I bought myself an electric scooter. A mid-life crisis has never been so fun.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

For the past month or so, I’ve been watching whippersnappers zip and zoom all around the city on these yellow rental electric scooters. Unlike the previous two scooters companies that tried to “disrupt” without following the proper channels, the company that rents these scooters–Bolt–has been granted permission from the city (though I believe it is temporary…kind of a trial run deal). And the scooters seem to be taking off like hot cakes.

Till about a week ago, I was of two minds about these scooters. One mind thinks these kids are out here trying to kill themselves, with their high speeds and not wearing helmets and riding on sidewalks illegally and whatnots. But the other mind has been quietly thinking to itself, “Man, I sure wish I was brave enough to ride one of those things!” Till about a week ago, the first mind was louder than the second mind. But a week ago, the second mind couldn’t hold back anymore. And it ordered an electric scooter!

I don’t have good balance, so I knew the two-wheel dealies weren’t not an option for me. So I went online and found a trike. It arrived this past Friday. I took me a couple of hours to assemble and then I was out there zipping around like the young whippersnappers (except I wear a helmet). I haven’t spent this much time outdoors in a long time. I have not installed the seat yet and probably never will.

I didn’t know riding that thing would be such a workout for my core, by the way. After an hour on that thing, I feel like I’ve just done an hour of yoga or something. So I’m happy to think that riding will provide some additional benefits besides fun and excitement.

As I was riding around this morning, it occurred to me that I might be experiencing a mini-mid life crisis. I’m about to turn 42 in a week. I still feel very youthful, but I’m clearly middle age. I’ve got gray hairs in all sectors of my head, facial wrinkles, and I’m just not hip to pop culture anymore. I took an acting class a couple of years ago just for fun, and it was a shock to me whenever the teacher would select me for “mother” roles. I am no one’s mother, and yet I’m at the age where that’s considered the default assumption. And that will never stop being odd to me even if I intellectually understand it.

I’m quite satisfied with where I am in life–which is why I don’t think I’m having a full blown crisis. But I do wonder if my spontaneous scooter purchase was born out of fear. A fear that the part of my psyche that clicks its tongue at youthful exuberance and fun is taking over my personality. I don’t want my inner daredevil to get crochety and boring. I discovered that inner daredevil only a short time ago, and I don’t want to let her go. I don’t mind getting older and have it show in my appearance, but I don’t want to be old personality-wise. At least not yet.

My scooter certainly makes me feel twenty years younger. But I’m not giving up my long-distance walking. My scooter may make me feel younger but walking keeps me youthful. I plan to keep walking to work/home during the week work and use my scooter to cruise around in the evening and on the weekends.

2

That looks really cool! Be careful out there, and happy scootering! Only downside is, now I want one.

3

Sounds fun! How is it on hills? I’ve done one of the rental scooters (Bird) a few times, but it really struggles going uphill, to the point that it’s so slow that it’s hard to keep it stable.

4

When it has juice, it does great on hills. According to the specs, it can do a maximum 10-degree slope. Before making my purchase, I played with the elevation tool on Google Earth Pro on some of the steeper inclines that I encounter on a regular basis, and I was relieved to find that they are below that threshold. Richmond is quite hilly, so being able to do hills is an important criterion for me.

The manual doesn’t say anything about the scooter being one of those self-charging numbers, but it sure seems to me that it gets juiced up when I cruise downhill.

It will not go up a hill if the indicator flashes “empty” (meaning very low power). It will go up a hill if it’s on “low”, but it will be slow-going. I discovered both of these things this morning.

5

We’ll get you up to Vespa and then motorcycle in no time. :slight_smile:

Good for you!

6

Good show! As they used to say, you go girl!

I am not sure about the Vespa. While they did make a trike called an Ape’, it is very rare & expensive.

However, one can find Harley, Honda, Yamaha, & other brands of trikes with gasoline engines!

7

Clicked on your link & saw this, a motorized big wheel. :smiley:

8

It’s like an adult Big Wheel!

monstro your scooter looks super fun! I live out in the boonies now so I sold my scooter but boy are they fun!

9

Good for you! I’m glad you’re happy with your purchase and out there having fun!

I’ve always admired your commitment to walking so I am glad to see you’re still doing that too. But you might get up to new adventures with your new-found speed!

10

So, I moved from the suburbs to downtown Denver about a month ago (Cap Hill, if anybody is familiar). Despite the fact that my studio apartment is VERY small, I absolutely love being right in the heart of the city. My work commute went from about a 45 minute drive to a 3 block walk, and I’m very happy about reducing the frequency of using a car.

Despite my newfound love of pedestrian-hood, there are scooters everywhere in the city (Denver has embraced them). What makes them interesting is that users are encouraged to just park and leave them at their destination; somebody else is expected to come along and rent it again, thereby getting it to some other location. So, scooters are pretty much randomly spread around town.

I’ve rented a scooter 3 times. They are very easy to use, although (as others have noted) the rentals are a little sluggish going up the hill to my home. Still, they are super fun to ride, especially because I am literally down the street from the downtown 16th street mall, which is a pedestrian shopping area devoid of cars but filled with people jetting around.

The only drawbacks I’ve seen are these: because they are spread out willy-nilly, it’s a crap shoot to find one. If you drive somewhere, the scooter probably won’t be where you left it when you want to take another ride. And, they can get expensive, since each ride costs a $1 activation fee plus a per minute charge (just my 3 blocks up the hill costs a little under $2.50. Considering that takes me no more than 3 or 4 minutes, the price adds up quick).

So…I think, like the OP, I’m going to get one. Prices aren’t too bad (although there is a range, I think around $500 should get me something really nice, and I’ve seen some much less expensive that are probably just as good), and I’m really thinking it would be great to have a scooter at my disposal whenever I want to go somewhere. Since the ones I’ve seen online fold up, I could take it upstairs to my office during the work day and just plug it in. I need to spend a wee bit saving for this, but it’s on my agenda.

Oh, and I’m 41, so if this counts as a little mid-life crisis of sorts, I’ll gladly take it. I can’t afford much more expensive fun.

11

I told a couple of coworkers about my trike, and they predict that once enough people see me riding around it, they will want one too. So I may just start a trend!

Moriarty, the discarded scooters everywhere irk me and keep me from envisioning how this business model can ever work from a public safety stand-point. It would nice if the scooters could drive themselves to a nearby docking station after someone is done riding it and then be summoned by the next person who wants to use it. Maybe that is the Phase II of this grand experiment.

Also, I would worry about jumping on a rental scooter not knowing when the last time it was inspected. If the brakes aren’t working on a rando scooter you grab out of some bushes, then you are a goner.

By happenstance, I just watched a Vox documentary about these "disruptor"scooters. Despite their headaches, cities are slowly seeing their utility in taking cars off the road and increasing bus/train ridership. If people don’t literally live or work right next to a bus stop or train station, they probably aren’t going to be interested in taking public transit. But the scooters solve that “last mile” dilemma for folks who are brave enough to ride one. Perhaps if scooter usage does increase transit ridership, then transit systems will be able to expand their services with more routes with denser coverage.

Most of the people I see riding the scooters are kids. Like actual teenages. I don’t know how they have the money to ride around on them, but they are somehow managing. Even if they are riding them just for recreational purposes, I just think it is a good thing. The more non-car traffic becomes normalized, the more car drivers become more aware of other choices. And I would rather youth be out there scootering around than gluing themselves to screens. Oops, I am sounding like an old lady again. :slight_smile:

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12

If you are healthy enough to walk to work and enjoy the electric trike, perhaps you should consider a non-electric trike? There are all kinds, from inexpensive conventional trikes to recumbent trikes. You can also get them with electric assist. Recumbent tadpole (2 front wheel) trikes are especially fun, they are extremely stable and handle like go-carts.

You can even get fully streamlined trikes. I got one of these for my ~42 yr old mid-life crisis.

13

The scooters I’ve used are activated through use of an app. To finish the ride, you must take a picture of the scooter, and the instructions say that this is to confirm that it’s parked in a safe place. I don’t know how well it confirms this, but this feature seems to reflect an effort to ensure that these aren’t just left in the street or discarded in the bushes. Maybe cities could add more bike rack type stations to encourage people to leave them in a designated area.

Certainly, one of the advantages of buying my own scooter is knowing how it is maintained and being able to ensure that it is kept well charged.

In addition to the scooters, there are also lots of bikes to rent in Denver. And, of course, there are lots of pedestrians walking about. The combination is really much more preferable than the car traffic for people who drive to their homes in the suburbs. As I’ve said, Denver’s 16th street mall doesn’t have cars (it does have two free buses that run the length of the street). I like the experience of walking there, and quiet scooters that aren’t spewing pollutants as they zip by aren’t a nuisance. A city where this became more of the norm would, in my opinion, be perceived as more friendly and inviting.

14

I saw a little old guy by the side of an off ramp one Monday am during the height of rush hour, on an electric kick scooter. Guy was 65 if he was a day, wearing an old 70’s windbreaker that I’m sure his wife picked out for him and a backpack left over from one of his kids. Your man was having the time of his life. He was lit. Exuberant. He watched the cars as he wizzed by them, stuck in the traffic and the only thought one could possibly assign to the look on his face was “Oh! I shoulda’ done this DECADES ago!!!” Or possibly “So long, suckers!”

He was so happy that it was infectious. I’m cheering up all this time later just thinking about it. Ride your dem scooter and love every minute of it. And if you look silly on it - I don’t say you do, but then what do I know? - who gives a flying farina?

15

Charlottesville was recently invaded by two scooter companies, Lime and Bird. It made it seem like the town was about to be the site of a battle between two incredibly lame groups of Transformers. I decided that the Lime scooters were the good guys, with their soothing green color scheme, while the Bird scooters’ dramatic black coloring made them the obvious pick to be the bad guys.

16

“Why the black scooters gotta be the bad guy?”

-monstro’s scooter (whose name is Blackie)

17

“Why the black scooters gotta be the bad guy?”

-monstro’s scooter (whose name is Blackie)

18

A good number (if not most) of those teens are hacking them, and not paying a dime.

19

Those damn whippersnappers subverting the system!

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