It wasn't supposed to rain this morning. But you know, weather forecasters are never right. So this morning, I checked radar as it looked like it might rain and decided I had just enough time to scooter to the bus stop before it started raining. All the storms were north of interstate or still out to the west a bit. To be sure though, I left a couple of minutes early. I also put on a pair of shorts and put my skirt in my bag in case I did get caught in the rain. I would hate to walk around work all day with mud all over the back of my skirt...
I was soaring down a long hill when I heard the first rain drops. I didn't see or feel them first, I heard their splot as they hit the pavement behind me. Then I started seeing huge drops on the pavement all around me, but I had yet to feel my first drop. I must have been traveling just a bit faster than the speed of rain. ;)
I was almost to my bike path so figured I wouldn't bother with my poncho. The path had enough tree cover to filter most of the light rain that had started.
When I reached my normal bike path, I found that they had put up the detour sign and the path was closed. Knowing I would be on city streets for a bit longer without protection from the light rain, I pulled out my poncho and put it on. (I must have been a sight to see.)
I took the detour which has become quite familiar to me over the last few months to the second bike path. (They are building a bridge over the bike paths but have stated their intention to always try and keep one of the paths open - which one changes from day to day.)
As I reached the second bike path, I encountered a huge path closed signed with no further detour signs. Looking at my watch, I noted there was not enough time to go back home, get the car and drive to the park and ride. And my alternate scooter path was the complete opposite direction and so I knew I would never make the bus doubling back and taking that path. So my options were a bit limited.
The bus I take has many stops along a road parallel and north of interstate. I was south of interstate and the number of roads that go under or over interstate is quite limited but I knew there was another one if I started heading east. The question was, which road?
By this time, I am getting pretty sweaty in my plastic poncho but I don't have time to stop and take it off if I want to still catch this bus and it is still raining. So I start exploring the city streets until I find one with a ton of cars traveling north. With so much traffic, I figured this has to be the one that goes through and I was right.
It was a little treacherous when I reached interstate as they are rebuilding that bridge as well and had all traffic on only half of the road. This meant no sidewalk, no shoulder, and narrow lanes. But traffic was traveling slowly and it was only a very short distance (just under the bridge) and I was back on the sidewalk.
I pulled up to a bus stop and had just enough time to fold my scooter and get out my bus pass before the bus pulled up to pick me up. It was a good thing I didn't miss it and have to wait for the next one as shortly thereafter, it started pouring pretty good.
When I got to work, I changed out of my wet shoes, socks, and shorts and was no worse for the wear. I think next time it rains I will bring a change of shirt as well so I can skip the poncho if it is hot and just change out of my wet clothes when I get to work.
Two years ago, I started a new job which meant a new commute. My previous commute was a 12 minute walk which I enjoyed year-round, in any weather (rain, snow, cold, heat, etc.). I knew my new commute would be quite different but I was determined to find a way to avoid getting in my car and to include some time in nature each day.
Hence, this is where the scooter came into play. So after some research online, I bought a Razor A5 Lux in blue and began playing with it. Fortunately I had a few weeks in between jobs to test it out and pick out my ideal routes.
My commute then included a 1.7 mile scooter ride in the morning through my quiet neighborhood and then down a beautiful bike path full of wild life to where I catch the county bus to work. In the afternoon, I alternated between taking the county bus followed by that same 1.7 scooter ride from the morning or taking the coach bus to the park and ride followed by a 2.5 mile scooter ride on the sidewalk along a busier road. They both had their advantages and I liked the flexibility.
Now you may ask yourself, how much of the year could I really scooter in such a cold weather state? The answer is most of it. The cold didn't stop me. It never has. Snow covered trails would stop me though but fortunately my city plowed the bike paths, so they don't stay snow covered for long. And I don't scooter on wet pavement in the morning as the spray up turns the back of my dress a bit muddy. (In the evenings when I can go home, clean up and change, I don't mind the rain or wet pavement.)
In November of 2018, I moved to a new city, Birmingham, AL in a much warmer climate, where my commute is now 7 blocks. It is amazing to now have a 4 minute commute to work! Such a change from my one-way hour commute in Milwaukee!
Let me tell you how I came up with the name for this blog, "The Scooter Lady". I was downtown Milwaukee afterwork one day riding my scooter. (I don't even remember why I was hanging out downtown that day.) I stopped in the local mall and was carrying my scooter when someone yelled out, "hey there's the scooter lady!" When I told a colleague at work this story, he told me I needed to create a webpage for The Scooter Lady. So without further ado, read on for my experiences commuting by scooter.
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