Scooter Commute!

I usually go into my office on Wednesday mornings for a couple of hours, and since I have a brand-spanking-new scooter and a brand-spanking-new M class endorsement, I figured that today would be a GREAT day to ride into work on my Buddy! It was cold, sure, but it's winter! It's always cold! Plus, it was actually much warmer and less windy than it has been...all the better to ride in, right?

After I dropped the little kids off at preschool, I drove back to my house, got into my riding boots and parka, gathered up my purse (and camera!) and got the scoot out of the garage. Here we go....





The route to Workplace is along roads that max out at 45mph speed limits. One of the roads is a multiple lane, divided highway (with a 45mph speed limit). The whole trip is about 7.5 miles, and usually takes me about 10 minutes in my car. I was really excited about doing this, even though it was really cold. Once I got my Buddy out of the garage and started it up, I started getting nervous.

Getting out of my neighborhood was no problem. I felt fairly confident taking off into very light traffic on the main roads, and I kept up with traffic. Once I got to the multiple-lane road, though, I was starting to worry about whether I was going fast enough. My speedometer registered 50mph and I stayed in the right lane the whole way, but man! It was a bit unnerving going that fast, in traffic, with only the handlebars to hold on to! Plus, the wind made it really difficult, and every time I went over an imperfection in the pavement, I got nervous about crashing. In fact, all I could think about, besides riding the scooter, was crashing. How bad would it be to hit the ground at 45mph? I'm wearing my helmet...how bad could it be?

My mind was going a zillion miles a minute, too.

Man, this trip is taking a lot longer than it does in my car....I had no idea seven and a half miles was so SO far...it is really windy out...and cold...I better remember to call Travis when I get to work so he doesn't worry...

But I made it to work in one piece, not frozen solid, and without mishap or other negative incident. Hooray!

There was even a parking space right in front of the building, just waiting for my cute scooter!



I showed it off to a friend who has her desk right next to this window, and then I showed my boss and a couple of other people I work with. They all thought it was terribly cute, and totally me, and also I was a bit nuts for riding in this cold. :)

I worked for a little while, then rode home. The trip home was a bit warmer, and I felt pretty decent about the riding, although I think I am getting really tense because my wrists and hands were killing me by the time I got home.

Having gotten this out of my system, I don't think I will ride the scooter to work again until it gets a little bit warmer. For now, I think I will practice ride around the neighborhood and take short trips to the store and for coffee and stuff.

The bottom line, though, is I DID IT! And it was awesome!