Travel
It has been about 8 years since I last got on a scooter. The reason for my two-wheeled absence was largely motivated by the fact that I was involved in a crash. My friend Tyra and I were still in school and were merrily moving along until we hit the back of a car, quite hard, as the toss-pot hadn't indicated his intention to stop abruptly in front of us and turn immediately to the left. I flew off the bike onto the opposite side of the road ( luckily it was a quiet Sunday with no oncoming traffic) and my coccyx was bruised and hurting. Needless to say I never got on a motorised bike ever again and remained traumatized ( even in a car) when the driver stopped too closely to the car in front.
When your better half decides that a scooter is his chosen form of transport, this can only mean one thing: You need to get over your fear issues and embrace the scooter or get left behind. So on the day he brought the red Big Boy home, he had already named it and I saw love in his eyes as he took it down his road for the first time. When it was my turn, I was not as keen. But it was a cul de sac with no cars to knock us over and surely we cant go that fast in a short road could we? So I hopped on and went for a spin. I held on for dear life and shrieked for him to slow down, little did I know we never went past 40 km per hour.
And it was fun, until the evil dog down the road charged us and ran out the gate barking viciously. There only way we could get past him again without perishing was to hurl rocks towards him until her retreated into his garden.
Today I was forced to go out into the big, bad world of cars and trucks and rainy weather on the scooter. It took quite a bit of coercing, because I know how Cape Town drivers are and I value my life. But it turns out, aside from my frozen kneecaps and resisting the urge to close my eyes each time we turned a corner, it was fine, dare I say exciting. In Summer, this scooter is going to rock. It will guarantee us quick passage through traffic to the beach and parking nearby and best of all it will be cooling in the midday heat. Summer scootering, I can't wait- so watch this space, it will be another 4 months or so.
- Arrived!
I arrived at my destination at about 1 pm today. The last 100 or so miles were pretty hectic, a lot of road work, much traffic, etc. But I made it. I've not changed my mind about enjoying the country roads and not liking the interstates,...
- Day 1 - Nevada
Sacramento to Ely, NV: 445 miles; 9 hrs. On Wednesday I realized I had no TV or internet connection - I mistakenly asked AT&T to turn it off on Apr. 1 rather than Apr. 2. No TV and no internet is hard to deal with when you...
- Wedesday
This morning my son Steve came by to see me with grandson Liam. When I was in NY Mike put a little scooter in my car for me to bring back to Liam, who was thrilled to get it. Mike's boys have graduated to bigger and faster scooters now,...
- Targeting
I was almost out of beer so I made a trip to Target this morning. They have a 30 pack that used to cost $15, but has now gone up 50 cents. Add the CRV charge onto that and it's still a good price. I also bought a tube of Bengay that supposedly...
- Have Dinner In South Africa
Voulezvousdiner Have just launched a new special offer. ...
Travel
My first scooter ride
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| Excalibur |
It has been about 8 years since I last got on a scooter. The reason for my two-wheeled absence was largely motivated by the fact that I was involved in a crash. My friend Tyra and I were still in school and were merrily moving along until we hit the back of a car, quite hard, as the toss-pot hadn't indicated his intention to stop abruptly in front of us and turn immediately to the left. I flew off the bike onto the opposite side of the road ( luckily it was a quiet Sunday with no oncoming traffic) and my coccyx was bruised and hurting. Needless to say I never got on a motorised bike ever again and remained traumatized ( even in a car) when the driver stopped too closely to the car in front.
When your better half decides that a scooter is his chosen form of transport, this can only mean one thing: You need to get over your fear issues and embrace the scooter or get left behind. So on the day he brought the red Big Boy home, he had already named it and I saw love in his eyes as he took it down his road for the first time. When it was my turn, I was not as keen. But it was a cul de sac with no cars to knock us over and surely we cant go that fast in a short road could we? So I hopped on and went for a spin. I held on for dear life and shrieked for him to slow down, little did I know we never went past 40 km per hour.
And it was fun, until the evil dog down the road charged us and ran out the gate barking viciously. There only way we could get past him again without perishing was to hurl rocks towards him until her retreated into his garden.
Today I was forced to go out into the big, bad world of cars and trucks and rainy weather on the scooter. It took quite a bit of coercing, because I know how Cape Town drivers are and I value my life. But it turns out, aside from my frozen kneecaps and resisting the urge to close my eyes each time we turned a corner, it was fine, dare I say exciting. In Summer, this scooter is going to rock. It will guarantee us quick passage through traffic to the beach and parking nearby and best of all it will be cooling in the midday heat. Summer scootering, I can't wait- so watch this space, it will be another 4 months or so.
 |
| Need for speed |
- Arrived!
I arrived at my destination at about 1 pm today. The last 100 or so miles were pretty hectic, a lot of road work, much traffic, etc. But I made it. I've not changed my mind about enjoying the country roads and not liking the interstates,...
- Day 1 - Nevada
Sacramento to Ely, NV: 445 miles; 9 hrs. On Wednesday I realized I had no TV or internet connection - I mistakenly asked AT&T to turn it off on Apr. 1 rather than Apr. 2. No TV and no internet is hard to deal with when you...
- Wedesday
This morning my son Steve came by to see me with grandson Liam. When I was in NY Mike put a little scooter in my car for me to bring back to Liam, who was thrilled to get it. Mike's boys have graduated to bigger and faster scooters now,...
- Targeting
I was almost out of beer so I made a trip to Target this morning. They have a 30 pack that used to cost $15, but has now gone up 50 cents. Add the CRV charge onto that and it's still a good price. I also bought a tube of Bengay that supposedly...
- Have Dinner In South Africa
Voulezvousdiner Have just launched a new special offer. ...