Saturday, October 27, 2012

I made it.

There you have it.

It happened yesterday evening, on the Autoroute 40 service road, on my way to meet Susan and Lauren for Chinese food in Dollard.

When I started out I never imagined that I would go this far, this fast.

Yet here I am.

You can tell a story. You can make it interesting, funny, moving, informative. Yet without measurements, it lacks dimension.

Here are the dimensions of my life on two wheels and my scoot commute.

Three years on two wheels.  Fifteen thousand miles.  One long distance ride. Two group rides. Three provinces. Four stickers on my scooter (two MV stickers and two Corazzo stickers).  One MV sticker on my helmet.  Many new friendships. Assorted cosmetic scooter blemishes, scrapes and abrasions from one evening slide.  Three scooter mugs. One helmet lock.  Three new tires.  Nine Vespa gifts (two model Vespas, two Vespa keychains, one of which Lauren bought me in Rome, one cap, one T-shirt, one lanyard, one shoulder bag, one mug). Two hundred and twenty-six blog posts. Ten or more stone chips.  One new helmet visor.  Three sets of RAM mounts.  Thirty-seven thousand one hundred and seventy-one page views.  One rain suit. Seven modifications to my Vespa (one air horn, one extra bag hook, one turn signal beeper, one auxiliary brake and turn signal unit, one battery tender connection, one set of heated grips, and one electronic heat control). Three Modern Vespa forum patches.  One impromptu dismount and slide in the rain.  Two drive belts.  Nine hundred and eighty two posts on the Modern Vespa forum and two-and-a-half rondels of good karma.  One GoPro Hero HD camera plus assorted accessories.  Six hundred and seventy-six blog comments. One Griplock.  More than five hundred commutes. Lots of armor (three helmets, two pairs of gloves, two jackets, one pair of pants, and one pair of boots). And more lessons, memories and experiences to enrich my life than I can possibly hope to count.

And that's my unique perspective on commuting to work daily on a Vespa motor scooter.

10 comments:

Canajun said...

What a great way to quantify 3 years of scooterdom. Congratulations!

VStar Lady said...

A notable accomplishment - well commuted scoot!

Unknown said...

David:

. . . and I am honoured to be a part of your life. Looking forward to many more future adventures WITH you and your Vespa.

bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube

Trobairitz said...

Woohoo!!!

David Masse said...

Canajun, VStar, Bob, and Trobairitz, thanks for the kind words.

I think that I get to squeeze in another commute tomorrow, but then hurricane Sandy has plans that will keep my Vespa grounded for a few days at least.

Now that big milestone is in the books, I'm ready to wrap up the season and start making big plans for next year.

Dave said...

Awesome....congrats!

Deb said...

Two thumbs up, Brother!

SonjaM said...

Congrats! You certainly got a knack for numbers, don't you.

I hope everything is well and you don't get pummeled too much by the storm.

Dar said...

Wow! Great post, funny when I read it I was thinking of the 12 days of Christmas song....."And a Vepa safely parked in the garage- la la la la". Thereis nothing in the world like scoot or bike commuting, it brings out character, courage, fear, resilience, puts you in touch with the world around you and the friends you make = EXPERIENCE - PRICELESS! Congratulations on your milestone!

David Masse said...

Deb, Sonja, thanks for the comments.

Dar, you know, it never occurred to me when I was writing it. And I did fuss with it a little, moving stuff around, trying to get a pleasing rythm or something going. I think it's lucky I didn't stumble on that thought, I think it would have made it harder getting the post done.

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