Thursday, October 23, 2008

Frosty

It's that time of year again. For a few days now I've gone out to my scoot to find a thin layer of frost on the windshield, seat, and instrument panel. Once the frost is removed and the scoot warms up for a minute or so, I put up the hood on my sweatshirt, don my gloves, zip my coat up to my chin, and putter off down the road.

After a few minutes of riding, my nose and chin no longer feel the cold and my fingers have taken on a familiar numb sensation as frostbite begins to set in. after about ten minutes or so, I start to hear a tinkling sound as frozen body parts fall off and shatter on the pavement behind me.

In reality, cold weather riding is not as bad as I remember it being back in the spring, but then, I did not yet have a windshield, so I noticed the cold a little more. I also did not always remember to wear my nice gloves. They are not armored, but they are heavy leather (suede too, so I can maintain the look of a well educated gentleman scooting around the countryside, despite the fact that most well educated gentlemen are smart enough not to do so), and even though my fingers get a little chilled, it's not all that bad. My coat is heavy canvas, and while it is not leather, it does a great job of keeping me warm and the weave is so heavy that I feel it would serve as well as leather if I were to be in an accident.

I will break out my scarf soon and my winter boots and my winter scooting ensemble will be complete.

Some would say I'm crazy, and I suppose I may be, but I can't see the point in using a gas guzzling, multi-passenger vehicle to commute to work when my fuel sipping scooter will get me there. So, unless it snows, I'll be on the scoot enjoying the brisk weather and listening to the tinkle of shattering body parts.

3 comments:

Amy Jo said...

It's getting a little cooler in Columbus also. I've found that I really don't mind the cold. I bought a great jacket and the wind shield helps a lot. It's the wind that gets me. I find myself more concerned with how fast the wind is blowing more than the temperature. It does crazy things when it travels through and around the downtown streets.
Be safe,
Amy

Marc said...

I just bought some long johns and armored Winter riding gloves... We'll see how it goes. Don't forget that your tires will be more stiff in cold weather (slightly less grippy in turns). And check your air pressure often as the temps drop. Brrrr.... Ride safe!

A. Scooterdawg said...

Found your blog from Scootdawg. Anyhow--where did you get the windshield? I've got the exact same model of scooter, but a 2004 version in black that I picked up at bargain prices.