5,000 miles

Earlier this month, my scooter turned over 5,000 miles (I'm up to about 5,200 miles now). It's ironic that I write about this today because due to some expected rain, this is the first time in months that I haven't ridden my scooter to work. It's been a good summer for riding. It hasn't been too hot and when we've gotten rain, it hasn't been raining in the morning or evening when I'm on the road.

I always feel better when I take the scooter to work. I think the fresh air and needing to stay alert helps get my body and mind running. When I take the car in, I'm in that closed shell and don't have to think as much. The two good things about driving the car, though, are being able to listen to the radio and not getting stuck behind school buses because I can take a limited access road with the car that I can't on the scooter. It's all back roads when I ride my scooter.

This year, the school bus schedule was modified slightly and one bus actually starts closer to my house on one road and then makes the same turn I do onto another road where it stays for a long time. My only option, after a few miles of no passing zone, is to pull off onto a parallel road which adds some distance to the trip. This bus seems to have a new driver this year, too. Last year, the bus driver would pull the bus off to the side of the road after a while (always at the same place) to let the line of cars (and scooters) behind him get around. Not this year. But I find if I leave the house about five minutes earlier than usual, I can usually get to the critical intersection ahead of this bus. But getting that extra five minutes isn't easy. Something always seems to come up at the last minute.

A few weeks ago I happened to be reading the owner's manual for my scooter and found that I'd been checking the oil level incorrectly. Since the oil check stick is so short, it needs to be screwed into the pipe that connects to the oil reservoir. I just assumed that you'd screw the stick into the holder to get the oil level but I was wrong. When I checked the oil correctly, by removing the stick, wiping it off and just seating into the top of the pipe, I found that the oil level was low. Very low. I bought the right oil and went to pour it in only to find that it wasn't easy to get the oil into the pipe without spilling it. I tried a bunch of things and couldn't seem to get much oil in without spilling about twice as much on the ground. I finally got enough in to feel comfortable about starting up the engine. Sure enough, when I got out on the road, I'd used my five minutes up and found myself behind the school bus. Like I said, getting that extra five minutes isn't as easy as it sounds.