Back in the Saddle!

The weather has turned toward gorgeous, the scooter now has valid inspection and registration stickers, and I am back to riding!

Last Friday evening, I took off by myself for an hour-long ride around my area. It's been a while since I was on the bike, and I knew I needed to practice some skills again. I figured out the first skill to go is my turning skills. Had some trouble trusting the scooter and leaning into the turns and making them smoothly. It got better as I rode, though, so that's good.

It was fabulous to be out again. I rode from my house up through the area called Bon Air, which is full of Victorian-era houses. Before the turn of the 20th century, Bon Air was a place where Richmond city-dwellers went to get away from the city for a while and get some fresh air. There used to be a train station, and people would go out to their country houses by train to relax. It seems odd now, given that the outer limits of the city of Richmond is only a mile from the center of Bon Air -- it's not like people were going that far -- but I guess when your transportation is horse and carriage and train, even a few miles is far. Now, the center of Bon Air has a huge water tower:

I was riding too fast to take any pictures of the gorgeous Victorian houses, though, and there's no place to really stop along the road.

After getting through Bon Air, I crossed one of my most favorite bridges in Richmond. The Huguenot Bridge spans the James River at one of the best points for swimming and flatwater canoeing. The city is currently rebuilding the bridge, so there's lots more traffic and construction than I normally like.

I rode down to the park that runs along the river and took a few pictures. I love this place. The river is *right there* along the road. It floods sometimes, and the houses that are in this area are all built WAY up on a hill across the little road, but it is beautiful.

After that, I rode up near the entrance of the University of Richmond, where my husband will be starting school this summer.

And then I made my way home in the near-dark. This is the current price of gas in my area. Yikes! I'm glad I have the scooter for when I can go places by myself. There are a lot more scooters in the area these days, too. The price of gas is awful.

Look for my next post, hopefully later this evening, about the really fun morning my husband and I had riding around the city!

Happy One-Year Scooterversary to the Pumpkin Queen!!

One year ago today, I brought home my new Genuine Buddy 125cc scooter in the glorious color, Tangerine.

My dad, who was probably not the MOST thrilled about his eldest child's decision to buy a scooter, helped me bring it home in his truck.

Over the course of the last year, my scooter and I grew to be a team.

First, I had to drop it, and get that out of the way. Then I got my motorcycle license during one of the coldest weekends of the year. I commuted to work. I rode to the farmer's market. I rode across my favorite bridge in Richmond. We had a close call. I started to accumulate 'real' (and expensive!) gear. My little scooter held a ton of stuff and still rode like a dream.

I learned about what it's like to ride in the summer, and when it's cold, and when it's windy.

Granted, I haven't been riding much lately. Life intervenes sometimes, and the need to take the kids place, and of course the weather. I don't like to ride when it rains, because I don't have raingear yet.

But, today is the anniversary of the day I brought home my scooter, so to mark the occasion, I took a picture of the mileage:
Not quite a thousand miles in the first year, but still, a respectable number.

Of course, the Pumpkin Queen is standing idle today, although I *wanted* to take her for a ride.

It snowed twice this week. No anniversary ride for me. :(

Although I did start the bike today, just to make sure it still ran. It does. My little guy helped.

My Buddy and my buddy.

Hopefully, the roads will clear soon, and I can get back out there to start on Year Two!

*blows off the dust and cobwebs*

My poor, neglected scooter.

I don't think Genuine makes snow tires for my Buddy.

I think maybe I should ask Santa for a new scooter cover, don't you?

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!