholstery.

Fraternal twins.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Steve Canyon

Some part of me wonders whether Steve Canyon plays a role in my love of riding.

When I was five years old, my Dad returned from a business trip to Rochester New York.  He brought me a Steve Canyon helmet.

At the time, Steve Canyon was my favourite comic strip in the weekend paper.  We called them the "funnies".  In my young mind there was nothing funny about Steve Canyon.  He was right up there with the Lone Ranger as far as I was concerned.

How I loved that helmet.  I would have worn it day in and day out, if my mother had let me.

As quickly as the helmet came into my life, it left.  Its fate is one of those childhood mysteries that, with the passing of my mother, and my Dad's memory issues, is safely and forever locked away in the vault of time.

Over the years I thought about that helmet.  From time to time I rummaged through old boxes of toys searching in vain for it.  It was that cool.

Oddly, I never thought to Google it, until today.  I don't know what possessed me to do it.  I didn't expect to find any web references to something so old and obscure.

Hah! Shame on me for thinking so little of the power of Google.

Click these links to see what Steve Canyon and that helmet (more SC helmet images) were all about.

And, just so you know, my Nolan N-103 modular is way cooler than my missing Steve Canyon helmet ever was.

Here's a shot Sonja took.
 If you don't think I look way cooler than Steve Canyon in that shot, please don't burst my bubble.  There's a little kid inside me who still thinks that Steve Canyon was very, very cool.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

More piece of mind

My friend Andrew got me a Griplock for my birthday.

My wife Susan bought me a helicopter tour of the city for my birthday.
So how are these gifts related?

This past Sunday we took the helicopter tour.  What a great experience that was, worth every penny.  The Raven 1 helicopter was a four-person chopper about the size of a 1964 Volkswagen beetle.  We got a tour of the Helicraft hangar, a briefing on the helicopter business (their bread-and-butter these days is the natural resources sector, flying personnel and doing airborne high-tech prospecting, not city tours).

The company also runs a flight school, and I noticed that they had a showcase with heli-swag, including a $5 keychain with a embroidered fabric tag with the Helicraft name and web address on one side, and an official looking "Remove before flight" warning on the other.  I had to have it.

Riding a scooter gives me a feeling of flight, and it's essential to remove the Griplock before taking off on the Vespa... so now you see how my mind quickly knitted these things together, I hope.

With a little trip to the hardware store, a little drilling and Dremelling and fiddling, and ta-dah!

I have a cool Griplock with a remove-before-flight aircraft-like warning permanently attached.  Here's a tour of the cockpit.

Right up my alley.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A glimpse of heaven

Sunbeams.

How do you pass up an opportunity to take a picture?

I pulled into a lakeshore park to snap this picture from the saddle with my iPhone using the Camera+ app.

I took a bunch of shots, varying the exposure because I couldn't tell if I managed to capture what my eyes were seeing so plainly.

I don't know about you, but sunbeams evoke heaven.  I'm not religious at all, so I think it's just a cliché that's been reinforced over time by countless cheesy images.

I don't think there are any serious artists living who waste time on sunbeams, are there?

Or photographers for that matter?  Well, maybe photographers.

And yet they are definitely worth stopping for.  A gift from nature, really.

So there you are, a glimpse of heaven.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Darlene's Foot Gear Challenge

Darlene, bless her heart, is encouraging bloggers to post pictures of their riding footwear, and favourite street shoes (on the assumption that for most folks that will be more than one pair of flip flops, and less than 75 pairs of pumps).

I'm not really that into shoes, but I like what I like, and then I tend to wear those until the miles poke holes in the soles.
 
When I'm riding (actually when I'm commuting), I opt for protection first and foremost.  I add "when I'm commuting" because that's what racks up all the miles (13K so far), so that's where the risk is most acute.

My current choice for riding foot gear is a pair of Icon Patrol boots.  They cover the ankle, they have really nice sturdy ankle support from a pair of ski-boot-like buckles, I rapid-lacing system, and good thick stiff protection all around.

A well-known, and well-loved Modern Vespa member came off his MP3 not long ago and posted a picture of the damage, including a pair of very similar, actually almost identical boots.  His were Joe Rockets, I think.

Anyway, when I saw that the twin buckles took the bulk of the pavement's abuse, and kept his ankle far from the punishment the buckles took, I was instantly sold on that design.

They are made in, where else, China.  They have a serious-ish design flaw in that the laces are threaded through fabric loops instead of eyelets or D-rings, with the result that the shoelace sawed through a few of those fabric loops in short order.

I solved the problem with some tiny McGizmo double carabiner clips that I installed on the fabric loops (if you look carefully, you'll see one in the photo.  Now the biners take all the abuse from the shoelace instead of the loops.  I had to do a little sewing for the couple of loops that were goners.  With that fix done, I love these boots. (Try to ignore all the papers on the office floor, my life is currently out of control nuts).


My current favourite pair of weekend street shoes are pale blue, washed-out looking, Timberland deck shoes.

I used to wear traditional Timberland deck shoes back in the 80's and loved the casual looks and the fact that they were indestructible.

They fell out of fashion favour (not that I'm a slave to fashion by any means).  Now they seem to making a comeback, allbeit in colours other than brown.

Hey, like or hate'em, as you please.  At least they're not pink Krocs!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

One more reason to visit Montreal this summer

Canada isn't Italy, France, Japan or England, that much is plain. So if you're looking for something spectacular and so old that no one is quite sure what it is, by all means go to Stonehenge. If what you're missing is a city that is one large orchestrated canvas of 19th century charm, then head to Paris. In search of the epitome of landscape architecture? Off to Kyoto you go.

But if you're curious, and you're in the neighborhood of North America, and you want to know what Canada has to offer, I'd say go to Vancouver; you won't be disappointed, I promise.  If you're even remotely a foodie, you'll have found Nirvana.

If you find that's too much of a stretch to the west, then definitely come to Montreal.

No, I'm not going to wax on forever about the usual quasi-world-famous stuff that Montreal has to offer. I'm not even going to mention that stuff, not even going to mention one word bullet points.

I'm going to give you a great reason to come for a visit that you may never have heard of.

The Tom Wesselman exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

One word... stunning. Two words, hedonist's delight. Three words, quintessential pop art.




The copyright in all text and photographs, except as noted, belongs to David Masse.