Posts from 2007 | Scooting with Dru

Post-Holiday Quiet

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:59:22 -0500

Now that the frenetic days leading up to the holidays are done, and we are in that quiet week between the christmas holiday and the New Year, it is a time for a bit of recovery. Personally, I find this week the best of the holiday season because it offers a relief from the stress of getting through the holiday, but hasn't returned to the normal workload.

Of course, I am at the office today, but it is a quiet day there as well, so I'm getting caught up on some other things. One of those is a backlog of camera pictures. Hopefully some will be worth posting, but I won't know that for a little while longer. Somehow, I accumulated enough pictures to fill up 3 8gb CF cards. They are downloading into Aperture now. I'll dig through them next :-).

I did however have a scooter adventure to talk about though. Saturday I had to get a new battery for the BV500. I'm not surprised, it spent half of it's first year sitting gathering dust on a Dealer floor, and then spent a couple of months in someone's garage before I gave it a daily riding home. The original battery never got any care and after 6 months of abuse, it was really starting to struggle on cold days. So off to get a replacement, which turned out to be the easy part. The BV500 comes with a 'wet'cell lead acid battery which requires and overflow tube for draining away any excess/overflow acid. On the stock battery, this is on the left side and the tube is already there. The replacement was on the right side though.

So, after getting the battery home and in place, I needed a new overflow tube, and the one that arrived with the battery was about 2 feet too short. So onto Lil Barney, my Kymco People 250 and over to Home Depot I go. Grab a 20 foot roll of tube and head home. Lunch sounded good, but I didn't want to stop and get off the bike, so a quick loop through the drive thru was in order.

Now this is a one of those priceless experiences. A scooter in the drive thru line is always an attention grabber for some reason. Three employees hanging out of the window to check out the scooter, while people walking in just grin and point. I'm not complaining though, the Chick-Fil-A sandwich was excellent when I got home. Anyways, the ride home was uneventful, but highlighted the reason I'm having a hard time getting rid of the People. It is still a great fun ride and switch from the BV.

Anyways, back home, it was time to put the tube in. Turns out, this is a pretty complex process. Taking the entire left side plastics off to find and replace the current hose with a new one that is 10 inches longer and routes to the opposite side of the battery casing. After about an hour, most of my vulgar vocabulary and a couple of nicks and dings to both hands, I had a completely rerouted drain tube, complete with an alternate tube so I can use a battery that goes to either side, along with a battery tender lead that runs under the plastics down to the service port by the left foot rest. All in all, a great project, but wow, that was ton of plastic to remove for suck a little change :-).

Be Careful Out There...

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:24:57 -0500

I once saw someone reference this time of year as the silly season. At the time, I thought it was funny, but did not really think about it. The events of the past couple of days have brought some of that back to the forefront. Silly is one of those words that has many meanings, and in this context, it can mean most of those.

The reason, is that people seem to act a little more silly during this season than most. What scares me, is that much of this silly behavior exhibits itself in the form of anger on the roads. A couple of days ago, someone that a I barely know, posted a terrifying story that sounded earily familiar on one of the message boards I frequent. The synopsis is simple. He was riding his scooter just a little over the posted speed limit. Car behind him rides is rear wheel until oncoming traffic eases and then races around the scooter on a double yellow line. Car and scooter meet again at the next stop sign, where both are turning left. Car turns left, scooter checks traffic, begins to turn left, only to find that the car has come to an abrupt and unnecessary stop in front of the scooter with malicious intent. Scooter rider attempts to panic stop, but damp pavement in the middle of an intersection sees the scooter hit the ground. Car driver then speeds away.

Everyone that rides a scooter sees this type of scene at some point. Too many angry people in cars using them as weapons. Their fragile egos cannot cope with the small efficient scooter and the owners sharing the road with them, and no matter how fast the scooter is going, it isn't fast enough. Here in the middle of the silly season it seems to be even more prevalent. You see, his wasn't the only story along these lines I'd heard in the last two weeks. I've heard similar stories from several riders, and though my own wasn't as serious, it was just the normal 'nail the gas and yell out the window at the "Fag on the scooter"', the frequency of these incidents seems to go up during this season.

The incident that stands out the most for me right now though, is the one I saw at the Mall earlier this week. I was headed to the mall, and watched a guy on a scooter zip in, right up front and pop his scoter up onto the sidewalk near the mall entrance. Hop off and head inside. I parked in the designated motorcycle parking about 40 feet away, and the guy in the truck that the scooter pulled in in front of, parked several aisles out, walked in. By the time Ihad stowed my gear, and started walking in, I watched this piece of human fecal matter, walk over to the scooter and push it off the side stand on over onto it's side before cruising into the mall. So I called security and tailed the guy through the mall. Security found him and asked him about it and acted all innocent. Fortunately, security had video, and I saw the whole thing, so in the end, he was forced to deal with it. Luckily for everyone, where he pushed it over it landed in the grass and did no damage, but the whole incident just illustrated how silly people can be this time of year.

So for those of you, who like me are still riding, be careful, the silly season is upon us. Oh, and remember, that sometimes, taking a bad parking space isn't a bad thing if it means that some angry shopper doesn't push your scooter over because you got such a primo parking space. Most of all, be careful out there. We not only have to watch out for the elements, but also for the silly people.

A Prayer for John

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:05:46 -0500

Hopefully, if you've found me, you also read Steve Williams Scooter in the Sticks. Recently a good friend and riding partner of his was involved in an accident. Well, John is headed into surgery, and rather than I explain it all here, I give you Steve's post with John's words. Though I've never met John, his positive attitude and mindset towards riding are such that he seems to be the type of person I would call friend. So let us all include him in our thoughts and prayers.

All 32 degree rides != Equal

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:12:26 -0500

Yeah, so last night riding home at 6:00PM it was just a touch under 40 degrees, windy and dark. Wearing the same gear I wore this morning, I was cold, headed towards uncomfortable. This morning however, it's 32 degrees, and I used he same level of gear and was comfortable. The difference: sun and a lack of wind.

Regrets?

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:16:32 -0500

This week Steve Williams over at Scooter in the Sticks is talking about how he's recently been forced into the the intimidating thoughts of risk and regret due to a friends accident. Unfortunately, every person that chooses to ride, rather than drive has to make this evaluation. But to me, it is an ongoing choice. One that we have to make for ourselves every day. Suit up for the ride, or jump in the car. Either way complacency presents our greatest risk.

Personally, I've taken the position that life is risk, and that the risk of riding is the same as that of getting into the car, or climbing in the shower. So, I choose to ride most days, but that is my personal choice. But like Steve, I'm battling some aspects of that choice right now. You see, a friend of my wife's is currently laying the hospital with broken legs and pelvis as well as other injuries. At this point, the life-threatening parts are more or less done with, but she's facing 2-3 years of rehab to get her life back. She was hit by in an incident where a driver in a car crossed double yellow to hit her head on. The other driver was not DUI, and as far as we have heard, there was no cause for him to cross the line. But here is the rub for me; she was driving her *safe* Volvo tank, and she did nothing wrong.

But you see, that's part of my own realization: everything we do is risk, all we can do is mitigate that risk. Does mitigating the risk mean stop riding? for me, no. You see, I had a close encounter a few weeks ago, that put me in another mindset, one that left me sitting in a parking lot for about 30 minutes calming down and collecting myself before I could ride safely.

In what started innocently enough, I took off from work to go grab some lunch. My choices are 2 lanes of traffic laden, strip mall central road at 45mph and 4.5 miles to the restaurant, or 2 lanes of lightly travelled road at 40mph and 5.5 miles through residential and farms. Needless to say, I chose the latter. Unfortunately, about halfway there, I'm headed southbound when a 30" delivery truck coming towards me drops a tire off the side of the road and overreacts. With an approaching speed of 80mph, and about 200" I slipped as far to the right as I could, clenched the sphincter, and prayed. I slipped by on the right side of the white lane marker, with no margin for error as it was a 3-4' drop to the shoulder and 6-8" into the ditch just off the road. The car behind me found the shallow ditch 100" from where I would have been, and the truck rolled on, oblivious to the destruction. I stopped and helped out. Fortunately, the injuries were minimal, some scratches and a good bruise from the seatbelt & airbags. But the thing is. Had I been in my car, I'd have been dead. Where the other car had the shallow ditch, I'd have been on my roof, or under the truck. While the percentage of times that being on a bike will save your bacon is very low, there is risk in driving just as there is in riding.

For all of the good that riding brings, I've chosen to ride, embracing the rewards of riding over the risk, but knowing those risks and thinking about them helps me be a better rider.

Thanks, Thanksgiving and Strange Weather

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:50:07 -0500

First, I need to send a thanks to Dave over at Scooter Cast for the mention this week. I'm an avid listener, and love what Dave is doing over there. If you haven't given his podcast a listen, take a few minutes to jump over and add it to your podcast playlist.

Of course, this week is also Thanksgiving. Thanskgiving is a strange holiday for me, I look forward to it every year, and in many ways, it is the holiday that has been the least commercialized of any, yet in many ways, it is the ultimate target due to it's secular nature. Given it's roots during the early settling days of America, there are certainly puritan overtones to the celebration, but even those have been tempered in the intervening years. What is left is a celebration of thanks; thanks for our families, our lives an all of the little things that so many of us forget to be thankful for throughout the year.

Me, I have to take a few moments, to be thankful for so many things, but most of all, my spouse. I have been truly blessed by the support of my wife of 13 years in everything that I have done. While my parents, brothers and children are all very supportive of the choices I make, none is there, day in and day out, supporting me as my wife. Beyond that, there is my health, and the health of my family. There is the protection the young men and women that have given up there holidays and are separated by thousands of miles from their families, making sacrifices for the freedom and peace of others as well as mine. There is the business, there is this website and the readers, there is the fresh air we breathe, the food we eat. The list goes on and on.

So I'm just going to cover it all and say thanks to everyone, including mother nature, thanks for the gift she has given us here in the south.

Yes, after that little cold blast a couple of weeks ago that saw us hitting the mid 20s in October, today, it is 78 and just gorgeous outside, with some much needed rain due to arrive tonight, it looks like we should have a delightful Thanksgiving holiday in the mid low 60s. Maybe friday I can find some friends to take ride up into the mountains. Until next week, please everyone, have a great holiday, and if you aren't in the US, take a few moments to celebrate our holiday by giving thanks to the people and things you love and value.

Year Round Riders

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:14:12 -0500

Today, I'm taking a diversion from my normal discourse to talk about a few things sorta scooter related. One, which is the title of todays post is to another web forum that truly get what my riding is all about. They call themselves the "Rounder's". These are folks that ride year round, and while the majority of them are more 'adventure' type riders, the description of the Marshmallow Butt ride so completely covers how I feel about riding in general, that I simply cannot sum it up any better. There is alot to be said for riding on the shoulders of those that came before us when it comes to avoiding some harsh lessons.

You see, riding all year really boils down to preparation. Making sure that you have the right gear, and mindset to be ready to ride when it's 100+ or -2 with a -40 windchill. Here in the US, the number of riders that ride all year is much lower than in areas where motorcycles make up a larger percentage of the daily commuters. Here in the states, the vast majority of motorcycles are used for recreation or hobby, not as an every day conveyance.

What this means for those of us that do ride everyday is that we have to do some digging, and sometimes some importing to find the gear we want and need. Of particular note is an italian company that sells excellent commuter gear, but also a device known as a TermoScud that is like a mitten for your legs and lower body that does two things, it buffers the heat from the bike inside a thermal layer, while buffering the legs from the airflow of the ride. It's a great idea, and there are several variations on the idea, including the 'ScooterSkirt'.

But, when it comes to finding this stuff, you have to find a community of riders, like the "Rounders" or the crew at Modern Vespa to find folks that have the knowledge that you local dealerships frequently don't.

Gotta Love the Fall

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:46:08 -0500

Yeah, so Sunday it was 76 sunny and gorgeous, Monday, the low was 45, the high in the 70's. Tuesday, the high came around the same time as the sun rose, somewhere in the 50's, and by the time it came time to head home Tuesday night, the temperature was in the high 40's with nasty winds. By wednesday morning, it was down to 26 degrees, and it has been lows in the high 20's and low 30's since.

This really isn't unusual in Atlanta, the running joke for as long as I can remember has been that if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes, it'll change :D. It does however teach one to be prepared. So I've had most of my 'Cold Weather Gear' stashed in the pannier bags on the BV for the last month or so. Fortunately, that foresight means I haven't frozen, but I think it's about time to do some shopping. I need a pair of good overpants, and perhaps a good winter riding jacket.

I'm perusing NewEnough, but if anyone has any suggestions, please, drop me a note!.

Brrrr

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:21:14 -0400

So yeah, we got a bit of frost this morning. Low was 31 according to the household thermometer. Yeah, my faceshield gets foggy quicker but that's about it. This is the first really cold weather time I've spent with the BV500. The wider flyscreen makes quite a difference in terms of keeping warm. Surprisingly, my legs get more cool air than on the People 250. It's not unmanageable, but it will mean that I wear my wool socks more often on colder days.

Anyways, it remains all about the ride, and the sights to be seen. Last night I finally got around to getting a couple of pictures that I've been wanting to shoot, but the weather and lighting just hasn't worked out until last night.

Both are now in the 'favorites' gallery,

The first, is a horse barn that is the focal point and centerpiece of an equestrian neighborhood. This massive barn is nice, but it sits on a great piece of land, with rolling hills and a great hardwood stand that will most likely be bulldozed for the neighborhood. The loss of the trees behind this barn is the kind of development that just breaks my heart.

The second, is an instance where history has been preserved while the land around it has been developed. The photo is of an old country store that remains, while the immediate area has grown, admittedly controlled and in a very upscale look and mold, at the Birmingham Crossroads in Milton, GA.

Both shots are in the city of Milton, and are parts of a possible calendar project that I am working on.

Winter?!?!

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:13:50 -0400

So we finally get some fall like temperatures a couple of weeks ago, and here we are with winter like lows appearing. With this morning's commute being in the 40's and windy being a mild preview to tomorrow's 30's and first frost, it feels as if winter has arrived a bit early. Not that it changes my riding, I rode all winter last year and plan to do the same this year.

The thing I learned last year, is that the difference between happily riding in the cold and freezing is 100% about gear. I don't use heated gear, but the old tried and true layers method of staying warm. Take this morning for example. Long underwear under my jeans, wool socks in my boots, long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, regular riding jacket, and I switched out to my Tourmaster winter gloves. The air was cool, but not cold and the ride was pleasant and comfortable, despite gusty 30mph winds and 43 degree temperatures (according the local bank sign).

Actually, I look forward to this time of year. For some silly reason, riding in the cool winter mornings makes me feel more alive and appreciative of the place I live. It provokes me into taking the long way and seeing the sights.

Rain Rain Thanks For Coming...

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:26:45 -0400

Now won't you stay a while? Yeah, for a scooter commuter, that may sound backwards, but in all honesty, I'll happily deal with the personal discomfort associated with being a scooter commuter (although I have the car today since I have to pick up some flooring from Lowe's tonight) for the greater benefit of the rain we so desperately need. I don't know about other riders, but I find that being out in the elements on the scooter, I am even more keenly aware of the impacts of the draught than I have been in prior years in the car. It's not that the scooter makes any of it that much more noticeable, it's that I'm out in the air more. There is a definite smell to the clean 'just rained' air that's been missing for months around here. But for today, I get to miss out.

Tomorrow looks promising with another 60% chance of rain. Maybe I'll get lucky and get way tomorrow too.

Enjoying the Weather

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:44:31 -0400

Between the kids schedules and work, this past weekend was the first time I've been able to get out on group ride since the Hill on Wheels rally in Chattanooga. Sunday, however, I ended up leading a ride from Roswell up into the mountains, through Amicalola Falls and over to Dahlonega before heading back to Alpharetta and Roswell. A 160 mile total day in what can only be described as perfect riding weather.

The roll out at 10:30am was in mild 55 degree air. As we worked our way into the mountains, the air warmed up, but as we were climbing, the temperature for us remained pretty constant. It wasn't until we stopped at the top of Burnt Mountain a little before 1pm that it had warmed enough to remove the hoodie from under the jacket. It hit the mid 70's as we rolled into Dahlonega around 2:30pm and was just approaching 80 when we got back into town around 5pm, all with very little breeze.

As for the ride itself, well, the route was through some of the best roads south and west of Helen's Richard B Russel and Hwy 129, and though there was quite a bit of color in the trees, we haven't really hit peak color, nor do I expect as rich coloring as we normally see. The lack of rain this year will most likely mean that we won't get as full a season as normal. Somehow, I don't think that will stop the two wheeled community from enjoying the area.

The population of bikes of all forms this past weekend was truly amazing. When you get into to a town and the bikes outnumber the cars 3 or 4 to 1 and there isn't a spot to park anywhere in town, you know there are a bunch of folks out on the roads.

Interestingly, as I read around the various message boards, I see alot of complaints by scooter riders of being disrespected by the owners of bigger bikes, and yet, running round this area, I have never witnessed this behavior first hand. Admittedly, this weekend ride was all Maxi's, but we got waves, smiles and thumbs up from everyone.

In case you are curious, the route map is here, courtesy of Google Maps: Route Map

Well Hello Fall Weather

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:14:00 -0400

In typical Atlanta fashion, fall arrived this week with a rather abrupt hello. Specifically, it was lows in the 60's and highs in the high 80's on Monday. This morning? 42. That's chilly without proper gear :-). Fortunately, I had actually heard the weather forecast so I was sorta prepared. The hard part for me is these 'tweener' days, where the Icon Pursuit gloves aren't enough and the Winter gloves would be way too much, and then by noon, it's in the high 60's. For these days, I've been using a pair of UnderArmor lycra gloves for about a year now, but unfortunately, I've torn the seam in thumb and forefinger area, so they aren't usable and I can't seem to find a replacement pair. (If someone has a source, let me know, I need a large :-)).

I do love riding in this weather though. Something about the cooler air. At the same time though, I do find the fall depressing as the trees drop their leaves and the grass goes dormant. It's like mother nature is closing up shop for a couple of months while old man winter brings his grumpy and cold self around for a couple of months. Obviously, I don't stop riding then, but it does change *how* I ride. For now though, I get to enjoy the weather and the last few weeks of summer like temperatures.

Of Bank Holidays, Severe Drought and Conservation

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:35:43 -0400

Stange bedfellows in the topic I suppose, but it is what it is. Yesterday, being a federal holiday and bank holiday meant a half-day at work. So around lunch yesterday, I took off to meet my wife for lunch before heading home to do some things around the house, but along the way, I was noticing some of the sad signs of the sever drought that we are in.

For those that don't know much about Atlanta, we are in a bad way in terms of water. So severe that the entire northern 1/3 of the state is under a complete outdoor watering ban, and they are starting to talk about water consumption limits per household. At issue is our water reserves come primarily from two lakes, Lanier (Chattahoochee River) and Allatoona (Etowah & Coosa Rivers). Unfortunately, with Atlanta's normally wet August afternoons having been and gone in a very dry fashion, these rivers are now at their lowest points in decades, and dropping at a rate of 12" per week, the metro Atlanta area is in full on crisis mode regarding water supplies.

With the dry weather continuing, it is only going to get worse (oddly, it's thundering and raining as I type this, but one rain shower isn't going to make much of a dent in the deficit).

All of this got me to thinking about my own conservation efforts, and how I can expand them. When I bought the scooter a little over a year ago, a huge part of the motivation was to conserve gas and money spent on gas. That little mental shift led me to some other conservation oriented actions that over the year have become habits. I now recycle shopping bags when I go grocery shopping, and have placed a renewed emphasis in the household of using recyclable materials. We buy and recycle aluminum, glass and plastic. We stopped running partial loads of laundry or dishes. But, how can we expand upon these basic things, particularly in light of the worsening water situation?

It's not like I water my grass, it's bermuda, you can't kill it even if you try, it'll go dormant if it gets too dry, but I do have some indoor plants, and some annuals that I maintain in the yard that do require occasional watering. I do still take showers, we do have an almost 2 year old child, and the kids still have to be relatively clean for school. We don't wash our cars. So what can we do? So yesterday, I spent the day going through the house looking at 'ways to conserve more'.

Fortunately, the house is new enough, that all of the commodes are high efficiency commodes that use less water than older styles. I don't think I can reduce them much more, but I did find one faucet the showed evidence of a slow drip, so it will be replaced this weekend, as well as one toilet that looked like it has a slow drip. Add a rebuild kit to the list. I also checked all of the shower heads in the house. only one had a water flow restrictor in it, so I've got 2 of those to add to the list. These will help, but it doesn't address the plants, which need water. In my wanderings, I found a source for water for the plants. The air conditioner, which we don't use all that often is clearly generating a fair amount of condensation anytime it kicks on, so here's the plan. Buy a 5 gallon bucket and a small pump with a couple of feet of hose to extend the drain from the condensation drain tube to dump the condensation into the bucket, which I intend on burying in the ground. I will then add a small pump that I can use to pull the water out to fill a watering can for watering the plants, and an overflow, that allows the bucket to drain into a flower bed anytime it overflows.

So, tonight, I have a scooter trip to the nearby Lowes for some supplies. Perhaps it's time for us to start adding small cisterns for rainwater and condensation collection for use in watering our yards, water reclamation is a good thing.

And for something totally different...

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:36:35 -0400

So yesterday I spent the day doing something different. First, I bailed on work to go play, specifically to go play with cars oddly enough. I know I've mentioned that my car is a Chrysler Pacifica and that it doesn't get used much. For a while I toyed with selling it, but my wife and kids really aren't as comfortable on the scooter, particularly as the weather changes, so we still need a second car for those not so rare days when we are going in separate directions each with extras. Because of this, I want to downsize the car to something more fun and fuel efficient, but also small enough to keep in a single garage bay with my scooter(s).

So a few months ago, I reserved a spot in line for a SMART so that if it was something I thought would work, I'd have the opportunity. Yesterday, they had them here for test drives, so my wife and I took the day to go drive the SMART and the other vehicles I'm considering: MINI Cooper Convertible, Volkswagen Eos, Volkwagen Beetle Convertible. Oh, should mention that there is a secondary motivator here. Whatever car this is, it will be my daughters in 4 years, so that rules out some of the more powerful options, and they are all convertibles, which is because it's what I want :-).

So, how did it go? The SMART is a great idea, with great timing, and if we were a family of 4, rather than of 5, this would be the vehicle. It drives well, admittedly, a little rough and sluggish off the line, but not any more so than many of the 'subcompacts', nor of the hybrids. Interior room is excellent, and in terms of seating, this is the vehicle that I had the most room in all day. Well designed, with excellent fuel economy (40+ mpg). Unfortunately, we are a family of 5, and so I need the an additional seat that the SMART cannot handle.

From there, we headed to the MINI dealer, and drove a Cooper Convertible. I've loved the Cooper since I was a kid, and have lusted for a Cooper S since the came back to the US. The drive did not disappoint, but the back seat did. With me in the drivers seat, the back of the front seat literally pushed against the front of the back seat, there was NO leg room. Not even a snug little kids space. So, much as I like the vehicle, it is in the same category as the SMART. Can't reasonably handle the extra child if needed.

From there, we headed to the VW dealership. Now, before I bought the Pacifica, I had a 2000 Passat that was awesome, I traded it for the Pacifica when we decided to have a third child, which was, in hindsight, a mistake. I like the VW style and driving characteristics. So we took the Beetle out for a drive. Not super powerful, cute, well featured, functional and fun. Nothing really all that 'wow', but a lot of little 'nice' things. Then we took the Eos out for a spin. The Eos is a sharp car, but as much as I wanted to like it the most, it fails for me. It's too much luxury, and not enough sport. The biggest fail? The drive by wire steering. This actually comes as a bit of a shock to me, but the drive by wire lack of force feedback makes driving rough pavement feel 'vague'. Interestingly, coupled with the smooth luxury style ride, I found the whole driving experience to be soft and overly refined.

So, after all of that adventure, we concluded that the two options are keep the Pacifica for a couple more years (not my first choice, a 6 passenger vehicle is not a good 1st vehicle for a new driver), or the VW Beetle, which does have a workable rear seat (assuming you are under 5'6" 150 lbs and it's just you :-)). So, it's in that mind that we are now thinking about a VW Beetle in Gecko Green with a tan top and manual transmission. This could be interesting, but something tells me that my daughter could be getting a 4 year old car with less than 20k miles on it, because the one thing that the whole day reinforced was that I prefer the wide open feel of the scooter to a car.

Fall Is Here

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:37:45 -0400

Cool mornings, gorgeous afternoons, gentle breezes, sunshine, does it get any better?

No, not really. Needless to say, I love this time of year in Atlanta. Mornings in the mid 50's, with highs in the high 70's & low 80's just make for great riding days. Last night after work, I had to run some things up to the storage unit for my business, so I took off at 5:00 for a nice ride up to the storage unit (about 7 miles from the office). Somehow, the road home, a 10 mile trip took over 70 miles.

We'll call it the longlonglong way home. Basically, traffic was stacked up to the left, so I went right and kinda followed the route that just felt like fun. If you are familiar with the area at all, I started up on the south side of Cumming near Castleberry and 141, and headed west across 20, and then roughly south on backroads to 372, and then back towards Milton/Alpharetta across Union Hill, New Bullpen and Brimingham.

This whole area is a strange mix of rural and suburban lifestyles, frequently right next to each other. There are 'equestrian' communities with +1 million dollar homes with a trailer home on a 90 acre farm right next to them. There are 500 home communities butting up to working farms, all set off of roads that are more countryside than suburbia, then you turn and pop up in the heart of suburban living. It make for some interesting riding, and on an evening when work has been difficult and stressful, sometimes, the path of least resistance can make for a path most refreshing.

Returning home to pull the pot roast from the crock pot and sit down with most of my family (Abby was at Gymnastics) over a homey dinner of homemade bread, fresh veggies and a pot roast after a ride that has cleansed me of my stress, just emphasizes how incredibly lucky I've been in this adventure. What started off for the most mundane of reasons, saving gas and environmental impact has become something more. A passion, a hobby, and a release, the time spent 'out riding' has become liberating and in many ways has returned some of the simple joys in life that I thought were lost forever to the bygone days of my youth.

In the car..

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:17:26 -0400

I think scooter commuters should have to drive a car once every six months, just to refresh how good it is to be on that scooter. Personally, I've had the car out couple of times in the last couple of months, and while it is still a nice car, it is an uninspiring act, driving a car to work. The worst part, I'm not driving because the elements forced it or even that I needed to haul something.

My wife set up an appointment for us to get some family pictures done today, and she wants me to 'look nice' which translates to 'no helmet hair please'. So, no scoot for me.

Next week though, I get to go test drive what is quite possibly my next car, the SMART fourTwo at the Atlanta tour stop. It will be interesting to see what I think of it after getting some time up close with it. Logically, it's a great idea, but there is still some question as to if it fits my needs. If it doesn't, I'll be keeping the Pacifica until it dies, and at 3 years old with only 24k miles on it, it's got a good chance of holding on for many years to come.

The Joy of 'Switching it Up'

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 09:38:04 -0400

As I've mentioned, I didn't become a rider until a little over a year ago. August 5, 2006 was both the day I got my license, and the day I purchased my 'trial' scooter, a chinese built Jonway 150-t 150cc scooter from a local motorcycle dealer that would also do the repairs and maintenance if needed. The whole idea was to have something cheap to see if I was truly willing to ride a scooter every day. That lasted about 800 miles and 4 weeks before I went and bought the Kymco People 250 that was the 'long term' scooter I wanted.

7000 miles and 10 months later, I added a Piaggio BV500 to the stable, and swore I was going to sell the other two. So far, I've only sold the chinese 150. The Kymco, I'm having a hard time letting go. Why? Well, the joy of having an option.

Some days, like this morning, it's just fun to switch out and ride the People. It's quieter than the BV, and since I have all the hard bags on the BV, it has a 'bigger' feel. So today I'm on the People, and I realized why I'm having a hard time letting her go. This is the bike that really made this adventure happen, and she's still a great ride. Sure, she's still got her fuel gauge issues, and the seat is hard as granite compared to the BV, but she's such a joy running around in town, that I'm going to try to keep her.

That's not always an easy task, to have something worth a couple of thousand dollars simply because you want it, and not because it's needed. Time will tell, but for now, I love being able to walk out to the garage and have the option to switch it up and take either of the girls out for the day.

Riding Aware

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:01:46 -0400

A couple of weeks ago, I talked a bit about the inherent dangers of riding. Sure, there is risk, simply because of the exposure, but there is reward. Today, I want to address mitigating risk. Every rider has to make the decisions that effect their own safety. Certainly there is the protection aspect, in terms of clothing and helmets, but that's a subject for another day.

Today, I want to talk about the on the bike experience, and mitigating risk through awareness. I'm not an expert on the subject, if you want that, go talk to Gary or Dan. Both have more knowledge about safety than I do. I can only relay my own experience and what I observe from that. The thing is, that between the lessons of the MSF classes, and a bit of seat time, you can learn alot. Now, some of what I do as a rider comes from my driving. In the years I've been driving I've had 4 accidents. When I was 17, I was rear-ended at a stop light, and though the accident was 'not my fault', in hindsight, I could have prevented it had I been paying more attention. That same year I had one that was blatantly my fault (though it was ticketed as a no fault) turning left from a stop sign, I hit a lady that was coming through the intersection. Visibility was poor and I trusted the guy waving me out, I knew better, it was my fault, I don't care that she was speeding, or anything else, I failed to find her visually and that is on me. The third crash came at 21 when I totaled a race prepped Audi Quattro on a race track, again, this is my fault, and it all stemmed from a mental mistake, not focusing on what I was doing and braking too hard, too late and in a bad spot because of that mental lapse.

The fourth incident was truly a dual fault accident, and it was ticketed that way. But no one was hurt, and it was a learning experience, where had I been a bit more tuned in, I probably would have been able to prevent. I saw probably, because I'm not 100% sure that it would have changed things. Not being in a rush, and going to the other side of the parking lot to use the light would have, and because of that, if there is a light, I use it.

This last incident occurred just 2 years ago. I had run to the grocery to grab a few things the night before thanksgiving, and was turning left out of the lot. The road at that point is 3 lanes, 1 north, 1 south and a turn lane in the middle. Across the street from the entrance I was exiting, is the entrance to an excellent italian restaurant with an excellent wine cellar. It was around 7PM, so it was quite dark. As I started to turn left, I failed to see the navy blue Mustang without it's headlights on yet nail the gas to eek in front of me coming straight across from the restaurant across the 3 lanes and into the grocery store entrance I was exiting. Needless to say, I hit him in the side with my left front fender. As an aside, either the Chrysler Pacifica is a tank, or the Mustang is tin-foil, because the Mustang side was destroyed from wheel to wheel, the Pacifica required a new bumper, fender and headlight.

I made a mistake there, but I learned to adopt a safer habit. These types of events are what make up our 'wisdom' as we age. When I approached the transition from car driver to scooter / motorcycle rider, I recognized that I didn't have the 'wisdom' to jump in right away, and as a father and husband, I needed to mitigate that risk, so first, the MSF course. Second, seat time with experienced riders, third, seat time in controlled 'safe' environments. Finally seat time on the road. Then after the seat time establishes some habits, consciously think about what you have to do, every time you get in the saddle.

The first thing about mitigating risk is the most important in my mind, and that is, take your time. By rushing, you make mental mistakes, and more importantly, don't give yourself enough time to react to a situation. Even after years of bicycling and now my time on the scooter, I still don't feel that I could react quick enough to avoid an issue if I'm traveling too fast and operating in a 'rush' mode.

Second in importance is to keep your eyes moving. Doing this, and consciously watching to the little signals that hint at bigger ones, the turn of a wheel, the direction of a head in a car, the change in texture or color of a spot of moisture in the road, the rustle of the bushes where a dear it preparing to dash.

Third for me is the general catch all. Remembering that I am my only defense against stupidity, mine and the other guys. It's a little bit like the famous auror, Mr. Moody in Harry Potter says, "Constant Vigilance". My awareness is my best defense.

Fall is coming

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:34:32 -0400

Well football season has started, the kids are back in school and we've hit the fall side of the Labor Day Weekend. Looks like Fall is officially on it's way. Admittedly, around Atlanta, it's hard to tell it's fall when the temperature is still in the mid 90's well into September, but that doesn't change the fact that it is coming.

Now I'm more or less recovered from the cold that drove me to actually drive the cage to work, but I really haven't done any recreational riding. I am really hoping to change that in the coming weeks, with events like Deliverance 6 coming up, in addition to the various clubs around the city organizing rides now that summer vacations the opportunities to get out with the group are back on the upswing.

I also hear rumor that the AJC is putting together a scooter piece with the upcoming Deliverance rally, which I hope to get some exposure for the OTP clubs running around the area.

But all of that pales, because with the fall comes the October foliage in the mountains. This is my favorite time of the year. I love to grab my camera and go out and shoot all the fall color, and there is no better way to do this than from the scooter.

As for the commute, it's still good and the longer I do it, the less I want to return to a car. To the point where I'm seriously considering selling my car, but that puts me in a mind for those occasions when I have to pick up one of the kids from an activity. They aren't comfortable with riding, and I will not force the issue, so while I may sell the car, I'm thinking that I'll replace it with a SMART fourTwo if they ever actually ship. Until next time.

Safety?

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:02:19 -0400

No one in their right mind would describe the act of riding a two wheeled vehicle in traffic as an inherently safe activity. Then again, neither is getting in a car, or taking a shower. But the advantages to riding a scooter or motorcycle are significant, as you probably know if you are reading this. The problem is that most car drivers still don't understand, and don't care.

In the last couple of weeks, I've seen the questions of safety and gear rise on every forum, mailing list and message board that I participate in. The questions really are surprising to me. I simply don't understand how it's even a question. When I look at riding, particularly what I ride since I'm in that middle ground where what I ride is both motorcycle (power, weight, wheel size) and scooter (step through design, upright seating position, engine on the swingarm). Having chosen to ride, I recognize that I there is a risk, and that my only chances of mitigating the risk are to wear proper gear, make sure I'm visible, and to ride responsibly.

But in reading some of the posted content, I realize that there is a lot of 'wear the gear' fear mongering going on, and that's the wrong way to go about this. Sure, wear the gear, it is important, but let's get out and educate the non-riders, and for gods sake let's stop making such asses of ourselves that drivers think all riders are hooligans. If lane splitting isn't legal in your state, don't do it. If you see an opportunity, but it's pretty clear you are going to antagonize the cars drivers, don't take it. Be respectful, and when people ask you about riding, tell them all the benefits, like gas mileage, parking and environmental benefits. Telling that about doing 140 down the 50 mph surface streets only serves to reinforce a bad image, but so do the little things. Explain to them that in truth riding itself isn't all that risky, it's all the distracted drivers that pose the biggest risk.

You may not convert them to riding, but hearing about how much their distraction is your danger may help raise their own awareness. Respect is a two way street, and right now, the average driver sees 8 or 9 irresponsible riders for the 1 or 2 responsible ones they don't see and retain the image of seeing.

Taking the Car

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:24:29 -0400

Alright, so for just the third day in the last year, I drove the car to work. It felt very strange, but the truth is that I felt it was the safer choice. Somehow, I managed to get either a serious allergy related head cold, or just a good old fashioned sinus cold. Either way, my head is swimming a little bit from sinus pressure, and riding just didn't seem to be a safe choice, particularly when you add a 60% chance of thunderstorms. So, I left the scooters at home.

Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. The one thing that these day hammer home is that I really don't enjoy driving the car. I miss the smells and sounds of life that you get outside the cage.

Back Home and Catching Up

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:05:34 -0400

The hardest part about a week like last week is the return home and the catch up work. Having taken off mid day on Wednesday of last week, and spent Thursday and Friday at a customers office doing some work for them, I knew that my email and normal office work was piling up, but that was to be expected. Taking saturday and sunday off, meant that the personal things piled up too. Then monday was the wife and I's wedding anniversary, so no catch up on Monday night. Then tuesday was a workout day, so only minimal catch up. Needless to say, it's been a busy week. But, it looks like things are almost back to normal.

I did get the 'Web Communities' section of Two Wheel Junction up and running, though I need to populate content into the site. Next is the 'Events' section. It will probably be a week before I'll get time to iron that out. I just got the rest of the Hill on Wheels pictures off the camera today, they have been posted along with this update.

In addition, last night while riding to meet the wife and kids for dinner at a local pizza place, I got the sunset shot you see above that I've added to the 'favorites' photo album and made available on Zazzle.

Friday @ Hill on Wheels

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 08:49:27 -0400

The opening night meet-n-greet went smoothly and there was a good turn out of attendees. Most importantly, checkin was well organized and the location made it easy for everyone to mill about and truly meet and greet. At 9, the night time ride through a busy downtown Chattanooga made for a pleasant (if still 95+ degree hot) ride. Particularly since this friday was also a downtown concert and there were probably 3-400 other motorcycles in downtown, along with a couple of thousand people, giving the whole thing an almost festival or parade like feel.

This morning, breakfast is planned, along with the long ride, so I'll be heading out shortly.

Arrived, safe and sound

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:16:42 -0400

Well it was a hot, but nice ride up, and I only missed my turn twice! Seriously though, the door to door ride distance was 137 miles, 4 stops (1 for gas, 3 for water and leg stretch), 3 hours 15 minutes. I came up from Milton/Alpharetta using mostly backroads, and on the return I am planning to swap out a few roads to get a better ride with less nasty roads.

The route up to Jasper was excellent except for an 11 mile stretch on GA 5 / 515, where it is interstate quality road, without the restricted access. Traffic speeds in excess of 70mph. Once there though, jumping on to GA 136 to Old US 411 was a nice stretch of road, if a little desolate :-). Then of course there was the few minutes of oh my god this can't be the right road when you arrive at a one lane bridge on Old US 411. The stretch of road on US 411 / GA 61 / GA 282 isn't too bad, though again, it's mostly four lane roads with 55 mph limits, they are lightly traveled. That all gets you up to Chatsworth, where it was left on across GA 52 to good old US 41, the old north/south road before I-75.

US 41 north of Dalton is a very pleasant ride though, and just north of Ringgold, look out for the Emu's or Ostrich's on the farm on the right. Unexpected sight that was :-). The rest of the ride in is mostly suburban streets and into the city, though the tunnel is pretty cool, though the turn as the exit kinda sucks.

Overall the BV did great, and I got surprisingly good milage. Looks like I got an average of 72 mpg, riding gently and casually, I wasn't in any hurry, and was enjoying the sights. In addition, since I am up here on business for two days prior to the Hill on Wheels rally, I had quite a bit to pack. Clothes for 5 days, including office type clothes for two of those days, two pairs of shoes, camera, swimsuit, workout clothes, rainsuit, scooter cover, lock and chain, water, big honkin laptop computer (17" MacBook Pro) and all the assorted needs, cell phones, chargers, memory card stuff for the camera, and of course, me. Fortunately, all the clothes fit well in my duffel bag, the laptop snugly on top of that, all sitting on the pillion seat, with the shoes, cover, locks and rain gear stowed in the side case. The top case was empty, storage for whatever I buy for the kids while I'm here I guess.

Left about 3:15, arrived about 6:30, checked in, unpacked, and went prowling to find the various destinations for the week, looks like everything is easy to find, and I am looking forward to a great weekend.

Prepping for Hill on Wheels

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:34:21 -0400

Since I have to do some work at a customer's office in Chattanooga, I scheduled it so that I could stay and enjoy the Hill on Wheels Scooter Rally this coming weekend. So, I'm riding from Alpharetta to Chattnooga on wednesday afternoon. This should be an interesting ride almost entirely on backroads. Google maps lists it at 111 miles. I'm planning 4 hours of ride time door to door. Why do long ? well, I'm planning to stop often because the forecast is for 101 degrees in Atlanta, 103 in Chattanooga. This will be the first trek up this route for the BV500.

This weekend I checked all the fluids, so all that's left is to pack, load up and ride out.

Hope to see some of you there!

OMG It's Friggin' HOT!

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 09:51:15 -0400

Yikes. We went from a pretty mild, but dry summer 4 weeks ago with high in the 80's and 10-20% humidity, to 2 weeks of highs in the 90's with 80% humidity, to this week. Highs in the 100's and 20-60% humidity. It's enough to make me think about a white seat cover!

Seriously though, riding through the cold days at 16 degrees didn't discourage me from riding, but too much of this kind of heat might. Last night, the ride down the to the greenway for my skate was about the most miserable ride I've ever had. Traffic was a mess, and sitting in stop and go traffic in this heat , made for an unpleasant ride. Then putting gear back on after the workout, while all sweaty really didn't appeal, but after a couple of miles of breeze, the body cooled, and with the sun setting the blazing heat was muted to dull heat (still 88 at 11pm), and balance was restored.

So, yeah, I'm still riding, but with the high today, again over 100, and tomorrow expected to be even higher, it's like Robin Williams said in Good Morning Vietnam, "Doing a little bit of Crotch Pot Cookin'".

The difference between 'Being' and 'Living'

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:01:08 -0400

Over the last 20 years of my life, I have developed a core philosophy that I have mentioned a couple of times in passing in comments to other people, but I've never actually posted much about it on my own. It's probably about time.

The philosophy is this; Being is easy, living is not, not and takes effort every day of our lives. The difference, in my mind, is a fundamental approach to everything we do in life. One of the most obvious and easily explained applications of this philosophy applies to a frequently contentious subject, religion. Religion is one of those places where many people are very good at 'Being' but not so much when it comes to 'Living'. Here is a classic example. I have an acquaintance who I know well, and have for many years. He frequently tells people that he 'is a christian'. That's great, I'm happy that he can profess his faith like that, but the problem is that knowing him, I don't believe it, because he doesn't 'live' it. Sure, he goes to church every Wed. and Sunday. Sure he participates in all the bible study classes at the church, he even donates quite of money to the church, but none of these things absolve him of his behavior. We are talking about a man who treats others poorly, including some of those closest to him, basically anyone that is not his equal or better (in his eyes), is dirt and gets treated as such. What kind of person is he? if an animal is in the road, he will not swerve to miss it. He litters, the world is his ashtray, and he drives aggressively to the point of being dangerous. He cares about very little beyond himself.

He is good at 'being', but the 'living' part seems to give him trouble, the worst part is that he doesn't see it.

This really isn't the only place this is true though. Another example is parenthood. It's easy to be a parent, you just have to create a child. Once you've become a parent, you are a parent for life. Unfortunately, 'living' life as a parent is a totally different ball game, one that is easy to fail, and might be the hardest thing to live well, but one that is eminently satisfying to see even your little successes bear out as your children grow.

It even applies to being a spouse, where being married is easy, once you've said 'I do', you're in until 'death do you part', and regardless of other outcomes, you will always be entwined in the life of the other party. The problem is that living married is hard. It means putting 'us' before 'I' and working at living the marriage every day.

Which brings up the most important part of the entire philosophy; you can survive just being, but you have to live to really get the most out of life. Sometimes, that means you'll fail, sometimes it means you'll get hurt, but at the end, you need failure to balance success, and you can look back and say, 'I was alive' or you can look back and say 'I lived'. I know which one I want to say.

Weekend Activities, TWJ Tees now available

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:47:51 -0400

Well, the hot week ran into a hotter weekend. With highs in the mid 90's (though the thermometer at the house was showing 100+ on Saturday), it was a scorcher.

Friday afternoon, I got to leave work a bit early and ran some errands. On the way home however, I did catch one great picture, it's my latest wallpaper :-).

Unfortunately, I had some yardwork to do. So Saturday started out with a ride (bicycle) of about 10 miles to get stretched out and ready for the day. Then it was onto the scooter to go get the mulch hauler from the office, and off to Lowe's. Unfortunately, the area I'm mulching is on the wrong side of the septic system drain fields, so bags, while more expensive, are the better choice. Grab 25 bags of mulch, and head home for the unload. Empty the car, and take it back to the office to pickup the scooter and come home on the scooter. For the record, it is a perfectly valid excuse to go 10 miles out of the way for the added cooling effects of a blast down the highway for one exit and 75mph. At least by the time I got home the sweat had eased of to a dry creekbed instead of the raging Mississippi river that it was after unloading.

Then there was a quick mow of the yard before spreading the mulch. With all of that done, dinner was fast approaching, so a quick swim in the pool with the kids and in for a pizza. A bit of XGames with the kids and off to bed.

Then came sunday. Another trip to the get the mulch hauler, and two trips to Lowe's for another 60 bags of mulch, and got it all spread, but it was a hot, exhausting day. After I got all the mess cleaned up, a quick shower and off to pick up the scooter.

Saturday and Sunday, I rode the People for most of my running, but Sunday evening, I needed a break, so I took off for a nice relaxing ride for about an hour exploring some of the roads that are in the area that fell into the category of 'I think I know where they go, but I've never been down them', before coming home to cook dinner.

Speaking of dinner, this is a relatively easy to make meal that my family loves, but is also reasonably low in fat. Chicken Alfredo Lite, grab the Mccormick's Alfredo packets as a base. Replace the butter with with your favorite butter substitute (we use one of the buttery spread / 0 trans fat options), replace the milk with plain non-fat yogurt, and add 1/4 cup of white wine. I know most would use a chablis for this, but I don't keep chablis in the house since noone will drink it, so I use the white I have on hand, usually an Ecco Damani Pinot Grigio, which is well suited to enjoying a glass while cooking. Then follow the directions on the package to get your base started. Before heating the sauce, add 1 tbsp of fresh chopped garlic, 1 tsp of italian seasoning, and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, other than that, follow the packet. Prep the chicken by splashing a little olive oil in the skillet, along with another tsp of the garlic and a dash of italian seasoning, then cooking the chicken in there. I prefer to cook the breasts whole until they are about half done, then I'll cut them down into bite sized pieces and return them to the skillet to finish cooking them. I figure if you got this far, you know the noodles :-), We use rainbow rotini for the colorful presentation for the kids. Served with salad and some bread, it makes a nice easy meal.

Finally, after dinner and a game of scrabble, it was time to finish up the prep for next weeks trip to Chattanooga for the Hill on Wheels Rally. This is just their second one, but it looks to be well organized and should be a great rally. In prep, I did put together a t-shirt for Two Wheel Junction that I'll be wearing on Saturday and Sunday if they come in time. So, if anyone else would like to wear one, they are now available TWJ T-Shirts. I hope to see a few new faces in Chattanooga at Hill on Wheels.

Hot!

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:51:56 -0400

Phew has it been hot the past few days. Generally speaking 90-100 degrees doesn't bother me that much, but the last week, pairing that with 80% humidity and no wind, and it's just been hot. Driving a car with A/C, you really forget just how hot it can get out there on the pavement. Wed. night, I had to go home and mow the yard (every 3-4 days right now, it's been that wet and hot, the bermuda is going nuts), so I stopped by the grocery and picked up some groceries for the wife. It's pretty sad when your grocery list is 5 2 litre bottles of soda, 2 gallons of milk, salad, cheese, eggs, french bread, a 10lb bag of potatoes, 2 bottles of Juicy Juice (great stuff btw, too bad it's sooooo darned expensive, I'd rather drink that to sodas), crackers and a few other sundries, and the hardest thing to carry on the scooter is the french bread (it's too long, and too soft).

Then home to mow the lawn while the wife makes dinner. 45 minutes later, dripping with sweat I'm eating dinner on the patio under the deck with a fan trying to cool off and not poison the air in the house with the toxic stench that is lawn sweat :(. Jump in the pool to rinse off and play with the kids for a few minutes before they head off to bed, and into the basement to work on some website stuff.

Thursday, more of the same, with a short lunch time ride to decompress. If there is one thing I love the most about the area I live and work is that while there are a couple of main roads that traffic tends to suck on (Hwy 9, GA 400, Windward Pkwy, Peachtree Pkwy) there are hundreds of little backroads that are often more country lane than anything else. For lunch yesterday, I had to go meet my wife at Office Depot to gear the kids up for another school year. From the office, this is straight down hwy 9, and left on Windward Pkwy. Boring, often nasty traffic. Fortunately, there's a great back route that gets there running past a few farms, past a couple of high end apartment complexes, and in the back entrance to the Office Depot shopping center. 1 stop light, 3 stop signs, no traffic. Sure it takes a little longer but, honestly, do I care about an extra 5 minutes given the alternative? not even a little.

Then last night, it was skate night, so off the greenways at 6pm for 18 miles of roller blading. Needless to say, at the end of that I was sweating bullets. This is the one instance where I find it hard to ATGATT. When I go skate, I wear jeans and my jacket over bike shorts, down to the greenways, and change into shorts there, storing all my gear on the scooter. The problem is that when I get back and I'm hot, and my shirt (and shorts) are so wet I may as well have been swimming? Putting jeans and a jacket on really doesn't appeal, but I do it. Safety first, but to quote my 12 year old daughter; 'ewwwww', I think I agree. The wife and kids where off school shopping so I was on my own for dinner. Something quick, Panda Express and eat out on the patio, as the sun sets. Turned out to be a very nice pleasant evening, finally getting home at 10 til 10. All in all, a great, if very hot day.

Unfortunately all of that skating meant, I was sore and tired this morning :-). Got up late and got a late start to work which meant the short route, but I'm hoping to get out of the office early today and run over to Vespa Atlanta and see if Floyd has any summer gloves in stock to replace my Icon Patrols that are starting to get a little ragged.

Added Photos - Wednesday Commute

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:54:23 -0400

First, let's talk about a site addition. Over in the Photo Albums there is a new album of my personal favorite pictures from my scooter adventures. Because I've had a couple of folks over the last year ask for copies, I've done a couple of things that I expect to keep adding to over time. First, in the album are 'Desktop Wallpaper' or 'Background' sized images. These are scaled to the noted 1680x1050 that is the native resolution of so many wide screen monitors now, and they are watermarked to indicate the source of the images. Since a couple of people have further asked for printed copies, I have done some digging, and have decide to use Zazzle to allow anyone that wishes to customize a print and have it printed in the size of their choice. Contained with each photo in the album are direct links to Zazzle for this, as well as I now have a link in the sidebar to my 'Zazzle Gallery' where you can view and purchase anything I've turned into a product from the library. Yes, I do make a few cents for anything you buy from Zazzle using the Gallery link, which is a good thing as I've tied it to my 'Scooter Habit' account which I hope to use towards a PX or Stella for a fun little shifter / recreational toy, or to buy additional hardware for Two Wheel Junction

Which brings me to the ride. Yesterdays route home took me down into Alpharetta to catch my son's Tae Kwan Do Black Belt midterm stripe / belt ceremony. From there I had to run back to the office to finish up some brochures before the sales guys head out to Baltimore for a trade show next week (yeah, in addition to my roles as owner, programmer, support weenie, network guru, and building handyman, I also do most of the artwork and page layout for all of our printed and web materials, about the only thing I *don't* do is sales). By the time I was headed home, it was nearly 9, and the sun was setting. Unfortunately for me, my camera batteries were toast, so I missed a couple of nice vista's on the route home, oh well, at least I got to enjoy them. The ride was shorter than I wanted, but stress and a long day meant I needed to get from point a to point b in a more direct fashion than I might normally take. Fortunately, all the art is shipped off to the printers so I can move on to the next task.

The ride in this morning proved to be a much needed respite, after a good night of sleep, I got up and had a quick swim before coming in to work. There has been a crew on Thompson Rd installing new telephone / power lines down for the past month. These guys have gotten to the point where I get a wave every day from them, and for some reason, seeing a very bored face holding the traffic sign suddenly light up with a smile makes my morning. This morning it was the young guy on the crew. I was in between two big trucks (Ford F-350 and F-250 super cab), and his bored face didn't see me until the last minute but the grin still popped :-). You see, it really is the little things in life.

As always, there is something pure and joyous about the wind in your face experience of riding that makes the day start off so much more pleasant. There was a time when I was an avid listener to the radio and the morning just didn't seem complete without, and yet, I haven't listened to the radio on the way to work in a year. I don't miss it. I don't need it's company, I have the sights and sounds of life in suburbia to fill any void that it left.

Parking?!

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:06:48 -0400

One of the things I both love and loathe about scootering is parking. In theory, parking is no big deal. Use designated parking, if now motorcycle parking is provided. Bear in mind, this is not a 50cc scooter I can readily throw up near a bike rack. Generally, I don't have a problem walking, so I'll put the scooter in a safe spot further away from the entrance so as not to offend someone into doing something stupid (like trying to move my scooter without permission, which I've seen done twice now). Sometimes, this just isn't possible.

Lately, I've been trying to get back into shape, so 2 or 3 days a week, I'm going down to a public park area in Alpharetta to go rollerblading on a 12 mile loop of nice protected patch for bikes pedestrians and rollerblades. So, I throw the skates into the saddle bags, and off I go. The parking area presents a challenge though. There is a paved loop through the parking area, but the normal car spaces are all gravel, making these less than ideal for the scooter. There are however two handicapped spaces that are paved. Also less than ideal. Then there is a single paved triangle to the left side of the handicapped spaces. This triangle is not marked with no parking stripes, and under every GA law covering parking is perfectly legitimate for usage by a scooter or motorcycle. Even so, I park as far back and to the left as I can so that anyone using the handicapped spot will not be impacted by my usage of the space. I started using this space, after another patron of the park complained to me because I had tucked the bike into a gravel space, preventing a 'car' from using the space.

So last night, I return to the bike to find an Alpharetta police officer sitting in his cruiser in the space behind my bike. Turns out another patron, not handicapped, was offended by the usage of the space and had called the police. The officer and I talked briefly, and he confirmed what I thought, that I was not in violation of the law, and in his opinion I had shown courtesy in trying to be clear of impacting any other patron, so he did not issue any citation, but suggested using a normal space. I explained about the earlier situation, he just shrugged and said that unfortunately, bikes offend many drivers in general.

He's right. There is nothing I can do in that situation, so I will continue to use the space until some offended patron pushes Alpharetta into striping the area as no parking, which I have no doubt will happen (nor did the officer).

All of this raises the issue though. When parking is laid out, there is very little consideration of motorcycle parking taken into account, and it is left to us to improvise. These improvised parking jobs seem to offend some drivers, just creating further antagonism. It's a nasty circle that needs to broken. Looks like it's time for a little more organized advocacy in our city councils.

No riding this weekend

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:37:37 -0400

Well, while the weather cooperated, the family schedule did not. Somehow, the entire weekend was a wash in terms of riding, which was a bummer. Friday afternoon did provide some fun on the bike though. Had to make a run down to Perimeter Mall to pick up something for my mother's birthday. The fun thing about that stretch is that from Alpharetta I have two options. Boring highway (GA 400), or surface streets.

One of the ugly things that people who have never lived in the area don't understand or know is that the Chattahoochee River is a little bitty river that causes huge traffic headaches in the area. The reason is pretty simple. From Lake Lanier to I-285, there are only 9 bridges across the river: GA 20, Mcginnis Ferry Rd, Abbots Bridge Rd, State Bridge Rd, Medlock Bridge Rd, Holcomb Bridge Rd, GA 400, Roswell Rd, and Johnson's Ferry. Unfortunately, this is the very heart of Atlanta's north suburban sprawl. In order to get from Alpharetta/Milton to Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody, there are only two relevant bridges, Roswell Rd and GA 400.

Given my options, Roswell Rd it is. It's not that the BV can't handle the highway (particularly at 5:30 on Friday when traffic is moving at a blistering 10 mph!), but that I don't *enjoy* the highway. Fortunately the rain held off late enough that I navigated the back roads and got the gift (and a few minutes of 'personal time' window shopping Restoration Hardware) before coming home to mow the yard.

That's one of the hidden luxuries of Atlanta that I love. We are far enough west in the Eastern Standard Timezone, that during the summer months, it's still light until around 9PM. But after that ride, Bev got parked until this morning, when we got a lovely slightly foggy morning ride into work. Uneventful, but strangely peaceful.

New Givi Windscreen

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:55:04 -0400

One of the things that I've missed the most in moving from the Kymco People 250 to the Piaggio BV500 has been the windscreen. When I bought the BV, I ordered the Piaggio medium windscreen, but after a month I got sick of waiting, so this week I ordered and alternative, in the Givi A106 (TwistedThrottle.com). They got it to me yesterday, and I got it installed last night. This windscreen is a little larger than the one on the Kymco was, so I wanted to get some miles on it to see how it feels, so I squeezed in a few errands after installation to see how it did with the evening winds. Overall, not bad, you certainly know it is there, but it isn't quite the 'sail' I feared it would be. The upside is that the screen does fill it's primary function well.

My biggest issue is that on a longer ride, my back got tired from fighting with the wind. The screen completely solves that problem, and should reduce the rain issues I was battling when it rained. So while I know there are concerns with windscreens in general, I think this should be alright, particularly on a scooter as heavy as the BV.

Riding in to the office this morning, really helped my opinion though. The past few mornings have been cool by late July standards, but the afternoons have been muggy and hot, and the reduced airflow on the body helped me stay comfortable, so all in all, I'm quite pleased. It will be interesting to see if it effects my fuel mileage, which has averaged 68mpg with a high of 81 and a low of *cough*45*cough*. Starting with the next tank of fuel, I'm resetting the average so I can see what I'm getting in another 2k miles and compare.

Morning meeting makes for a blissful start to the day

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:28:37 -0400

So this morning I had a meeting and a couple of errands I needed to get done, so my normal routine was changed up. Now, I am most certainly NOT a morning person. I normally get up around 7:30 and roll out to work around 8:15. This morning though. I had to head north an hour to the north side of Cumming, GA. Since I really don't enjoy driving the highway, I decided that I'd set out early, and enjoy some backroads and a more scenic route, which meant that though by highway the route would be about 55 minutes, it would be 80-90. Sounds good to me.

So up at 6:00, in the shower and out the door by 6:45. The first sight of the day, a pack of deer, with a 5-6 point buck and 3 doe grazing by the road not a mile from the house. Now, deer are pretty, but frankly, they scare the pants off me, 1500 lbs of animal that can move and change directions quickly and with no warning, fortunately, I think these are so comfortable with cars and bikes that all I got was a stare down by the buck. From there, it was left on the Hopewell out to Drew Campground and on up into the backside of Cumming. These are mostly rural roads with several neighborhoods, but still, there are some great vistas and views up the road.

From there, it's a quick loop around downtown Cumming to get to highway 9 headed up towards Dawsonville (Bill Elliot's home town for you NASCAR fans) and then a quick blast up a couple of miles to the meeting. Traffic was light, and the ride was about as good as it gets. The only real downside, was that it was a little cool. I set out this morning with a t-shirt and a fleece sweatshirt under my mesh jacket, and while it wasn't too bad in the sun, the shady valleys with the damp morning air got a little chilly.

From after the meeting, it was after 10, and since I was already close, a quick run down 369 to GA 400 and a half mile of freeway to the GA Driver's License facility to renew my license and get my picture updated for my license. Then back to Alpharetta via more backroads, this time straight down Highway 9 all the way into Windard Parkway, where Office Depot awaited. I needed a couple of business card holders to mount inside one of the pannier bags for business and forum cards, and finally to Quizno's to pick up lunch for the crew at the office before heading in about 1:00. All told, 130 miles. Had this been done in the car, I'd have been in a truly foul mood by the time I got in, and yet done on the scooter, the things that get me uptight and annoyed in the car just roll off.

Yeah, what could have been a bummer of a day turned into a great morning, it's really too bad that now I'm really struggling to get in gear for work at a desk :-).

Getting Old

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:28:19 -0400

One of the things I remember the most about my grandparents house was that it was always warm, to the point of being almost hot. As I get older I'm beginning to understand. 70 degrees, under cloudy skies, is great when you are just walking around, but this morning, at 45 mph, wearing a short sleeve shirt under my SHIFT mesh jacket, it got down right chilly on the way to work. The problem is, this afternoon, it'll be 90.

There are other signs, the sore hips & sore lower back from mowing the lawn, the new eyeglass prescription every year the impending arrival of my daughter's 'teen' years, and yet, I'm young enough to be having a blast in life. Perhaps that's the real key. Check back in another 35 years and I'll let you know if I'm still having a blast, if I'm not, hopefully there's a good reason.

Back from a Weekend Vacation

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:16:50 -0400

Every now and again, it's nice to get out of town for a couple of days and just take a break. This last weekend my wife did one of those last minute, no planning, pack up the kids and go long weekenders. Thursday night we packed up after work and went to the beach. Destin, Florida to be exact. We've got some friends that live there that offered to put us up for the weekend, so we did. Scott & Britt have been great friends for years, and they own and run a toy store down in the Destin Commons. Better people than them, I've not met.

Anyways, it was a wonderful break, but one thing I found is that I missed riding, so I'm now looking around for a good trailer solution for my scooter(s). So far it looks like my best option is either an 8' flat bad trailer for about $799 which offers the added flexability to be used for things other than the scooters, or a trailer in bag which is a motorcycle scooter only solution for $1200, which offers a better storage solution when not in use. I haven't made a decision yet, but I'm certainly looking.

This morning however, was pure pleasure. Morning temperatures around 70, very light traffic as I came in a little later than usual, and just a borderline euphoria of being back on the bike after three days in the Durango, including a 2 hour stretch sitting in construction traffic on I-85 northbound, just south of Newnan, GA at 12:30 at night :(.

Vacations are always good, but there is no place like home...

Oh and John and Lil'Wifey, we waved as we turned west onto I-10 towards Pensacola, one of these trips we are hoping to find an hour or so to treat you all to some lunch in Tallahassee, just because :-).

Hello Friends, both old and new

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:59:07 -0400

There comes a time in your life where you realize that you have too many things and you need to get rid of some. For me, it's websites (at least this week). In addition to the site(s) I maintain for work, I also have several that I've been doing personally. Let's see, there's my 'Words of a Geek' site on my .mac account, then there is my three side projects, www.druware.com, www.postgresqlformac.com and of course, www.twowheeljunction.com. In order to make my life easier and the content more coherent, I've decided to put things where they make sense, and to close down my .mac account, as it is just overkill for what I need.

With that in mind, I have moved my scooter blogging here. Sure it isn't perfect, but it's a start. One of the things to be aware of is that, for the moment, I am not using a server based blogging engine, but a client side tool called SandVox. Mostly, it just works for my needs, and it's easy to use.

Before anyone asks, the .mac site will stay up for another year, but I will no longer be updating after August 1, all updates will be made here. For my old friends, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but it was just getting to be too much to update.