There it is, the first icy road of the season. Last night Kim and I took a walk around 11PM and it was foggy and wet. The temperature overnight dipped below the freezing level to turn everything to ice. The sun created a glittering wonderland. I didn’t think much about it since the sky was blue so I put on my riding gear and pushed the scooter out of the garage onto the driveway. It only took a few steps to realize it was covered with a thin glaze of ice.
I put the Vespa on its centerstand along the road and tested the pavement. Icy in spots and quickly turning to water where the sun was licking the pavement. After a moment of consideration I decided to ride to work on the scooter. I made my way down the street carefully and put both feet down when I hit a long shaded portion of the road that I knew would still be completely iced over. Once I hit the main road the sun was shining and it looked as if there was salt on it.
The remainder of the ride in to work was fine except for one more stretch unsalted and without sunlight. Arrived at work in good shape and the ride home promises to be excellent with clear skies and temperatures approaching 50° F.
Wow, that brings-back memories of a few icy days in Virginia, creeping along, picking my way between the ice and the wet pavement, putting my feet down over thin ice patches, falling. Your LX should be easier to handle on ice than my BMW was by virtue of less weight. Good luck riding this winter!
John
Nice job, Steve. I’m glad you decided to go for it instead of holding back.
Doesn’t that feel much better?
Ride well,
=gc=
John: Creeping along sums things up nicely. The Vespa is definitely easier to handle on ice than a big bike unless you have studded tires.
Gary: I only hesitated for a moment. I said to myself “What would Gary do?”.
I think I have a slogan for a Scooter in the Sticks bumper sticker!
Oh yeah, it did feel great to have ridden on to work this morning!
I’m glad I read this post tonight. This is what our forecast calls for in the morning.
We’ll go check it out.
Have fun,
Bill