What are those white things falling from the sky?
Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:32 pm
February 24, 2006
My riding season has begun…..sort of.
After finding out that there was an alternate insurance provider for the optional insurance, I endorsed getting it wholeheartedly. Given that my storage policy for my bike was expiring in 4 days, I decided the weekend was the perfect opportunity to reinsure and get my bike on the road.
So with great anticipation of being able to ride to the “Cage Rally” today, I put insurance on yesterday.
ICBC doesn’t really want to insure motorcycles so they keep the rates high. The optional insurance with ICBC would have been close to $1,000.but with Beacon, it cost me $325. It is almost a $700.saving over ICBC.
I came home from the insurance store, wiped the dust off the license plate, and installed the new stickers. I then fired up the bike and after it warmed up for a few minutes, I practiced some figure eights, some u-turns and going around the pillars in my underground garage. I did a pre-trip exam to check fluids; lights etc, and parked it in position for an easy get away on Saturday. (Someone in my building had a space to rent for half price, so I rented an extra parking space for my bike. I no longer have to wiggle my bike in close to the wall in front of my car.)
February 25, 2006
I must have been extremely tired. I slept in until after 10:30. I had planned on getting a few things done around here before I set off on my ride to Surrey…..one of them being to wash and polish my bike. Oh well, another time.
I got my gear together and just to be on the safe side, I wore rain pants and waterproof boots. I strapped the reflective strips around my ankles for visibility. (My precaution paid off later.) I put on an extra layer under my riding jacket and headed out to the garage. While the bike was warming up, I put on my helmet, pulled the bandana over my chin and mouth, and put on my glasses and gloves.
I was ready to go.
With clutch in I stepped on the shifter and knocked it into first. I hit the remote button to open the garage door. I gave a gentle twist of the throttle as I eased out the clutch. My foot came off the brake and I was in motion…out the garage door and up the slope of the driveway. Full stop!
In a perfect world I could just zoom away, but we have a by-law in our strata that says you have to wait until the garage door closes before driving away. Not to mention that you exit onto a street and you can’t see anything until you actually are past the sidewalk….so stopping behind the sidewalk is essential, not just for traffic, but there could be pedestrians.
Once I got onto the street and up to traveling speed, I felt like I had just ridden yesterday. I guess it is a skill that comes back right away. I felt confident and unlike a year ago when I was just newly licensed, I was no longer nervous. What a great feeling.
I rode without incident until just before I turned into the parking lot. I was riding in the curb lane in preparation for turning right. Suddenly, a tan van pulled into my lane forcing me to brake to avoid being hit.
I believe this is where having years of experience on the road helps. He turned into the parking lot, once again without the aid of a signal completely oblivious of what had just transpired. So, I followed him.
As I was riding through the lot, I saw Bob and Dawn riding in on their RoadStar. We gave a wave and I kept up my pursuit of Tan Van. I’m sure Bob and Dawn wondered where I was going because I was going in the wrong direction for the restaurant.
Finally Tan Van came to a stop sign where I had my chance to ride up beside him. I made a motion for him to roll down his window. I let him know what he did and reminded him he needed to look out his right side before he changed lanes. He did apologize to me. I hope in future, he will be more aware when he makes lane changes.
I rode back to the restaurant and parked my bike. I locked my helmet onto the helmet lock and went inside to find my group. There were 8 of us today. We had a great lunch and shared lots of laughs….when suddenly……
“It’s snowing outside”, someone declared.
“What?”
“It’s snowing!”
Well, that was the end of our leisurely lunch. We quickly got our bills paid and got geared up to go home. I got Shelley to take a photo of me and while we were standing by my bike, she said, “You should be warming up your bike.”
I replied, “It is warming up. See the exhaust?”
Her eyes opened wide.
She thought it was the car beside us she heard and not my nice quiet bike. She is so used to her bike with its unreasonably loud pipes, while mine just purrs in comparison.
Personally I hate the sound of her bike. Not only is it overly loud, it sounds like it needs a tune-up. I hope she gets some earplugs for herself.
Bob and Dawn rode past me and asked me to be careful going home. He was concerned for me because of the snow. I told him I would just stay in the slow lane and then get onto Lougheed to go home. I actually ended up going over the Patullo Bridge and through New West to get home. It was probably safer than the freeway.
I made it home almost without incident…..hmmm, didn’t I say that earlier? I had just turned from 10th Avenue onto 6th Street and was accelerating up the hill. Just as I got to the first intersection, someone in a white car shot out of the side street in front of me. I was able to gear down quickly and brake to a complete stop to avoid getting schmucked. I guess the experience I have gained from 10,998km of riding paid off big time this afternoon. I got home safely and parked the bike in its spot of honour. Looking back, it was a good thing I slept in. It would have been a waste of a wash job given that I had to ride home in the snow and get my bike dirty again.
As an aside, it is always interesting the responses to biker out there. While I was sitting at one red light, I spotted a woman pushing a man (who I suspect is her husband) in a wheelchair. It looked as though he had experienced an aneurism in his brain. He spotted me and waved. He smiled the best he could and gave me a thumbs up. I waved back and made the thumbs up gesture back at him. I can only guess that before his brain injury he had ridden.
Then when stopped at another red light, I saw a woman walking across the crosswalk in front of me. Now with my visor down, no one would know I’m a woman. She was looking at me and as she passed by, she gave me a somewhat sultry smile. If only she knew.......
I have a couple of pics to post but it will have to be later. I have been advised to blur out the license plate number.
My riding season has begun…..sort of.
After finding out that there was an alternate insurance provider for the optional insurance, I endorsed getting it wholeheartedly. Given that my storage policy for my bike was expiring in 4 days, I decided the weekend was the perfect opportunity to reinsure and get my bike on the road.
So with great anticipation of being able to ride to the “Cage Rally” today, I put insurance on yesterday.
ICBC doesn’t really want to insure motorcycles so they keep the rates high. The optional insurance with ICBC would have been close to $1,000.but with Beacon, it cost me $325. It is almost a $700.saving over ICBC.
I came home from the insurance store, wiped the dust off the license plate, and installed the new stickers. I then fired up the bike and after it warmed up for a few minutes, I practiced some figure eights, some u-turns and going around the pillars in my underground garage. I did a pre-trip exam to check fluids; lights etc, and parked it in position for an easy get away on Saturday. (Someone in my building had a space to rent for half price, so I rented an extra parking space for my bike. I no longer have to wiggle my bike in close to the wall in front of my car.)
February 25, 2006
I must have been extremely tired. I slept in until after 10:30. I had planned on getting a few things done around here before I set off on my ride to Surrey…..one of them being to wash and polish my bike. Oh well, another time.
I got my gear together and just to be on the safe side, I wore rain pants and waterproof boots. I strapped the reflective strips around my ankles for visibility. (My precaution paid off later.) I put on an extra layer under my riding jacket and headed out to the garage. While the bike was warming up, I put on my helmet, pulled the bandana over my chin and mouth, and put on my glasses and gloves.
I was ready to go.
With clutch in I stepped on the shifter and knocked it into first. I hit the remote button to open the garage door. I gave a gentle twist of the throttle as I eased out the clutch. My foot came off the brake and I was in motion…out the garage door and up the slope of the driveway. Full stop!
In a perfect world I could just zoom away, but we have a by-law in our strata that says you have to wait until the garage door closes before driving away. Not to mention that you exit onto a street and you can’t see anything until you actually are past the sidewalk….so stopping behind the sidewalk is essential, not just for traffic, but there could be pedestrians.
Once I got onto the street and up to traveling speed, I felt like I had just ridden yesterday. I guess it is a skill that comes back right away. I felt confident and unlike a year ago when I was just newly licensed, I was no longer nervous. What a great feeling.
I rode without incident until just before I turned into the parking lot. I was riding in the curb lane in preparation for turning right. Suddenly, a tan van pulled into my lane forcing me to brake to avoid being hit.
I believe this is where having years of experience on the road helps. He turned into the parking lot, once again without the aid of a signal completely oblivious of what had just transpired. So, I followed him.As I was riding through the lot, I saw Bob and Dawn riding in on their RoadStar. We gave a wave and I kept up my pursuit of Tan Van. I’m sure Bob and Dawn wondered where I was going because I was going in the wrong direction for the restaurant.
Finally Tan Van came to a stop sign where I had my chance to ride up beside him. I made a motion for him to roll down his window. I let him know what he did and reminded him he needed to look out his right side before he changed lanes. He did apologize to me. I hope in future, he will be more aware when he makes lane changes.
I rode back to the restaurant and parked my bike. I locked my helmet onto the helmet lock and went inside to find my group. There were 8 of us today. We had a great lunch and shared lots of laughs….when suddenly……
“It’s snowing outside”, someone declared.
“What?” “It’s snowing!”
Well, that was the end of our leisurely lunch. We quickly got our bills paid and got geared up to go home. I got Shelley to take a photo of me and while we were standing by my bike, she said, “You should be warming up your bike.”
I replied, “It is warming up. See the exhaust?”
Her eyes opened wide.
She thought it was the car beside us she heard and not my nice quiet bike. She is so used to her bike with its unreasonably loud pipes, while mine just purrs in comparison.
Personally I hate the sound of her bike. Not only is it overly loud, it sounds like it needs a tune-up. I hope she gets some earplugs for herself.
Bob and Dawn rode past me and asked me to be careful going home. He was concerned for me because of the snow. I told him I would just stay in the slow lane and then get onto Lougheed to go home. I actually ended up going over the Patullo Bridge and through New West to get home. It was probably safer than the freeway.
I made it home almost without incident…..hmmm, didn’t I say that earlier? I had just turned from 10th Avenue onto 6th Street and was accelerating up the hill. Just as I got to the first intersection, someone in a white car shot out of the side street in front of me. I was able to gear down quickly and brake to a complete stop to avoid getting schmucked. I guess the experience I have gained from 10,998km of riding paid off big time this afternoon. I got home safely and parked the bike in its spot of honour. Looking back, it was a good thing I slept in. It would have been a waste of a wash job given that I had to ride home in the snow and get my bike dirty again.
As an aside, it is always interesting the responses to biker out there. While I was sitting at one red light, I spotted a woman pushing a man (who I suspect is her husband) in a wheelchair. It looked as though he had experienced an aneurism in his brain. He spotted me and waved. He smiled the best he could and gave me a thumbs up. I waved back and made the thumbs up gesture back at him. I can only guess that before his brain injury he had ridden.
Then when stopped at another red light, I saw a woman walking across the crosswalk in front of me. Now with my visor down, no one would know I’m a woman. She was looking at me and as she passed by, she gave me a somewhat sultry smile. If only she knew.......
I have a couple of pics to post but it will have to be later. I have been advised to blur out the license plate number.
I had indeed left my wallet there. Lucky for me the person who saw it was honest. So-o-o-o, they said they were open until 7pm. What's the best way to get there quick? The motorcycle. I decided that since I had a mission, the fresh air would do me good. I geared up and added my usual reflective stripes and headed out. 
