Mid-Winter Post

I obviously haven't been scooting for some time now. Safety and comfort are the top two reasons here. Winter brings more darkness. I leave for work in the dark, and I come home from work in the dark. That stacks the odds a little too much on the safety side. Also, it's pretty freaking cold when you start cold and accelerate to painfully cold.

Nevertheless, we had a warm January day last weekend. (65F) The dog got out, so I fired up the scooter. After about 10 minutes of idling, I took off. It was great. I realized how far down inside I pushed riding because it was so fun. (I also found the dog.)

So today, a Saturday, I knew the day would start a degree below freezing and top out at a cloudy 50F. But I had two jobs and an aquarium club meeting today and I decided I would go to them on the scooter. Cold be damned!

I suited up in long john pants, the insulated liner, insulated gloves, and a slim fit stocking cap under my helmet. The ride in wasn't too cold, save bracelet sized areas on both wrists where I forgot to tuck in my gloves, and a choker sized area on my neck where the jacket and helmet left the skin exposed. Those areas were pretty much "so cold it's hot and feels like my skin is being sliced open by the wind yet it won't bleed and bring me the relief of hot blood gushing out all over me."

But, my Grandpa had two aircraft carriers sunk from under him in foreign waters, I can handle a twenty minute slight discomfort I brought on myself.

Otherwise, the trip was great. The scooter handled well and I was glad to see familiar places on my route. I rode in both the sunrise and sunset. In my younger years, some evenings brought a pink filter to everything during the sunset. We aptly named the phenomena - the pink time. Tonight was a "pink time". It was further enhanced by the pastel color reflecting off Beaver Lake and the intimate sensation of riding free on the scooter.