Spring has finally sprung!

Hooray for good riding weather, in which I can remove ALL the liners from my awesome jacket and go with all the zippers open!

I haven't been riding all week, because I either had to ferry the kids places, or my desire to wear a skirt was greater than the desire to maneuver the scoot out of the garage (thru the people door!). Also, it's time for it's first service (300 miles, baby!), and I was already past the 300-mile mark and didn't want to get too much further along before having the oil changed.

Yesterday afternoon and evening were trying. Allergies, a headache, total exhaustion for some reason, and non-napping preschoolers were conspiring to make ScooterMom a grumpy girl. I won't go into all the fun that two spunky and extremely smart little ones can cook up, but suffice it to say one was asking me if the Easter Bunny had come yet (ALL DAY!), and the other was turning our deck into a beach. Then came the full-contact egg dyeing, which consisted of one of them eating a dye tablet, and then spilling a cup of dye on the table, and the other clamoring to take eggs in and out of the dye. Ack!

After the munchkins went to bed, my husband suggested I go for a ride. I am very glad that I did. I wasn't really aware of the head- and soul-clearing ability of a good evening bike ride until I went out last night. Whew!

First, I conquered one hesitancy: gassing up at a gas station. I'd been warned about being careful with the pressure in the hoses, watching out for spray when filling the teeny tank, and up to now, I'd been filling the scoot from a 5gal gas can we have in the garage. Not anymore! I successfully (and carefully) put a bit less than a gallon in the tank with no spillage or spray! I don't think I've ever spent this little at a gas pump, not even in 1998, when gas was $0.87/ gallon! (ah, the good old days!)


After that little victory, I rode off to my favorite local de-stressing place -- Barnes and Noble Books. A chai Frappucino, a bunch of jewelry-making magazines and a couple of Easter basket gifts, and I was better. A bonus was that I FINALLY figured out how to open the !@#$% topcase on my bike! I've only had it for about a month, and even though Chelsea showed me how to open and close and lock it, I could NOT do it. And hey, there's all KINDS of room in that thing! Woo!

Riding home in the dark, the wind blowing through my jacket and my helmet, I thought I could really ride MUCH longer. Probably in the dark is not the time to try out a new route, but I sure thought about it. Maybe after the oil change and service, and after I get the new super-bright awesome headlamp installed, I can venture further afield.

It sure is nice to get out and ride, though.

Misconceptions

There was an article in my local paper today about scooter thefts in the region. In the article, the reporter talks about how "[scooter] Drivers don't need a license, just a form of identification listing name address and date of birth." I read the paper every morning, but rarely feel the need to write to the reporter about an issue. This time i did, because of the misconceptions regarding scooters in Virginia. Granted the laws are sometimes unclear, but in this case, making a blanket statement that a scooter rider doesn't have to have a license is incorrect. In VA, if your engine is greater than 50cc and the bike goes faster than 35mph, you need a license and tags, registration, all that good stuff. It's a motorcycle at that point, and you must have more than just some identification on you if you ride. I know the reporter got his info from this link at the DMV site, likely, but still. The code can be unclear in general, but in this case, I think it's pretty straightforward.

Anyway, as a scooter rider and lover, it does bug me somewhat to see the common misconception that my bike is a moped perpetuated. It'll be interesting to see if the reporter responds.

In other news, my husband is on Day 1 of his MSF course today. Soon he'll be riding his bike all legally and safe!

Almost...

Had my first near miss today on the way to work. Ack.

I was going up the divided highway, riding in the right lane, doing the speed limit (45mph), and here comes some guy from the other side of the highway. He was crossing through the median, turning left across the road to go in the direction I was going, and instead of turning and staying in the left lane and then moving over to the right, he turned directly into the right lane. Guess where I was? Yep. Right lane. I was trying like hell to stay out of his blind spot, but apparently either I was already there, or he just plain didn’t see me. Either way, next thing I know I am in the sand and crud on the shoulder, trying to steer, stay upright and honk the horn at him. He was close enough to me that I could have reached out and kicked his rear quarter panel at one point, before he finally saw me and moved over. Then, of course, he took off.

I was strangely (for me) not even shaken up, or upset, except that I was PISSED. It was all I could do not to chase him down and ask him exactly what the hell he was doing. There’s a four-way stop a little farther up the road, and I was hoping I could catch up to him. I didn’t. He was pretty good at staying well ahead of me, which was fine. I certainly didn’t need to be getting into anything with any drivers, but I sure thought about it.

The good news is that now I know my bike does 60, and I can ride it when it does.

Joy! And a kick-ass jacket

I finally, FINALLY got to take the Buddy out today. It was a bit of an effort, pushing it out of the garage by the people-door (the big door does not open) and through the four or so inches of ice/slush/snow/crap that remains in the shady part of my driveway. Ugh. I never thought the bike was heavy until I shoved it through the snow. But today was *almost* 50degF and it was sunny and gorgeous, and, well, okay...REALLY windy....but I just had to go for a ride. Why?

'Cause I got my new jacket!!


No more wearing my husband's way too big parka and having it balloon out around me while I am zipping down the road. No more wearing a zillion layers underneath it to stave off the cold wind whistling down my neck and through the zippers.

This is my jacket, the Rev'It 'Siren', in black. I love love love this jacket! It is probably one of the most expensive articles of clothing I have ever bought....actually, it IS the most expensive article of clothing I have ever bought, but OMG, so totally worth it. I am still getting used to the very close fit, especially in the shoulders, but it's comfortable and so VERY WARM. It's so warm and so comfortable to wear that I think I am going to have to look for some pants, too, for the winter, because from the thighs down, I was frozen. Ah, well, such is winter.

I also have to work on figuring out all the pockets and zippers and attachments and such. There are a ton of zips on this thing, and it took me a few minutes to actually get myself all fastened into it. Once I was riding, though, it was fantastic.

The ride today was fun. I rode to the Starbuck's near my house for a latte, and to test out my riding skills, since it's been at least two weeks since I got on the bike. Later on, I rode to work and back, which was a total blast. I am very much looking forward to spring. It will be so nice to be able to take one of the liners out of the jacket, and to arrive at my destination without my thighs being cold. It's almost March, so spring is definitely on the way. As much as I love snow and winter weather, I've had enough.

(and yes, I know I should be wearing boots in the above picture....I usually do, this time I admit I forgot.)

Not much to report...

Up until about Thursday of last week, I had been riding the scoot all over town....going to work, to the store, trying out new roads and different routes as my confidence level builds. I even rode down to the scooter shop where I bought the bike, just because I wanted to do it. It's been so much fantastic fun!

I'm a member of Modern Buddy, the best forum for Buddy riders and owners, and in the Gallery section of the forum, there is a thread for playing Worldwide Scooter Tag. This is a game in which members take photos of their scooter in front of particular sites or objects, sort of like a scavenger hunt. I've been wanting to play ever since I discovered the game last summer, and now I can!

The next location to find on the list was "your scooter with the word 'museum'". Hot dog! We have tons of museums in Richmond! Because of the winter weather in most places, this items was on the list for a long time, and I wanted to grab it. So, I located a museum that was within riding distance (and within my riding skills), and made plans to go last week and snag the picture.

Then my kids got sick and took turns staying home from school and going to the doctor. Ack! My short windows of free time when the little ones are at preschool all but disappeared. Then, when I got a chance to go out in the late afternoon, it was either bitterly cold, or rainy, or I was just plain worn out. Sigh.

The weekend! That's when I would go out and get the museum picture! I was all set....and then...
it snowed:



A lot.



That's just over a foot of snow, which I realize for some of you is what would be called 'Tuesday', but here in Richmond, Virginia, this constitutes a major snowstorm. So major, in fact, that our kids have been out of school for two days, and likely will be out at least one more day. The governor declared a state of emergency the day BEFORE the storm. Laugh on, you northern-dwellers (I used to be one of ya), but in an area where they are plowing the streets with road graders and contracting with people with pickup trucks and snow blades, this is a big deal. The storm we got the week before Christmas dropped a foot and a half on us, and now this. That represents more snowfall than we typically get over five years on average. I, personally, am loving the snow, unplowed roads, stir-crazy kids, and all. You can take the girl out of upstate NY, but you can't take the upstate NY out of the girl.

But I digress.

The bottom picture is a path my husband made with our neighbor's snowblower, and it's our driveway. No scootering for me. The only thing that sucks about the snow.

Ah, well. Someone else snagged the museum picture, and posted the next item: scooter and 'nature center'. There's one near my house, if only I could get to it in all this snow...

Getting There IS Half the Fun!

I have successfully put a little more than 125 miles on my scooter now.

This past Thursday, I rode it twice! Early in the morning, when it was still really cold, I rode over to the middle school to drop off a notebook my daughter had forgotten. It was cool to zoom up to the school and park (right next to the Resource Officer's police car!), and bop into the school, helmet in hand, to drop off the notebook. I briefly thought that my daughter would be royally embarrassed by her mom scootering to school, but as it turns out, she wasn't on that side of the building, AND she later told me it would have been totally COOL to see me ride up.

I wasn't able to get a ride in during the warmest part of the day, but towards late afternoon, I had to go into work for a bit, and also run to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy. Since I previously had ridden the home-to-work route, I felt a bit more comfortable at the kind of speeds I needed to be at to negotiate the road. It was an excellent run to work, and then to the store, and by the time I was leaving the store, it was dark out. Yikes! Okay, now we learn to ride in the dark. Surprisingly, I wasn't as freaked out about it as I thought I would be. I have the flaming orange reflective Vest of Doom, which helps me stay more visible, and the streetlights and my headlight helped. I found that being near or in front of a car with its headlights on really helped.

The whole experience was a major confidence-booster, and I am already staring to feel SO much better about riding.

Today, though...today was just FANTASTIC! It was fairly warm (50's) and not too windy, and once the little kids were napping, I was itching to take off. It's supposed to be cold and rainy and crappy tomorrow, so I knew this would be my only chance to ride for a couple of days.

So.....I took my scooter to Barnes and Noble at the mall...


And I rode on the six-lane divided highway near my house that is the main artery to everywhere....


And then I went to Kroger for some veggies and sour cream for dinner....


And then I dropped some stuff off at a friend's house!


By the time I rode back to my house (the long way!), it was getting dark. I figured my husband wanted to go for a spin (he did) so I got back to the house and let him ride for a little while.

I've noticed a few interesting things about the progression of my riding skills and confidence:

1. I definitely grip the handlebars and clench my jaw when I ride, and I found myself doing a little less of both when riding these last few days.

2. I am much more comfortable getting up to road speed than I was initially.

3. I can now pay good attention to the road and the traffic and my riding skills without the constant running thought of "OMG I am going to die, OMG I am going to die".

And I have noticed that riding offers a few things that driving a car definitely does not. Of course, there is the fun of riding -- going fast, feeling the wind, being closer to everything while traveling. But there's also the things you notice -- the road surface, the smell of the trees, the sound of the cars and other vehicles -- that makes riding interesting. It was warm the other day, and one of the roads I was on had a series of hills and valleys and turns. As I rode, I realized I could feel the 'cold spots', areas where the temperature was changing, like near creeks and culverts. Almost never feel that while in the car. Very cool.

I am looking forward to expanding my riding horizons as the weather gets warmer...trips to the farmer's market and downtown, across town and across the river, and also some group riding with the local club and maybe with friends. I can't wait til my husband gets his license and a working motorcycle so we can ride together!

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!