I have now officially put 1100 miles on my Scooter. I have a friend, Mark Cornell, who tells me that if I am to put any great amount of miles on my Scoot I should expect to "lay it down " once or twice. Of course I laughed heartily at the very suggestion that I, Sir Paul, Superscooter himself, would ever be in a situation where "laying down" a bike would be an only option.
I suppose I laughed too soon.....because I finally "laid down" my bike, or as we say in England, I took a spill. Despite the fact that I am extremely alert when riding Sophia, other people are not always as alert when driving their "tin cans" to work or pleasure. I was inadvertently forced off the road by a fellow the other morning on my way to work. He was pulling out of his driveway and turning toward the sun, and , like a WW2 fighter pilot I was coming toward him from out of the sun. He was also pulling a trailer, which meant he pulled out of his driveway wider than usual (I am assuming). I had already anticipated his actions and I slowed quickly and made my way to the far right side of the road, but he just kept on coming, soooo...... I had to head into the roadside ditch.
The best I can say is that my landing was softer than it would have been on the road or in his grill. Apparently 50yr old bodies do not absorb energy as well as younger ones do. I was a bit sore for a couple of days but no bruises, breaks, or cuts to worry about. Sophia did not fare as well as i did, her hips are a little scraped up and her front mudguard/fender now has a nice little dent in it.
Oh, a little piece of advice for new riders out there: Before picking up a fallen bike/scooter, make sure you turn off the engine because in your slightly dazed/enraged/panicked state you might grab the throttle as you grab the handlebars and your bike might try to drive away again, but without you aboard......Just Saying.
The gentleman in the truck did not even notice the MAYHEM he had caused, and carried on, on his merry way. I am much more careful on his stretch of rural road now. Oh and in his defense I will say that probably about 4 vehicles a day go past his house and I am not one of them except for three weeks a year.
On occasion I am called on to help my wife Cheri's friend Tammy do some lifting, moving or woodcutting in their Antique/junk/treasure shop. As a reward for some recent efforts on my part, Tammy offered to do a painting for me. She is quite talented when it comes to painting whimsical looking women and that kind of thing. I asked her to do a painting of a Vespa, as they are my latest obsession/object of interest. She told me she only did girls and birds, to which I, of course, replied "Well draw a girl on a Vespa". Well she did, and here it is.
Pretty cool I think, especially as this is the first attempt ever at a whimsical Vespa. The girl on the bike is a redhead because my wife is a redhead. The Eiffel Tower is there because.....well who wouldn't want the Eiffel Tower in a picture.
The weather where I live has been a bit too cold and wet lately to go to work on the Vespa every day so I only ride to work when it is cold and dry. Road conditions are what decide me on which vehicle to use, not temperature......so far. The change in the weather is just bringing the day closer when I have to strip Sophia down and give her a new paint job.
A final thought.....why do drivers of pick-up trucks insist on passing me where there are double yellow lines even when I am doing the speed limit? I regularly drive downhill on one of our local roads where the speed limit is 55 and I am doing 60, now even allowing for a 10% error in my speedometer I am still doing 54mph, why o why are people overtaking/passing me. Are they embarrassed to be behind a scooter? I just do not know, but I guess it is better to have those people in front of you than behind you!
All the best,
Sir Paul.
