Motorized Scooters Are Fun Fun Fun!

Cat has had her eye on motorized scooters for about a year or so. She has a lot of walking to do in downtown Seattle, often going up and down steep hills, and she wanted to make that part of the commute easier.

Last summer, she bought a Glion motorized scooter, that goes up to 15 miles per hour that conveniently folds up like so:

Cat named it the “Nimbus 2000″!! Heh heh heh!

She enjoyed the hell out of it, but by this fall realized she wanted something more powerful (to get up those steep hills) and substantial. So– just last week she bought the Boosted Rev motorized scooter, which is 49 pounds and too heavy for someone like me to handle. It can go up to 25 miles per hour at it’s max “expert” setting. This is it here:

It’s name is– of course, the “Firebolt”!

But what to do with her first scooter, which is still fairly new?

Ah HA!! She gave it to me!!! WHEEEEEE!

We took our scooters to a park yesterday in it’s really empty inner parking area. I had never ridden a motorized one before and I had to practice with it while not using the motor. It’s around 30 pounds, due to the motor, so pushing it by foot is EXHAUSTING. But I needed to get a feel for the balance of it. It has a narrow foot area, so– though my feet are narrow, I had to really think about where to put my feet!

The first time I hit the accelerator, the whole thing sort of jumped in my hands and surprised me. I was almost intimidated out of trying further by that alone. But then I saw Cat on her much more powerful machine whizzing by me as she practiced in “normal” and “expert” modes and I gathered my wits and courage to try again. And again. Somewhere around the 5th time or so, I managed to balance okay while holding on with the motor going, and…

Oh my freaking gosh! It is the most fun thing ever ever EVER!!!

Soon, I was whizzing around myself, getting used to turns (I still can’t turn to my right very well) and higher speeds and maneuvering around obstacles. It was hard for my hands to hold on AND use the handlebar controls, but I practiced. And it got easier and easier, and more and more fun as I was soon flying across the parking lot, wind in my hair, and realizing that YEAH, THIS is going to be a BIG DEAL soon. A lot more people are going to want to try it. If 2 women around 50 can handle these darned things, then any semi-active and semi-strong person can.

Motorized scooters using rechargable batteries are taking Europe by storm, and already they are being seen in Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, and Los Angeles. I was reading that the city councils of several cities are gearing up for this change, which seem inevitable. It’s like the best of an electric bike, but more compact, and a much more affordable and compact unit than a Segway– but offers many of the same benefits.

Anyways, I confess to being converted. It is so much f–king fun it’s unbelievable. It’s been a while since I’ve had that charge from learning how to go FAST in some way. The most fun I ever had in my entire life was zooming around sand dunes riding a smaller ATV. I got banged up knees that were almost black from big bruises, but I never even felt those bruises because I got so much endorphins in my system from playing like that– my pain centers were just turned off for at least a week!

Well, holding onto something like that and holding your body correctly actually used quite a few muscles I wasn’t used to, but here it is the next day and I’m feeling really good. Didn’t even need more pain meds today!

Sometimes it’s nice to get another person’s hand-me-downs!