I took my longest solo ride on my scooter yet yesterday: from Building 17 in Redmond all the way to Port Angeles, 90+ miles, including a five mile ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston. My boss ran into me on my way out the door, spied the tripod in my…
When I bought my new Vespa, I made sure to buy crashbars–steel bars that run along the cowls and legshields, and are supposed to protect the paint job from roadrash in minor drops. Today, I discovered that they worked! I had to drive to work today, and pulling into the…
I spent $8 on parking yesterday, because the two motorcycle parking spots in front of my dentist’s office were taken by a car. A police car. Not even Seattle PD, mind you, but Federal Way, a city way to the south. I was annoyed but late, so I went for…
That was the word from KUOW traffic this morning. No accidents to speak of. Just rain. Rain? Rain snarls traffic in a region where there are seven months of rain? What did I get myself into? I take the Sounder 545 Express Bus to work. I started by loading my…
For the past two weeks, I’ve been trying to replicate my commute experience at Oracle. In San Francisco, I was one of dozens to put my bike on Caltrain at 22nd Street, and, when I wanted some exercise, I would get off at Burlingame or San Mateo and bike the…
This weekend was Festering Oktoberscoot. When I first heard of the rally–a scooter-based tour of Seattle breweries–I thought this would be a singularly bad idea. A half a glass of alcohol on a two-wheeled vehicle feels like two to three full glasses when driving a car. There is just so…
I bought a replacement for my Vespa yesterday. Same model: ET4. Same year: 2002. Same color: platinum. Of course, it has 7,700 fewer miles, it doesn’t have this little rattle when I start it up, and it doesn’t ride quite as rough. Those are all to the good, but I…
Geico has stepped up to the plate now that the G****s have accepted responsibility for the accident. I had a rental car for a few days, which helped with the move and made my commute easier (I’d rather be stuck in the 520 parking lot on a 1.25 hour commute,…
My old Oracle buddy Brian found this article on the rising popularity of scooters in the US. I must say, I’m a little shocked at the age skew, but then again, I’m a little shocked that I’m only a couple of years away from being in that age skew. As…
The BBC reported a rather disturbing study on safety and bicycle helmets. Drivers in the UK apparently will give far less space to cyclists wearing protective gear and reflective clothing than they do to cyclists wearing street clothes. The offered explanation is that drivers may think the properly attired cyclist…
