about getting from point A to point B in the most interesting ways possible

If you're a large woman in America, your whole life is an opportunity to feel self-conscious, embarrassed, resentful and way too big. You can hide in the corner or on the couch, you can go to therapy, or you can put on your lycra bike shorts and get out there and move.
—Jayne Williams, Slow Fat Triathlete

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July 30, 2006

scooter article permalink

The Denver Post has an interesting, infuriating article on scooters called Scooter Nation: Scoot over, road hogs. Make vroom for "motorized bicyclists," who are driven by saving money and the environment..

This was written because Amerivespa and another nation scooter rally are happening in Denver this weekend.

First of all, motorized bicycles? WTF?

There are bicycles. There are electric-assist bicycles (these look like regular bicycles, but have a discreet throttle for the electric assist). There are mopeds (which are gas powered bicycles with a heavier body, sort of a cross between a bike and a scooter). A scooter is a motorcycle engine put into a cute frame designed for European housewives to do their shopping in their pencil skirts and high heels.

And then the whole saving money and the environment thing. No. Scooterists may want to save money. They may have environmentalist tendencies similar to the rest of the nation.

I know that there are tons of new scooters and scooterists out there, who are riding because it's cheaper gas-wise. I know this because I give them the secret scooterist-motorcyclist wave and get absolutely no response.

But, for the most part, old school scooterists scoot because it's a blast. (And real old school scooterists ride 2-strokes, which are really anything but environmentalist)

Yeah, it is cheaper for me to park at my fav garage downtown with the scooter. Yeah, it's cheaper gas wise. But it's hardly any hardship for me to scoot. And it's so much damn fun.

Posted at July 30, 2006

Comments

I agree about the 2-stroke engines. They are brutal on the environment. However, if they do it with anything other than the 2-stroke, I would be happy to see more people on anything but a 4-wheeled vehicle. Think of how much easier traffic, and parking would be. How much gas would be saved! Yeah, I'd like to see everyone on a bicycle, but in the meantime, I'll take scooters, mopeds, whatever.
Sorry about your knee! I hope it heals fast!

Posted by: Misty at August 1, 2006 8:22 PM