Thoughts on Scooter Riding

Why did I decide to climb through all the junk in my garage to get to my scooter? I wanted to go out to buy lunch, and realized I was getting tired of most of my commute being spent on walking. Once I got my food, I dug through the back of my garage for a scooter I my family bought at Walmart just before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

My scooter, even though I’ve bought it recently, is definitely too small for me; my left foot takes up more than half the base, so I let my right dangle on the side when I’m not pushing.

Wow, do you go fast on a scooter. A pair of legs can get you pretty far in an hour, but I was able to go two communities over in a half-hour! I can reasonably go visit my borough’s central library without a car ride or the bus! It was suprising to me that with enough effort and a small decline I was able to keep up with bike riders. Riding is also just straight up fun! Feeling the wind rush by your face and appreciating the beautiful, diverse communities of my borough while getting through my podcast backlog was lovely.

That isn’t to say that my ride wasn’t without issues. My sccoter has no shock absorbtion and you can feel it in your feet and especially your hands; my fingers still sting a little. Many roads near me don’t have bike lanes, and the ones that do reguarly have cars idling them, requiring me to move onto the bumpy sidewalk and inconvience others. When the bike lane is clear, I ran into no issues with bike or motorcycle riders, but I did have a few close calls with cars because I couldn’t check my 6 to 9 without tearing my eyes away from the road. You can ride on roads without bike lanes for the most part; you just need to exert a lot of caution.

Finally, I need to get better at braking. The brake on my back wheel is not strong enough to stop my scooter; it needs encouragement from me pulling back on the handlebars. Breaking with your foot can work if you’re desperate, but it is not fun.

Bottom line: I’m going on scooter joyrides instead of walks during my lunch break now. :)

AKA piming my ride.

I am hesitant to buy a new scooter, even if it is a little too small for my feet, so I plan to mod it instead. I’m eyeing up some foam handles I saw recommended in an Amazon review to reduce the shocks that reach my hands. I would need a lot more help figuring out if I can install a proper shock absorber to my ride.

A phone mount for my scooter would be awesome, as it would allow me to see where I’m going with GPS without having to stop and get off the road. Google killed off standalone Android Auto a while back, but the Google Assistant driving mode in Google Maps looks to be a decent replacement.

CGP Grey recommended in Cortex #141 purchasing some gloves for bike riding, and I think I’ll take him up on that seeing as I’m reguarly compelled to screw up my body and need my hands for work.

I’m going to turn on Do Not Disturb when I go out; getting pings distracts me from the road.