Saturday, too far away.

Saturday couldn’t come quick enough. I had ridden to work in the rain twice that week on the deadly treadly, dreaming of the Baby Blue Vespa, imagining how easy it would be to park and how quick it would be to get to work and back.

I was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning like a kid on Christmas morning. I sat there just waiting for the sound of Stan’s roller door. It made my heart jump when It finally rolled up at 8am.
I casually strolled out with the rubbish as if I didn’t even know he was there, but the grin on my face would have been a big give away.

Stan was a frail looking, quietly spoken gentleman who was an ex school teacher, which showed as he systematically took me through the controls and basic mechanics of the old scooter with great patience. He explained everything in a way that allowed me to soak it all in. I still remember some of his advice all these years later.

“Change the spark plug every couple of months if you can- just about all problems with starting and running stem from a bad or dirty plug- for a few dollars, you’ll have a better ride with a new plug ”. "Don't ride it like a motorbike because it's nothing like one".


After a nervous couple of laps around the car park getting used to the handlebar gears he let me loose on the open road.
I took off around the block and headed for a quiet stretch of road on the outskirts of town. I gingerly worked my way through the gears discovering that it did take a certain knack after changing gears with my left foot all my biking life.
I whizzed up the main street of our little country town in a puff of blue smoke with a massive grin on my face, the “putt putt putt” of the 2 stroke engine echoing up the empty street. Even though I felt very safe and confident on the Vespa, I was still glad it was early and I had the road to myself.

When I returned home about 20 minutes later, Stan was pottering in his shed. He had found a chrome rack and a few other bits and pieces to put back on it, so we set about the mini facelift.By the end of the day the rear rack was on, new mirrors, a couple of new cables, a new spark plug and a gear oil change. I was ready to hit the road. For some reason I couldn't wait for work Monday morning.