Scooter Episode: The One Where Tom is Fine Even After a Massive Wipeout

OK, not really so massive. Fortunately, my first (and so far only) scooter crash occurred while I was at a stop, with one foot on the ground, and no other vehicles in sight.

I stopped to look at a house number on a mailbox (which was, as I thought, the house number for my destination), didn't realize how soft and deep the sand was (yes, many rural Florida roads are mostly sand), and fell down when the sand gave and my foot shifted, taking the scooter with me and breaking its right rearview mirror off.

Other than that, yesterday's rides (about 35 miles each way) went just fine, other than being rather cold. If I had it to do all over again, I'd have included my merino wool union suit among the multiple layers of clothing for a ride that took place in temperatures ranging from the low 40s to the high 50s.

Not quite two hours going out (including a couple of short detours because I decided to follow the route I thought I knew instead of the one laid out by Google maps). That's because on the way out I resolved to try to average 25 miles per hour instead of pushing the scooter hard, both to reduce strain on the engine and to possibly reduce the effects of cold air on my body.

About an hour and a half coming back, including a stop at Hardee's to warm up and have a Mushroom and Swiss burger (one of my favorite's and we don't have a Hardee's in Gainesville anymore), because I kept the thing at max speed (35 to 40 mph) at every opportunity.

Between heading out and heading back, I had a great visit with reader Greg L, including a short (mile and a half or so each way) hike at O'Leno State Park to see the "river rise," where the Santa Fe resurfaces after disappearing underground for about five miles. The rise is the beginning of the "Lower Santa Fe," a portion of which Greg, myself, and a third friend kayaked last year.

This is not a trip I would choose to make every day on a 50cc scooter, even in warmer weather. But I wanted to test the vehicle's mettle, and it performed beautifully. The broken mirror was my fault, not the scooter's.

Update, 8am: The mirror broke off below the point where it screwed into the base, so I guess I'll have to do the whole removal thing (I'm sure my neighbor/friend/mechanic has the stuff for that) and replace it entirely, unless I want to do something weird like weld it back on. I'm making lemons into lemonade -- I ordered a new pair of mirrors (not an affiliate link) that I think will work better. These are wider ovals instead of the 4" circles that came on the scooter, and look like the stems are bendable instead of fixed. I expect them to give me better fields of rear vision due to both size and adjustability.