(I wasn't wearing my mirror due to low traffic that day. Here you can find the other photos from the sequence.)
[------------ addenda 2/03/2012:
more info about my experiences with the scooter can be found at
http://gear.j9k.org/2012/03/scooters.html ]
[------------ addenda 10/27: two tips:
- I use a Take A Look cycling mirror ($15) that clips on to sunglasses or clear safety glasses ($3-5 @ ACE or Walmart). I also now have a bit of florescent cloth & reflective tape pinned to the back of my pack.
- In libraries along the way I xerox Delorme atlas pages (use the autoscale setting & legal-size paper) so I can find and take back roads and hiking trails.
Greetings from the library in Homer, GA. I've been traveling south from Maryville, TN to the Florida Trail using a Razor A5 kick scooter. Here's an update on how that has been working.
The scooter works for this kind of travel:
- I can carry it on my shoulder--with the wheels forward-- and walk in the woods and up gravel roads and around town.
- I can ride down gravel roads. The rear wheel is getting rather eaten up from this however. But I have used it for Mr. Colin's Wild Ride for perhaps 12 miles and probably more of gravel road travel.
- I can go probably 9 miles an hour including breaks in rolling terrain. I have yet to go more 16 miles in one day however.
- People generally smile at this mode of travel. "Excellent, Sir!" (when scooting by a traffic jam outside of Helen, GA); "You've come a long way, my man." (when passed 6+ miles later by a family I'd seen at Brass Bald, the highest point in Georgia).
- I've hitched two rides--very easy to do with something so portable. One ride was offered, the other I asked of a guy on a gravel road who I'd seen on the trail earlier-- I still have yet to stand by the side of the road with my thumb out.
- In the rain the brake is nearly useless. Going downhill is potentially very dangerous. Fortunately a flat foot sliding on the pavement can be used to keep speed down. Or you can walk down. The change in braking power when going from dry to wet pavement is instant.
- The brake gets hot and wears down the wheel. Going down from Brass Bald, I melted part of my shoe and shaved off a bit more of the wheel. Fortunately the Vibram part of the sole of the shoe doesn't seem to melt (it does get hot)--just the foamish part in the instep (Merrell Trail Gloves (and the purple is dirty girl gaiters))
- I want to get the headset tightened in a bike shop.
- I got two metric allen wrenches to be able to tighten parts-- the handle is tall enough for me (I'm 6'3") but it is made loose so it can slide up and down easily. I try not to put much pressure on it. And I crank down on it with the allen wrench if I'll be scooting for a while.
- I can hurt myself by swinging the foot platform into my ankle--when picking up the scooter or if the front wheel hits a rock and the back pops up. Not a huge issue but something one learns to avoid.
Bad Attitude?
And the last post wasn't super-uplifting--or at least my memory of it wasn't--, and I've been thinking about that. I found a copy of _Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. . . And It's All Small Stuff_ by Richard Carlson. His book has helped me with the bad attitude, in particular with the tip that analyzing bad moods or bad feelings is not helpful--so just stop that down-spiraling thinking / analysis-paralysis. The mood will change.
Perhaps I'll address this more later as I have more experience watching the bad attitude and trying what I remember of his suggestions. For a week now, his advice has been helpful. I recommend the book and I was sad to find that he died in 2006. Carlson shares a bit of his struggle to have a good mood and to be a happy person--the book is a collection of some of his strategies.
The Trip Teaches / Gives Me What I Need?
I've been, for the most part, having fun / being challenged in good ways by this trip. I've been sitting for 45 minutes each day--this has been nice. I've written letters and cards. I've found books to read. I've met people--the guys who gave me rides; a fiddler, Kelsey, taking a class at the John C Campbell Folk School; and the seven University of Georgia alums/students having breakfast out along a gravel National Forest road. A guy yesterday in a Mexican/hispanic indoor flea market in Cornelia, GA. I've learned more about history and the region (I camped along a road made to force-march the first nation / Indians west on--the trail of tears--near Tatham Gap).
I decided not to volunteer with Kripalu--or at least to continue the application process--after having the interview. The size of the place and the tone I was getting & the number of staff who commute by car (nearly all?) made me want to visit before committing to be there 4 months. I've been loving sleeping outside--beautiful fall--and I don't want that or my wandering and exploring and freedom to end on 1/1/2012. When I set out I wasn't sure how this trip would go and was happy to have the prospect of an end. And I do look forward to being able to work spring season in California/AZ with Naturalists At Large--we'll see.
And: A bigger (forgotten by me) story here is that Gohkale's directions of how to stand, sit, sleep and move have kept me for the most part from being in pain. So I have not been motivated to go to a yoga center for health and wellness. . . I'm still working on making my food good out here though.
It's getting dark--I'd better go.
Oh: I updated j9k.org to have a link to my page offering my service to facilitate or support solos / sit spots. I'd like to serve others and that is one way, other than scoot-hiking around, that I've thought of.
I'm planning to pick up mail, general delivery, in Eatonton GA 31024 no earlier than Friday probably (and probably later).
