Scoot-A-Que and stuff

Wow.  Its been a while since I've written anything so I guess its about time!  I'd like to start by saying thank you all for coming out to Scoot-A-Que and helping to make it another awesome rally!  A huge shoutout to my fellow Cutters and Peaseys who worked tirelessly to organize it.  It takes a lot of work to put on a rally - from getting sponsors to planning the ride to creating the video and the art and vision of the overall theme.  Luckily, we have a great bunch of very creative scooterists and the result was an awesome weekend!  And to all those who bought raffle tickets - thank you.  All proceeds go to Camp Sunrise and we are proud to be able to contribute to their important mission every year.

So, now the leaves are falling and the days seem to be getting shorter quicker but I bet there are still a lot of good riding days ahead.  I am one of those that tends to fall victim to SAD (you know, that seasonal affective disorder - just one of many of my disorders ; ) heh) so I am already thinking about things to do when it gets cold and snowy.  I'm certainly planning movie nights and probably a holiday party at the shop, maybe some game nights!  I'm open to suggestions - you can post 'em here! 

In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful Fall weather and those beautiful trees!

"A totally different view"

I love talking to people about scooters.  Maybe its the anthropologist in me but I could listen for hours to people's experiences and views about scooters and scootering.  Recently, a customer came in to the shop to buy a scooter.  His excitement over purchasing a scooter was simply contagious.  I find this to be the case a lot and I am always reminded of when Gary and I bought our first scooters.  Talking with this particular customer about scooters he mentioned that his buddies at work were razzing him about buying a scooter and said he should buy a motorcycle instead.  His response to me was that, with scooters, you get "a totally different view of the world."  It was the same thing Gary and I said after taking our 2 state scoot.  I remember we came across a marker for the Santa Fe Trail erected by the Daughters of the Revolution nearly buried in the weeds by the side of the road.  We remarked that we never would have seen it had we been in a car.

I'm not entirely sure why scooters give a totally different view of the world but there is certainly something very romantic and very freeing about a scooter ride.  Perhaps,scooters force you to ride more slowly (with the exception of 250cc and up scooters) and give more opportunity to experience the view.  Personally, I find riding my scooter some of the best therapy in the world.  When I get on my scooter I find the troubles of the world disappear, my mind clears and I let the wind and the scenery wash over me.  Ok, to be completely honest, I often find myself singing in my helmet!  I know, I know, I'm a nerd but I'm a happy nerd! People buy scooters for a lot of different reasons but almost every scooterist I've met ends up falling in love with the ride.  I recently came across this picture of Gary which I think best sums up the feeling, at least that I get, when riding scooters.

Scooters and Scooterists cont...

That winter, Gary established the Easy Peasey Scooter Posse forum which can be found at www.epsp.us, and today we have over 200 members nationwide.  It is a wonderful community of scooter enthusiasts who come together on line to chat about scooters, our favorite rides, and post pictures of our adventures.  Locally, the Peaseys gather for Sunday rides and play Scooter Tag.  We have become great friends bonded initially by the love of the ride. 

Although many of the Peaseys I know only through the online forum, they have been a wonderful source of friendship and support.  I remember reading a thread when Gary was in the hospital and these beautiful people went out to their scooters in the dead of winter and honked their horns at 9pm.  The image of that was so powerful I could never thank them enough.  Others expressed their deep sorrow and sympathy at the loss of Gary some of whom had never met him in person.  The Columbus Cutters, another scooter club in town joined in the discussion and members of both clubs rode to the funeral with "Friends of Gary United" legshield banners.  I was overwhelmed.  This amazing community of scooterists helped me through the darkest hours of my life and for them, I am eternally grateful. 

As I sit in my scooter shop I think back to that one little purchase of Honda Metropolitans and can't believe what a difference it made and how it brought me to where I am today.  I am a lucky woman to be living our dream - surrounded by scooters and scooterists every day.

Scooters and Scooterists... the beginning

Thursday, June 9th will have been Gary and my 10th wedding anniversary.  Clearly, being nostalgic I have also been thinking about the fact that it will be 5 years since we bought our first scooters.  I am amazed at how that one little purchase dramatically changed both our lives, but especially mine.  I remember perfectly researching what scooters we should get and the day we stumbled upon a wonderful forum called urbanscootin.com.  Urbanscootin was originally created specifically for Honda Metropolitan owners but grew to include people who owned all kinds of scooters.  We met a lot of wonderful people who I still consider friends to this day.  Our decision to buy Honda Mets was influenced by that forum but we also liked the styling and the reassurance of Honda quality.  When we decided on which model scooter we wanted Gary proclaimed "I only want the red and white one." I responded "I only want the orange and white."  It was as though the scooter gods were listening because we hopped in the car and drove to a small, locally owned Honda shop and peeked in the window (it was Sunday and they were closed).  There, on the floor, were the only 2 scooters in the whole shop and they were a pair of Mets in red and orange.  It was, we decided, meant to be.

Gary went and bought them the next day and when the drivers delivered them to the house we barely yelled a thank you over our shoulder as we hopped on and zipped off on our brand new scooters.  For a month you could barely keep us off them.  We made up errands to run, took them to the drive-in to see the movie Cars - we were ironic that way ; ), and spent evenings figuring out new ways to bling them up! One afternoon we took them to a motorcycle show in downtown Wichita and parked our little Mets between 2 Harleys.  We got a lot of looks but also a lot of compliments.  Wichita is not the most scooter friendly town and we rarely saw other scooterists but when we did we always waved and smiled to them when we passed. 

In September, 2006 we moved to Columbus where I was raised and attended our first scooter rally - Scoot-A-Que organized by the Columbus Cutters.  We didn't know anyone but ran into a couple in the parking lot of the Meet and Greet looking at our Mets.  We introduced ourselves, got to talking and became fast friends.  We just clicked that weekend and decided we should meet in Hocking Hills for a camping weekend the following month.  We had a blast in Hocking Hills with Matt and Ali and another wonderful couple.  We rode through the beautiful hills, enjoyed cocktails on the porch and good company.  The Hocking Hills weekend was also when the Easy Peasey Scooter Posse was born.  To this day, Matt and Ali are two of my closest friends.

The ride during Scoot-A-Que also made Gary and I realize that we needed bigger scooters.  Gary decided on the Vespa LX 150 and I decided I wanted a Stella.  I found a beautiful arctic white Stella on e-bay with awesome pinstriping and after a couple of rum and cokes I decided to bid on it.  The next morning I found out I had won the auction and I turned to Gary and said "what have I done?! I've never even sat on a Stella!"  He laughed and said "Looks like a road trip to Indianapolis to pick up your new scooter!"