Come On, FALL!

And by that I mean AUTUMN, not "fall off your scooter". :)

I went out for a ride last evening, into the magnificent, low-humidity, low 80's temperatures we somehow magically had last night. It was glorious in a way I can barely describe. In fact, I even considered a jacket before I left the house, and once I was out, I thought that I probably would have been comfortable in my denim jacket at least.

The wind was cool and nothing like the wet-washcloth slap-in-the-face of a few days ago. The sun was crisply throwing off it's last rays before sinking below the horizon, and I was on a good-deed mission to paper the local area with flyers advertising our church's preschool.

Conveniently, I could fit a stack of my flyers inside my topcase without having to roll or fold or bunch them up. I LOVE my topcase. Love it.

I rode all over town, taking flyers to places I knew had community bulletin boards, and chatting with people who wanted to know about my scooter. A mom said her little boys thought it was the coolest thing ever and dubbed me "the COOLEST MOM on the block!". Fun!

As the sun was sinking, I rode home, realizing that I felt much more relaxed and happy than when I left my house. It's amazing that riding around on my Pumpkin Queen, wind on my skin, miles slipping by me, could make me feel so good.

Yay for scooters!

Been Awhile

Woo, haven't had much to say about scooters and riding lately.Mostly because I haven't ridden much lately. Great balls of fire, but it's insanely hot here this summer, and that is making it m i s e r a b l e to do ANY riding at all. Seriously. I know some people who live where it regularly reaches 100 degreesF in the summer own and ride scooters, but I am a wilting flower in this heat. Not even the wind created by moving 45mph + down the road is enough to bring relief.

Ugh.

So, due to our frequent (read: daily) temperatures at or above 100degF, with heat indices reaching 110 and 115, and MASSIVE violent thunderstorms being an order of business, I have decreed that riding my scoot will be a rare occurrance. At least until the temps drop down to something that is not akin to sitting in front of a blast furnace.

I am so done with the summer of 2010. Bring me fall in Virginia -- sixty degrees and sunny in the day, forty degrees and crisp at night.

HOT. HOOOOOOT.

I haven't been riding much lately. It's been literally a hundred degrees here in the beautiful South, and frankly, I just haven't had the desire to put on a full-face helmet and real shoes to go somewhere on the scoot. Just thinking about sitting at a stoplight, baking in my helmet, is enough to steer me toward the comfort of my air-conditioned car.

I did go out the other evening, though. I really REALLY needed a break, and I wanted some ice cream.

I admit that I rode in shorts and a short-sleeve t-shirt.

At least I put on sneakers and wore my helmet and gloves. It was only 93 degrees at eight o'clock at night as the sun was setting.

There's something liberating about cruising down the curvy side road on the way to the grocery store, cutting through the thick summer humidity and feeling the breeze cool you.

And then there's the stop at a red light. Bake, bake, bake....green light!

Go!

Don't think about how awful the road rash would be if the unthinkable happened and you succumbed to a low-side fall.

Don't think about falling at all.

Just go.

Market Rides in the Summer

To market, to market....to get a weekly bunch of vegetables.....

One of the fun things about this area is the huge number of farm markets that have sprung up all over the place! Come summer, everybody's heading out to a market on Saturday -- or on Tuesday evening, or Thursday!

I love to ride my scooter over to the market in the morning. With my topcase on, I'm set for carrying home an assortment of yummy veggies from our local CSA farm, Victory Farms.

The market I attend most often is the South of the James Market in Forest Hill Park.
This is a great city park in a really eclectic neighborhood in Richmond. lots of trees, a good playground, paved trails for walking...and VERY busy farmer's market on Saturdays.
This morning when I arrived (and found a place to park!), look what I saw across the lot!
Someone else has good taste!
The best thing about my scooter, aside from the fun of actually riding it, is the sheer boatload of stuff I can carry around. All my weekly vegetables fit into the topcase perfectly, no squashing the squash or mangling the lettuce!

I don't get to ride to the market every week (sometimes I have to bring my kids and my husband) but when I do get to go by myself, I love to take my Buddy!