22 October, 2014

Fall already, motorcycle riding and driving in Toronto

What happened to the summer? Where did it go? I think ebola, ISIS and the US Republican Party ate it.

This summer went WAY too fast, but I made some progress in life so it was relatively fruitful and fulfilling. I am WAY more confident riding my motorbike, Gunilla, in Toronto traffic, despite the fact that people aren't as used to motorbike riders over here and the fact that everyone drives in the style of whatever country they're from, resulting in total schizophrenia on the roads. In Italy, I'd be able to see patterns in traffic chaos because everyone drove relatively consistently, and everyone over there drives manual shift.

In Toronto, it's more difficult to predict who will be the asshole on the road, who will be looking out for others, who will be texting, etc. But this is compensated by wider roads and more space for bikes to go. Unfortunately, the bicycle riders are _extremely_ jealous of their hard-won bike lanes, and get extremely possessive and territorial when you ride a motorized vehicle in "their" bike lines. One guy went so far as to try to film me with his phone while riding his bike. It was funny seeing him yelling at me about safety when he looked like he was about to fall off his bike trying to film me.

This summer I showed a dramatic increase in my self-confidence with my bike on Toronto roads. I stopped trying to obey all the Canadian rules and just started riding like I used to in Italy, and thus far I've gotten a few parking infractions, but that's it. I admit to speeding a lot, but who the heck goes 90km/h on the Gardiner? I admit, however, I have to stop using the west Lakeshore and DVP as my own personal racing circuits. In case there are cops reading, I DIDN'T DO THIS, but going 170km/h on the portion of the Lakeshore that's used as the Indy track IS NOT A SMART THING TO DO. Although I suppose it would be really, really fun. If you're into that kind of thing. If, lol.

I also finally got my full Canadian driver's license, at long last. I had one for years in Italy, but lost it and couldn't get it back because I was no longer a resident of Italy, so I've been living without for the past three years. It's admittedly been driving me a bit crazy (get it??? argh, sorry) not having a car, but now I can buy one! I think I'm going to go with Zipcar for a year and see how much I really use a car here in T.O.

I almost bought a 2014 MV Agusta Brutale that an Italian guy here was selling. It has been my dream bike ever since I saw one for the first time at the Moto Show in Bologna in the 90s. It was white and gold, my colours, beautiful. I'll upload a pic of me on it. Fricking amazing bike. But I found out that if I keep a vehicle for 2+ years, my insurance goes way down, and I'd have to sell Gunny because I can't keep two bikes because my ex-boyf who very kindly lets me store bikes in his garage for the winter just bought ANOTHER bike (he now has 6, 4 of which are functional), so he doesn't have room for two of mine. So I'm keeping Gunny until next year, and if I don't buy a car next year and just go with the Zipcar, I'll see who has the Brutale next summer, and buy it then.

2 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.