Long weekend, Vesporama

Went to a rally hosted by Toronto Vintage Scooter Club this weekend. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I thought it might end up being a room full of mods, all dressed in their 60's best, drinking martinis and Guinness.

I wasn't too far off the mark. Maybe a little more Stella than Guinness, but still, a fair number of mods. Nice people, though.

I ended up talking most of the night to a guy who had just had his new limited edition px scooter delivered that week. Jealous much, Tab? Hell yeah. But the guy was really nice, and we had a lot to talk about. I was pretty grateful. I knew I wouldn't know a soul at the party, but I figured I'd end up talking to some people, regardless. You sit a bar alone for more than 15 minutes, and someone's bound to order a drink next to you and ask what you ride. "You, if you play your cards right". Man, I wish I'd thought to say that to someone this weekend. If for no other reason than to crack myself up.

I told an abridged story of my scooter drama, no-one wants to hear a sob story about broken scooters and un-honoured warranties at a party. But I wasn't really sure what else to say when someone asked what I ride. Um, well I used to ride a... but soon I might have a... assuming that they build it... blah blah blah. What do YOU ride? Deflect!!

The guy I talked to was cool. He works in IT, but is an animator (so an artist stuck in a shit job), he just bought a condo in my neighbourhood, has a scooter, and a Jack Russell Terrier. He was the black version of me. No wonder we cracked each other up. We left at the same time, and said good bye "see you at the bbq!" at college and Bathurst. And he walked out of my life and into the mists of time. Never did show up at the BBQ, and I didn't go to the final party. I kind of like to pretend that he was my Michael Landon angel that night.

Apparently the group ride was eventful. When you showed up to register, they had you sign a waiver that a) you were insured, b) knew how to ride, and c) wouldn't hold the rally liable for any mishaps. I wasn't riding, so I didn't sign, but I found the whole think kind of odd. Talking to one of the staff members at Motoretta, she said she wasn't going to go on the ride. She just didn't feel comfortable in them. I joked around, (no, really? You cracked a joke?) asking if she was worried about "The Domino Effect". She said partly that, and also that she just didn't feel good about riding in a large group of people she didn't know. Just didn't feel safe. I thought that was odd, but what do I know. I've never been on a group ride.

Turns out, this chick was savvy. There was an accident on the ride which sent at least two, possibly three riders to the hospital.
Leaving Cherry Beach, one scooter (two passengers) realizing that they were out/low on gas, was pulling over (to the left!?) and another scooter was passing them on the left (passing? In a group ride?). Bam. T-bone. People and scooters went flying. Road rash, blood, what appeared to be a broken bone (but deemed not broken by the hospital). Bad news. I question why you would engage in any of the actions that lead to the accident in the first place, much less wear clothing that would lead to the extent of the road rash described to me... But the end result was that I was very glad not to have been riding that day. A guy with a giant scooter who was a veteran motorcycle rider expressed his surprise that there had been no rules for the ride outlined at the start - he does group rides all the time, and he and the Scooterart (montreal) guys I talked to all agreed that there had been some dangerous, bad riding that day. I guess not every one takes away the same amount of information from their m2 class.

I was also a little surprised that there were no veggie options at the bbq. I was very tempted to walk over to the Dominion and buy a couple of boxes of Licks NatureBurgers so that I, and any other veggies who asked, might be able to eat something other than a bun and a spoonful of pasta salad. I filled up on a Klondike bar, and some cake instead. Lazy, very lazy.

Lots of very nice scooters present for the show and shine, including a scooter totally covered in purple velvet. I have to say, as cheesy as it sounds, and as impractical as it is, it looked pretty cool. And it won two awards, so... take that, conventional scooter restorations!

Missed the closing night party in favour of sangria at the Willow after the Starz Wars show. I ran out of what ever energy it took to face complete strangers by myself by that time. Then Sunday was spent rehearsing the Uh Oh C with some new additions to the cast, and having an impromptu brunch with Aurora and comparing breakup stories. Good girl times. Closed out the day on Christy and Paul's deck again drinking wine and taking in the cool night air.

I'm really excited to see Christy's fringe show.

Been downloading the soundtrack to Urinetown. Forgot how much that show amused me when I saw it. There were times where I was the only person laughing, and I had to cover my mouth on occasion to keep from disturbing other people. I just found it terribly funny, so I'm enjoying having "Run Freedom Run" pop up on my shuffle after, say, "99 Problems".

Word.