ok, here's a summary of today's ride.

off road scootering
to see what's over this hill?
far from well paved roads.

explosive colors
quiet headstones of times past
snowy mountains soar

dirt bikes, atvs
they stare as i ride by them
a scooter out here?

Cross the stream gently
Dodge cobbles and jump sharp rocks
Yes! We can do this!

Oh no. Snow on road.
Slide across ice, whoops I go!
thank g-d for good gear.

scooter on her side
I slide into ditch unharmed
You 'K, ask Dirt Bikes?

Yes, I smile, [don't cry!]
Slowly continue through snow
DH high-5s me

Another two miles
creeping through mud, ice and snow
finally pavement!

We wave two fingers
Cruisers, rockets, scooters share
Camaraderie

Snow scooter is home.
Each scratch tells its own story
Can we go again?

get up. feed the cats.
open laptop. write haiku.
wait for sun to rise.

Ariel is free
to scoot and jump and roll, past
elk and hummingbirds

she's purring softly
through dappled light and white snow
my scooter is me

is that my shadow
rolling with me through the curve?
tickled pink, I smile.

Ariel scooter
blasts through a set of long curves,
I yell and go Wheeeee!

silly barn swallows,
why do you dive right in front
of my tires at night?

be safe, wear helmet.
keep the rubber side down please.
slow, look, press, and roll

Ariel is my mine!
My scooter to ride, my own.
gravity rules all

My precious scooter
has a small white boo boo smudge
darn you icy steps

I get off the bus
and see my scooter, waiting,
ready to have fun

they slow, stop and stare
hey! she's riding a scooter
Yes we can.

we are women and
we can do anything* we
want to; just watch us!

[*nod to my friends' niece Julianne]

We can RIDE our own.
scooters and motorcycles
brings us freedom now

blogging by lamp light.
my kitties dream of plump mice
I dream of vroom vroom!

A late sun warms us
as we lean into the curves
scooting makes me free!

growl, hiss, fluff, and spit
Cat hates having his hair brushed
he's old, I love him.

here we go scooting
on another adventure
it is so freeing

luna curls up tight
betelgeuse curls up tighter
me in the middle

its chilly and dark
the day is new, full of life
zoom zoom here we go

scoot everywhere

The internet down at work, and after working for most of the day and we still didn't have internet, I scooted to the coffee shop. As you can see, I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around Facebook.

Playing around root ...

without ever landing on it.

Departing from his bluegrass roots, Chris Thile merges his virtuosic mandolin picking with Edgar Meyers amazing double bass classic background to create a musical meld of an avante-guard complexity.

While we went to the concert at Mackey Auditorium with the expectation of hearing a bluegrass jam, what we heard were pieces on the edges of melodies, diatonic scales merging w/ lightening riffs, keeping us on musical edge. In many ways it was uncomfortable - I haven't heard this music since I played Paul Hindemith's oboe concertos (sonatas?). Because this is outside of my norm, it makes me listen to ever note being played.

OK, back to scooting!

Rode my scooter up the Canyon!

Rode my scooter up the Boulder Canyon, 100+ curves and all!

Its a beautiful ride however it has a reputation for being too busy and too fast - car and motorcycle accidents are not uncommon.

As a fairly newbie rider (OK, really newbie rider), I avoided riding its length all summer long. I wanted to be sure I had the riding skills up to the task.

And today the stars were in alignment ... in the form of a slow beat up Subaru to lead the pack at a pace I felt good with and so up, up, up we went!

This is part of the route from below the falls through the narrows.


I really thought I'd be wiped out from all those left -right-left turns etc. and I wasn't! I also thought Ariel would have a hard time climbing the mountains - and there were a few slow downs but I kept up with traffic.











While the sight lines are not long, the road is fairly smooth and wide. The curves are fairly wide beyond Boulder Falls. In fact, the ride was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be! Although I've run this route and feel confident I can do it again safely, my desire is to only take this road during the lower traffic times of day.

10% chance of rain... It's

10% chance of rain... It's been raining up in Ned for the last hour. Ariel is getting wet! I'm gonna be soaked ... the rain gear is of course at home.

[Later] Yep. I got wet. Ariel ended up really really muddy. Time for a bath!

I just can't help it ...

I like taking pictures of scooters!! Most recent scooter pic

So how about posting via...

cell phone? I've taken quite a few scooter pics and it will be cool to post them online :)

Ariel

Ariel was on vacation the month of August...

Except for our very nice trip up to Rainbow Lakes. A 10 mile trek, mostly on dirt roads.

Riding with the big boys

Finally! We're around when the Denver Maxi-scooters are doing a ride and its through our neck of the woods. We left a little early for our rendezvous point at Rt72 & Rt119, just south of Nederland. There's a nice pull off on RT72 just before the intersection.

Bob & I parked our bikes and stripped off the gear, it was not even 10am and it was getting hot up here! About a dozen groups of motorcycles rode by us. Lots of cruisers and sport bikes; most even waved to us. I pity the home owner at this corner cause every hog and crotch rocket revs up or down for this turn. It sounded like swarms of fat bumble bees intermixed with thunder rolling by. A few minutes before ten, we saw a group of cycles coming up the hill. 'think its them?' 'well, we don't hear them so its gotta be them!' (scooters run quiet) and it was!

Up drove Tom, Gina, Jay, Whit, Joe with big smiles on their faces. A great run up Coal Creek Canyon. We introduced ourselves and figured out where a decent pit stop could be and since I described the route so well, they wanted me to lead. me? Off to Nederland to the Visitor's Center (and pit stop). On this ride were, two Suzuki Burgman 650s, a Piaggio BV250, a Honda Big Ruckus 250cc, one SYM HD200, a BMW F650 Dakar, and a Honda Silverwing.


Ya know, that steep corner is aweful to accelerate from. I just wanted to give it a running start and then jump back on the scooter - instead I just leaned over forward and yee-hawwed Ariel up the hill. Next thing I knew, I checked my mirror and no.... one..... is..... there.... I see lights far behind me. Great. What a leader. I dial back the adrenalin and up the hill come the Burgies et al.

We cruise into Nederland in formation, MSF would be proud. Spent a few minutes there and then drove on up towards Ward. The first hills outside of Ned going North are fairly steep and a challenge to keep up one's speed. The sky was awesomely blue with little wind. The yellow wildflowers were magnificent along the road.

Since the group got fragmented, I pulled off just before the Mountain Research Station and we dribbed and drabbed in, regrouped, and headed on to Ward. And then we decided to pull over where we saw a small cluster of other cycles. Two other groups had pulled over for a breather, so we breathed with them, chatted, compared cycle stories. Bob was most interested in the BMW R1200; this fellow is taking a cruise vacation from Kansas.


Gina led the section down through Ward to Left Hand Canyon. She's got a beautiful white Burgman 650 - these roads are like butter for that scooter -it was a joy to watch her take the curves. Ward was typical Ward - cars strewn around, bicyclists grabbing some java, bicyclists pedaling uphill, and tucking for the downhill run. And they're going fast, at least... the speed limit, some places 40+. So we tried to give them the room they needed and popped around each cluster, single, etc. I have no idea how many bicycles we passed - 50, 100? The road is such a beauty to ride; its no wonder everyone wants to ride it!

We pulled into Buckingham Park, had a nice lunch near the creek, and swapped stories about riding and life. This is a great group of people. Bob and I headed north to Lyons so I could see what my scooters max speed really is. I kept up with the traffic ahead of me without a problem :) all the way to Lyons and then up Rt 7 towards Estes Park. What a beautiful road that is too! Full of nice sweepers. We turned off onto RT72 and followed traffic until they pulled off. Another great ride!


The Denver Maxi-Scooter route
Our route
More photos

Scooters swarm around Boulder

(more photos)

A simple flier sat on the counter at Sportique when I picked up my scooter after having a trunk installed last week. 1st annual Boulder Burn-out, sounds like fun!

Bob and I made the trek down from Nederland and arrived around 11am; there was one other scooterist sitting across the street trying to figure out whether to stay or go. Then we saw a few more 'lining up' next to Sportique's building - ah, let's pull over there!

Over the next hour, 40+ scooters had gathered. Ready to go were a few of the venerable names in scooters: Heinkel, Lambretta, Italjet, Malaguti , quite a few from Buddy, Kymco, Stella, an MP3, SYM, Baja Chetak, and even a few Yamaha C3s (Giggles). And of course there were Vespas, modern, antique, indeterminate ages. Apologies for any scooter brands I've missed. And surprises of surprises, their riders all weren't twenty-somethings... many age groups were represented! Enough of the first chapter stuff... let's get on to the ride!

Finally it was time to roll! Oh what fun it is to ride with a group! The high pitched Reeee and 2-stroke smoke made our passing hard to miss. It was almost a parade in some sections as people just stopped and looked at us pass. Cars had to wait their turn. Other motorcyclists waved and honked.

Our route:



We rode to NCAR the long way around - Folsom to Jay to 75th to S. Boulder Road. For a few minutes it rained... hard! Which was rather nice as the temperatures were hovering around 90 degrees. While it had been tempting to forego the armored jacket (ATGATT girl) and join the rest in a t-shirt and helmet, I found myself slipping on the black swelter suit - now in the rain it was a welcomed burden. Off through the country-side we rolled. Horses placidly chomped on tall grasses as we passed by.

And even though we weren't making any land speed records in speed, it didn't matter since we rode as a group. Up at NCAR we took a break, drank some water, swapped scooter stories, and regrouped. Many riders have more than one scooter and for others this was their first month of scooter ownership. One couple had given each other Vespa GT250s for their 20th wedding anniversary! How cute is that!

The final segment wended us through downtown Boulder, and included going down Pearl Street. Typical Saturday chaos already was reining in the center of town, so riding was more about defensive maneuvering than 'being seen'.

Thanks to Sportique and Kristi for putting together this ride and hosting the bbq!

New experience: Riding with someone else!

Our first ride together today!

Bob has a BMW F650 GS Dakar


I have a SYM HD200 named Ariel. Obviously our top speed capabilities are different, as are our skill levels with me being the newer rider.

So, I went first and set the pace. We headed north on the Peak-to-Peak highway from Nederland and went beyond Ward to an awesome view of Long's Peak.


Bob's summary: A cloudless, beautiful day, the road is rough, lots of bicyclists, lots of great sweeper curves, fun heeling the bike over.

Shelley's view: Wow! Weeeeee! My most constitant and fastest ride yet. Really concentrated on being smooth and taking the curves correctly. For some reason my scooter is 10mph SLOWER than before its first service - maybe they readjusted for 5400' (rather than 8300' where I live and ride). The air smelled beautifully - sweet flowers, pine, cut grass, etc. Waved to dozens and dozens of other motorcycles out for a ride.

Just before our joint ride I had gone over to the lake across from Kelly Dahl to photograph the great blue herons.





Finally, I've passed another scooter! We didn't just wave, WE WAVED! and SMILED! Kindred

spirit!

After our ride we ate at Katmandu Restaurant in Nederland. Yumm. Bob led our way home - I was mostly just trying to keep him in sight; a 170 cc road scooter is just no match for a dual sport and 650cc engine on dirt roads. Fun was had by all.

We did 'exchange' our rides. OK, I tried to reach the ground while sitting on the bike. Uh ah. not going to happen. I practiced teetering from one tippy toe to another, pushing the bike by one foot, practice balancing some more, and got over balanced and slowly dropped the bike to its side. Its been on its side many times in its life, so I don't feel guilty. Until we lower the suspension, this bike is off limits to me.

I went back to Ariel - she feels right sized - and we puttered off down our dirt road toward home after a happy day of riding.

Consumer Reports and scooters

I just saw a blog posting by Consumer Reports that they are looking into scooters. I have read many, many newspaper articles which glibly and shallowly report about scooters as a means of transportation and their articles are puff pieces either pro or con. Recent posts in Harrisburg's Patriot News and Boulder's Daily Camera come to mind.

In CR 's discussion area, they are appealing for more information about scooters and riding - and I think we should share our knowledge and love of scooters.

Consumer Reports is EXTREMELY influential; a very positive means lots of sales and a negative reports can mean the demise of a model (Suzuki Samurai). Many people look to their reviews to help them choose cars, toasters, insurance, etc.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/06/motor-scooters.html

And for those looking to buy, they are planning to do actual scooter reviews so look for that in the next few months.

I am not affiliated with this organization in any way - this post is to help share our grass-roots savvy with a much larger audience.

my posting to Consumer Reports:
Thank you Consumer Reports for taking a serious look at scooters and motorcycles. Perhaps the analysis is also about 'riding a scooter in today's traffic' since your blog entry wasn't about consumer advice in how to choose through the myriad of characteristics of different scooters. Although, it would be nice to have CR's in-depth scrutiny of the many brands and their qualities and sizes to point the consumer toward high quality brands and make them aware of the slew of unacceptable/fly-by-night scooter brands which ARE dangerous because they are low quality and often break during use.

"We approach these products with grave concern for rider safety and caution readers against a hasty decision to move to two-wheeled transportation without proper training and safety gear."

"Let's not be hasty." Case in point, I began my research last summer for a scooter and took the time to analyze what my riding needs were and could be. My alternatives to riding a scooter were to consider bicycling the 6 miles to town to catch a bus to a larger town, to car pool (which I already do with 2 others, mostly in the winter), to walk, and to continue driving my car. Much of my research was in safety aspects (gear, skills, attitude) and with safety statistics. After 6 months of research, taking the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Rider course, and passing it, I purchased a scooter that fit my needs (a 170cc scooter with 16-inch tires to accommodate mountain living and riding). I estimate that I can safely ride 9 months a year while achieving ~82 mpg.

Scooters, motorcycles, and bicyclers share many common characteristics, which although obvious, I hope these are remembered when Consumer Reports starts analyzing the safety of these vehicles. And, at least around here, many bicyclists can achieve speeds of 40mph+ while going downhill (and the riders are wearing a helmet usually and a fraction of the gear considered necessary to safely ride a scooter & motorcycle at a similar speed). So the 'inherent instability and dangers' are similar and magnified - are these dangers explained during CR's bicycle reviews?

Really, the safety is incumbent on the rider; and for that, I point this organization to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation who offer basic riding courses and whose materials are often used as the basis for state driver tests and handbooks.

There are dozens of online user forums focused on scooters (and motorcycles), their safe use, their quality, and characteristics, etc. Perhaps as people replace their behemoth SUVs with smaller vehicles that also hold families of 5 just fine and the number of scooters/motorcycles and bicycles increases, the visibility and acceptance of these alternative forms of transportation will also increase. Think Europe and theFar East.

I have been reading Consumer Reports for decades and appreciate the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of its reports. Current newspaper articles seem to have taken a very shallow approach either pro or con; I look forward to the balance that CR is known for.

Soon to be two!

My husband threw a fit after I suggested buying a milk crate and zip tying it to the cargo rack on Ariel.

“Why don’t you just put a crate of chickens on the back while you’re at it.”

Of course, he’s about to get his own motorcycle tomorrow। In anticipation of this momentous occasion, he wore his motorcycle helmet this evening while surfing his political blogs and emitted ‘vroom vroom’ noises

now and then.

रैली!

If you are in the market for a scooter, the best place to see a lot of varieties and talk to real riders is at a rally.

I went to the Colorado Chaos rally today and even though I didn't show up with a scooter, everyone was really nice. There were mostly Vespas at this rally (the sponsor sells Vespas) and a smattering of other brands. Its maybe a smaller rally with ~75 scooters when I came by.

It was so much fun just to be there! People were very willing to tell me about their scooter, from the vintage Allstate (Vespa sold through Sears at one point) to a one week old Aprilia 50 cc.

Gosh darn, I forgot my camera! My DH thumped me on the head - "you always take your camera!!!" doh!

They had a 'gymkhana' which is designed to test one's slow speed skills. I'm sure if I'd had begged to the right person, I could have joined in as the passenger - that's how nice folks were.

So if you are in the market, get over the shyness, get over the 'they'll think I'm an idiot' and just show up. Just walking through the scooters was an education and lots of fun!

A conversation

about Page and Plant...

After all, they did Stairway to Heaven.

"They did?"

Baby steps forward...

Had one of those "oh SH*T" moments this morning...

I was headed on a many mile downhill section with some pretty tight curves. Its steep. In the few seconds between leaning left and then right and then left (that's how close the curves were) I would brake to get my speed back down ...in the middle of this downhill section I went into a skid!

I was braking through the curve (major oops!) - and immediately let go of the brake which stopped the skid - but I was really shaken, heart pounding, and dang it, there was the car that made me pass her 4 miles back was now on my tail!

Was I going too fast - had I really needed to brake? (yes) Was I too confident? Did I hit a small wet patch of dew? Was I trying too hard to stay in front of the car behind me?

So I continued ... carefully, took some big breaths, went through the curves at a slower speed, finally had a straight spot to let the car by me safely, and kept my mantra going... "slow, look, push/lean!, roll" . And 'it's ok, you made a mistake, it's ok, you didn't have an accident, you did the right thing ..." plus when I got to the intersection with the faster road (45 mph and more curves but wider road), I pulled over onto the pull off and did a quick meditation on being confident, etc.

Visual Fixation and Hummocky Roads

Boulder Canyon is an amazing road with over 90 serious curves. Being a neophyte rider, I joined into the experience on the last 6 miles of the lower section where Sugarloaf road intersects the main road. This is a road I've known for four years + via my car and by bus. Some drivers want to go fast, some go 35 mph. You never know but the basic mantra is, there's only one way from here to there, so just deal with who ever is in front of you because that's the speed you are going to go.

And with this knowledge I'm joining, as I said, as a fairly neophyte rider. I've taken the MSF course. I've been practicing on the Peak-to-Peak. I can do 45 mph and curves.

Well. I discover that the lower Boulder Canyon road is very rutted with the years of traffic - the road is not smooth. So the classic 'start on the outside of the curve and cut the corner and back out to the outside' creates an ever changing lean angle that is most disconcerting! I have not encountered this before. And being courteous, after a few curves of this hummocky ride, I pull onto the wide berm and let a small set of 4 cars by.

I re-evaluate the road and decide that keeping a stable line through the curve is probably safer... changing lean angle as one traverses across little humps in the road does not seem to make sense. So after the last set of vehicles goes by, I join back in... and follow the curve in one of the 'grooves' - this feels so much better!

Fast forward 8 hours after work. I'm a little freaked out by my morning ride, and want to take those curves better. I'm headed up hill now through Boulder Canyon. My eyes are dissecting the grooves in the road and I'm doing horribly! What is going on?

Then I realize, I'm fixating on the details of the road! Relax... see the whole curve... see through the curve and suddenly I'm taking the curves more smoothly at the speed of the traffic ahead of me.

So THAT is target fixation! I go through the tunnel and honk my horn. What fun!

Fogged Mirrors and Delicious Scents

My first trip to Boulder via Sugar Loaf Road. There had been a heavy rainfall the night before... the kind where you wake up and hear the rain rattling on the roof. What a cornucopia of scents were in the morning! My goal was to deliver my scooter to Sportique for its first oil change and service.

Little did I know that I would be treated to the heady smells of pine, water, dirt, and a few flowers! The first few miles along the road are dirt - so I took it slowly. I'm very tenuous about going around dirt road curves... the feel of loose gravel mixed with slightly slippery clay makes me feel uncomfortable. Ah to be 10 years old and impervious to such worries!


A few miles in, the road dipped into a hollow and not only did my visor fog up but my mirrors fogged.. first time for that. At the convergence of dirt to asphalt, I pulled over to turn on a blinky light; the theory being that drivers will notice movement and changes... as I'm grappling with my backpack, a guy drives by, gives me thumbs up and then stops and asks if I'm OK. I'm awesome! Positive signals all around and he cruises on. I get my light blinking and notice this most awesome curvy uphill. Wow. I'm going to ride that. And I do.

The cool thing is... the speed limit is 30 mph. Yeah, a lot of folk exceed that, but there are a lot that obey the limit so there's this feeling of "ok, cool, you're doing the speed limit, I won't run you over". Except there are these curvy downhill sections that I'm still not used to, so I pull over to let even the laid back folks by. I mean there is a limit to being laid back after all.

Sunday Ride

I took a short/long trip on Sunday so I mapped it out in Google Maps.

It was so cold - temps around 30 degrees and while it had snowed a wee
bit the previous evening I was bound and determined to ride to my craft
group (where I'm knitting a hat). It mapped out as 30 miles, by the time I was done, it was 50+ miles! Not bad for my first long trip.

From Google Maps, you can get the route working in Google Earth; I suggest just
looking at the route rather than running the 'play' button as Google
Earth doesn't do nap of the earth and you end up spinning around
corners like you're in an airplane rather than on a scooter.



Also discovered that those google folks have been driving around the
mountains, so I'm including a few pictures from their Street View
option in google maps. Here goes. First, I'll show you what the area really looked like on Sunday .

And how could I not show Ariel... after 40 miles into my ride



Here we are at the beginning of the trip looking west.



a few miles later, still on dirt...


looking left, then right, then entering the Peak to Peak highway going
north!



First challenge is a series of broad S turns and a 3+ mile uphill.
There was a very strong headwind (in addition to being really cold) and
I could only get up to 45mph for the first mile.



One of my favorite overlooks:


Off we turn from the highway onto a dirt road town Gold Hill. Its a
short cut... so to speak. What I didn't realize is I go much slower on
dirt roads than in a car.


This is hard to see, but this road was really steep! And that's a long
drop off (about 200 feet) on the right -with no guard rail!


a very sweet set of curves. And in spite of the strip of sand running
down the middle of my lane, very fun to take. Speed limit here is
around 40mph...

By now it was getting a bit warmer. It felt really nice to thaw out.




and then, I got lost on the dirt roads on the plains... and saw many
horses along the way... so getting lost was not so bad!


here's the route that displays in Google Maps
click on Street View to see the images.

Now, to see this in Google Earth , follow this link to get the kml file. If you have Google Earth installed, this route will open automatically.