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How it started, and where it is taking me ...


Scottie

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5 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

Selfie stick or baton, take care of that issue without even stopping. Isnt getting bitten by a dog a damn good reason to just beat the ever living shit out of it? :eff0541f4a: An added bonus would be if the owner decided to get some... Even better would be if it made it to court and I got paid for my trouble.

I love it! :efeeec645d:  This is the kind of stuff that got you the Miniature Nobel! :laughbounce2:

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2 hours ago, Scottie said:

As an aside, I know you would not want to miss out on the award presented to your spiritual guide, ShanesPlanet. He received the miniature Nobel Prize for ... well ... for being Shane! :D

🍻🤣 It is called community love 💖

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5 hours ago, Scottie said:

Yes sir, that is the one. That strange balance of confidence and concentration is a tough thing to hold on to when we become proud of ourselves!  :efee8319ab:

As an aside, I know you would not want to miss out on the award presented to your spiritual guide, ShanesPlanet. He received the miniature Nobel Prize for ... well ... for being Shane! :D

 

Dogs! .... am I right?

 

The owner should have the sh*t beaten out of him...letting the dog do this. Where I ride all owners hold their dogs steady when i pass. And when a mutt is alone in the street and decides to chase me I worry more about it getting hurt. You see, usually they bark close but don't bite... and if they crash against me it's 125kg of metal tire and flesh against a dog. It will get seriously hurt.

 

But you should have stopped and whacked the owner!!! The stupid sh*t is standing there doing nothing and letting the go at you!!!

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On 1/24/2021 at 7:32 AM, Scottie said:

It's crazy how we humans are running around life bouncing off each other ... for good or for bad. If you did not come over and talk to me, your timing would have changed and you would have went into the store earlier and not met that woman at the checkout. Or if that teenager did not talk to me, I would have left a little sooner and probably the same thing would have happened. Or had I rode a different route to the drug store, I would not have been there at the time needed for you to see me, and we would not have talked wheels for 20 minutes. I'm glad you got some good from bouncing off me. :cheers:

When this happens from time to time, it reminds me of a scene from the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", where he explains it very well. Yep, Daisy coulda' ... shoulda' watched where she was going, but the thing about everybody contributing to the timing of events for her holds true, etc. Poor Daisy's luck went the other way from yours. But it is the same effect. Our lives are constantly being influenced one way or another by this phenomena.

It was great wheeling into you the other day ... I can't run. :whistling: Hit me up on this board if you ever have some time and desire to wheel around the town.

 

This movie is a masterpiece!!! It's our life's mishaps in so many ways...

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7 minutes ago, Paulo Mesquita said:

But you should have stopped and whacked the owner!!! The stupid sh*t is standing there doing nothing and letting the go at you!!!

I should have been more clear about this. I am not in the video. This video came across my YouTube feed algorithm, and it fit the story. But you are right; the owner is as out of control as his dog. Or maybe he was caught unaware and did not lock the leash so it would not reel out.

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  • 4 weeks later...
38 minutes ago, Scottie said:

Another Crash That Almost Wasn't

DANGER! Extremely boring story for younger viewers. Read with caution.

A boy (or girl) wants to jump over a puddle, knowing he might not make it. He knows that the worst that could happen is he gets wet, and maybe he slips and falls, like he does all day long. But if he makes it, glory is his!

A 61 year old boy on an EUC still wants some of that action ... glory. Today he comes upon a busy car traffic situation that causes him to take a slight detour off-road to keep the ride going.

262439769_0624211239-00marked.thumb.jpg.7da88873ed11ed9cf618a6659e16623a.jpg

The red line is an extension of the roof line of the SUV to give you a sense of the height of the slope. The yellow line on the grass shows the intended path around the signs, and the unintended path down the slope. Those temporary signs were recently put up. If they were not there ... no story to tell. Since you are looking at the picture, I can probably just stop here cause you can fill in the blanks yourself. But I will continue to flesh out the story.

As I approached (you guessed it.  I am the 61 year old boy) the signs, I said to myself, "stretch your wings a little". I quickly gave myself a 60 to 70% chance of success. A 30 to 40% chance of failure meant a possible slide or mild tumble down the slope, which would be kind of a routine crash like the early learning days. So, like the puddle jumper, I thought minimal risk with possible glory (in my head) at the end, along with skill development. There was the thought of a pedal digging into the grass. The quick mental math said there would be just enough room, but go slowly just in case.

Things were going well until just beyond the signs, when I felt the tire slip down-slope a bit on some moist grass. The internal moisture of the grass must have been enough because the ground was dry and dew had been minimal and evaporated. I managed a dismount for a second or two, but could not maintain my balance and gravity took it from there. The wheel (Monster) and I went down the slope together. I was hopping / dancing / tripping all the way down with a Monster tumbling / slipping / flailing between my legs and feet! I remember thinking, "save the wheel" ... "save yourself" ... "save the wheel" ... "save yourself" ... "why are those women at the door of the old folks home laughing?" :shock2:  :D

I finally made it to the bottom and gravity was finally done with me! It felt like 30 seconds, when was actually more like 3 seconds. WOW! I was still standing after all that. The Monster was on grass, so no new marks or scuffs. I collected myself after a few seconds and picked up the wheel while the women at the doorway of the building were quieting down from their nervous, surprised, concerned laughter after they saw that I was still okay. I did not say anything, or even look their way. That was the worst part of it for me ... witnesses! :facepalm:

I rode on down the street a ways and then thought to go back and take a picture on my toy cellphone to help tell the story. I got the picture and continued the ride because the weather was so nice. I did not get my glory. But it was a successful crash that almost wasn't. The wheel went down this time, but I did not! When I am in that area again, I think I will try for my glory again, hopefully with nobody watching. :efef36327c:  ;)  :laughbounce2:       

I feel you brother!!! This other 61 year old EUC rider in Portugal has had the exact same challenge vs decision on new obstacles and moves.... and has had some pretty nasty or embarrassing falls...in front of witnesses. Boy do I feel like sh*t laying on the ground and knowing that everyone is looking at me!!! Then my real estate PR personality kicks in, I get up quite gingerly (although usually in a lot of pain... but faking it to be OK) and come outr with one of my favorite lines:" I'm fine! To learn sometimes we have to fall, no big deal!!!" ....yeah, then I get home and go straight  to the medicine cabinet or to the freezer to get some ice....

You see, this is the problem of a 16 year old spirit in a 61 year old body. But hey, it's a pile of fun still!!! Keep it up brother. We ol'farts, are pioneering!!!

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15 hours ago, Paulo Mesquita said:

This other 61 year old EUC rider in Portugal has had the exact same challenge vs decision on new obstacles and moves.... and has had some pretty nasty or embarrassing falls...in front of witnesses.

That is the trick of it, with a kid stuck in an old body ... finding out where that line is that we cannot or should not cross. I am okay with almost anything as long as it does not involve becoming airborne. I refuse to fly an EUC, but will try almost anything else. I trust my internal governor (anxiety) to keep me from going to fast.

 

16 hours ago, Paulo Mesquita said:

Boy do I feel like sh*t laying on the ground and knowing that everyone is looking at me!!! Then my real estate PR personality kicks in, I get up quite gingerly (although usually in a lot of pain... but faking it to be OK) and come outr with one of my favorite lines:" I'm fine! To learn sometimes we have to fall, no big deal!!!" ....yeah, then I get home and go straight  to the medicine cabinet or to the freezer to get some ice....

Yes, the feeling of eyes on you hurts worse than the cuts, scrapes and bruises! I think it is universal among all guys doing anything in public ... the 1st thing we do is look around to see if anybody saw us fall :efef3d5527:  :efee8319ab: (except sports where falling is a routine part of the game).

 

16 hours ago, Paulo Mesquita said:

You see, this is the problem of a 16 year old spirit in a 61 year old body. But hey, it's a pile of fun still!!! Keep it up brother. We ol'farts, are pioneering!!!

I have often heard that people of our generation will have to be drug into old age kicking and screaming the whole way! :crying: Does that mean that previous generations were more accepting of it? Maybe not ... Maybe so, they grew up in tougher times. Nothing much was fun or easy way, way back in the day. By time we came along, the hideous part of work was mechanized and there were lots of toys to play with. I will keep playing with toys as long as possible! :eff034a94a:   

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9 minutes ago, Scottie said:

This Time I Cheated

As always, right-click a link and open in new tab ... to preserve the flow of the story!

Another snoozer of a story ... don't read this while driving.

1909804769_0624211239-00marked.thumb.jpg.9505395489fe9a376a12ecbf84beacda.jpg

I went back to the scene of the crime today. But this time it was on the Tasmanian Devil (aka 16X). Was that cheating? I told Taz about what happened here with the Monster. Taz listened and just said this, "Well, that figures. Hold my beer, and watch this!" (a phrase borrowed from elsewhere on the forum) That phrase usually precedes a spectacular crash-n-burn! I said, "Wait Taz! I am not ready." Taz said, "Too bad! We are going anyway!"  I said, ":shock2:".

Although I did have some nervous caution left over from last time, Taz took me easily through where I failed on the Monster. I don't blame the Monster. I am just a bit better and more sure-footed with the technical stuff on the 16X because of that torquey motor on a 16 inch wheel which is easy to access, making for a rock steady wheel that easily crawls over or through obstacles that have me needing cheat pads on bigger wheels ... as Speedy Feet calls them.

@Paulo Mesquita I did feel some of that internal glory I was looking for. But not as much as I would have, had I not cheated by using the 16X! And this time I rode around the area to scout for witnesses ... there were none. It would just be me and Taz this time, and we would have tumbled down the slope without fanfare.  :facepalm:  :laughbounce2:

Back Tracking a Bit

Here is some more of that artwork I took pics of a few weeks ago while wheeling ... where a local trail goes under the bridge. I like the peaceful little guy reading a book at the lower left.

595558549_0516211236resizecrop.thumb.jpg.8e29c48907e61074209170cd74ff194d.jpg     

 

The 16x was baptized as "The Little Beast"... A kind Mike Tyson of the EUCs 😁

I don't know why but the 16x truly inspires a sense of trust and security, that no other wheel that I've tried (not that I tried a lot of them) offers. 

BTW, I also go back to " the crime scene" and repeat the maneuver. If I fell... I have to overcome the obstacle, or it'll be nagging the back of my brain continuously. 

Sruuborn old bastards we are... 😂😂😂😂

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5 minutes ago, Paulo Mesquita said:

BTW, I also go back to " the crime scene" and repeat the maneuver. If I fell... I have to overcome the obstacle, or it'll be nagging the back of my brain continuously.

And we don't want that! :D ... I've got enough other problems with my brain!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Got a serious problem

Right-click a link and open in new tab to preserve the flow of the story.                                                                                                                                                  

And if you are up late and cannot sleep ... read this sleep inducing post while operating heavy machinery. Kidding - please don't operate heavy machinery!

The problem is that I have a tune stuck in my head. It plays when I am cruising on the wheel. There are worse problems I guess. :efef36327c:

 

It was an interesting day

It all started innocently enough. I was riding by the local skatepark at some distance. I heard a little commotion as I rode by but could not tell what was happening. I then rode across a stream on the pedestrian bridge and went up the trail to the parking lot. While I was on the parking lot "a wild skater appears" (quoting @Mike Sacristan) behind me and calls out to me. I wondered if this was ever going to happen someday. The guy was so enamored with the wheel that he was following me from the skatepark on his boosted board to find out more about the wheel. We talked for about 5 minutes and found out that we had a few things in common. I had him grab a nearby fence railing and stand on the wheel. His skateboard background was working for him and I could see him balancing and floating quite well. He mentioned that he had to get back to his family that he left to follow me. So we rode back to the skatepark to continue what was becoming an interesting conversation. At the skatepark we traded phone numbers. If all goes as planned, we will get together tomorrow so that I can teach him on the 16X (aka Taz) with the Roll-NZ cover on it. I've dropped Taz so many times but he does not care. Taz will be a great teaching wheel. I hope I am half as successful as Mike was with his wild skater, who amazingly was riding in just a couple of minutes! :efefae4566: I think I will be. My guy was about the same size and age as Mike's guy.

After the wild skater meeting, I turned the dial down a little and went to some picnic tables in the shade to rest my 61 year old bones. The tables are near a busy intersection. There was an old retired couple sitting in the shade on their golf cart watching the traffic go by, like people do at the airport watching airplanes. I have seen them around before. Talking with the young, wild skater guy got me in a mood to talk to the old couple. He is 84 and she is right there with him +/- a couple years. I like the way older guys instantly like to open up about their lives. They have history and much of it is interesting and sometimes important to society. You just never know what an old guy has done! They use their golf cart to get out and about and chill ... just enjoying the day. It sounds like the best way to use a golf cart to me.

After that, I was still in a chill mood myself and wheeled on over to a different area of the park where I saw some geese doing their own chilling on the grass near a bench ... how handy! So I sat on the bench and watched the geese just doing their thing for a while. Soon, another electric PEV rolled over to me. This time it was one of those fast electric wheelchairs with another old fart riding it. That old fart was also curious about this old fart's wheel ... and so we talk about batteries and range of my wheel and his wheels, and so on. We also talked about the suspension of four out of six of his wheels. He has two suspended outrigger wheels in front and two outrigger wheels in back, with the bigger drive wheels without suspension in the middle. Its easy talking with guys. All we have to do is start talking about batteries or suspension and everybody is all in. With women, it is a bit more difficult. You have to talk about what people are doing or something like that. Suspension is a lot easier and everybody goes away happy. :D       

 

 

 

Edited by Scottie
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Well, the "wild skater" turned out to be a natural. He was getting reliable airtime in less than 5 minutes of rail hand-hold time. He was right behind Mike's guy! At the end of the 90 minutes practice ... coaching ... learning session (with several rest breaks), he was riding all over the parking lot and up/down the adjacent trail. He was even riding up and down small curbs, and rode lots and lots of grass! There were a few crashes, but he always stayed on his feet and did not hit his ankles on the pedals. At the end of the session I had to suggest to him that for the next session I would need my own wheel to ride while coaching him because he was already capable of doing serious mileage!

So later in the day we did go for a ride in the very light or no traffic areas of the town. He was doing moderate hill climbs and descents on pavement and grass, he ran the pylon course, and in many other ways embarrassed me as a rider. But as a coach, he made my chest swell with pride!   :efefae4566:  :thumbup:  :smartass:  :efee8319ab: But I can only take so much credit. It was his gifted feet that made the day.

If you want to, but you don't have to, check out the video called "Clint's 1st Day". There is no thumbnail image for the video for some reason, but it plays anyway. There are two other videos you can watch just for fun. But you are not allowed to if you don't want to! :efee8319ab: The 10 minute one is a compilation of several people's videos and clips strung together to some fun music.  

Edited by Scottie
fixed bad grammar
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3 hours ago, Tawpie said:

sooooooo. I hope you apologized to Clint for showing him a new way to spend thousands...

:laughbounce2:  I do feel a little bad about that. But it was mostly his fault for chasing me down in the 1st place :P ... so I taught him to ride! I might apologize for it later. :unsure: Besides, I needed a local riding buddy since I don't make it into Indy that often. And for the time being ... he can ride my 16X when he rides with me. That's a better deal than most of us got! But yeah, he was already talking about buying one now. He's hooked. He's one of us ... one of us!

3 hours ago, Tawpie said:

outstanding, way to go coach!

95% him ... 5% me ... but thanks! :efef3d5527:

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It was a lucky and fun three days I just spent with Clint since he chased me down at the park a few days ago. It was good for both of us. And I am still embarrassed when I think how long and hard I had to work at this. But in my defense, I am on old fart. There's a bunch of us here. But hey ... we are here!

I just uploaded a small video of our time. I did not get many video clips because I was mainly focused on coaching him. But there are a few that show how far he has come in such a short time. I apologize for shakiness. I blame it on the old fart holding the cellphone in bright sunlight. If you want to, check out the video called "Clint Learns To Ride".

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Sorry Scottie, I know it’s an appropriate song, but I just can’t stand M.J. Never could. Good on ya for taking the time to learn someone the wheel.

I’ve got two fish on the line. One, an old school unicyclist, the other a guy I’ve known forever. I told them we can meet at Wallyworld and they can push a shopping cart around for a bit.

Best,

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5 hours ago, OldFartRides said:

Sorry Scottie, I know it’s an appropriate song, but I just can’t stand M.J. Never could. Good on ya for taking the time to learn someone the wheel.

I’ve got two fish on the line. One, an old school unicyclist, the other a guy I’ve known forever. I told them we can meet at Wallyworld and they can push a shopping cart around for a bit.

Best,

Of course music is very subjective to personal taste. I can listen to almost anything except rap, or angry rock, or sad country. I even go for the old school stuff from the roaring 20's.

I think the old school unicyclist will take to it easily, and probably do seated riding very easily too since that will feel familiar. I hope you have some good success there. It is a good feeling to get someone sharing the joy we have with the wheel. And you get a riding buddy out of it too!

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Clint Keeps Rising

There is nothing more I can show him. He is already better than me after 4 riding days than I am after a year and a half of riding almost everyday. He just taught himself seated riding while my back was turned. And he had no seat. He just sat on top of the machine. He says it will be a better way to get across town without wearing himself out. Well, true enough!

Someone gave the cellphone camera to a shaky old guy to film Clint doing his amazing business. Do not watch the video if you have a queasy stomach. If you would like to see someone that came a long way in a short time, and have 6 minutes to waste, give it a look:popcorn: It will be the 6 minute video with the grass hill thumbnail pic called "Clint's seated day". There is a song about feet, and a song about a wheel. :efee8319ab:

Tomorrow we are just going on a chill ride. I should be able to keep up with him ... maybe.

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Student Becomes the Master

So now I am asking Clint questions about this and that! It was fun watching him absorb and act on what I could tell him. Then I saw him adding his natural ability to things and he just started teaching himself. He was improving minute by minute from the very beginning and just never stopped or had a plateau.

How many videos are we officially allowed before the welcome is worn out? I am only up to six. Too many? If you want to take a chance on this last one, it is not horrible ... except for the part where the camera crew keeps giving the camera to the shaky guy. Look for the one called "Clint's 2nd seated day" ... 4:27 minutes long with the thumbnail showing him on the seat.

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19 hours ago, Scottie said:

I should be able to keep up with him ... maybe.

set the first alarm to 12 mph and turn the voice prompts back on. "Please decelerate Please decelerate" should keep him from getting too far ahead. Might cost you a riding buddy tho, so there is that.

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3 hours ago, Tawpie said:

set the first alarm to 12 mph

This is eerily close to what was happening! :efeec46606: I have that one set at 17 mph to remind me not to bust an old guys ass. He was hitting that one pretty regularly when he settled into that seated riding. That was the only reason I could stay with him while filming and chasing him through the cellphone screen! 

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I was out today just doing my usual solo chill ride. My new wingman wheel prodigy was busy with kids today. We had a lucky time together since he was off work with a minor shoulder injury and I had an unusual super long weekend. That's crazy! He learned all this wheel business with a bum shoulder ... nice to be young.

On my chill ride I stopped and sat on the ground under my new favorite shade tree in a small roadside park and caught a nice breeze. I was just sitting there letting time slow down while listening to the traffic roll by with that tune still stuck in my head. I might need therapy for that, or just let it play out naturally.

Then later when I was waiting to cross an intersection near my home, I was on the wheel hanging onto a stop sign at the corner when I looked at the next car in line. The young woman driver was giving me an enthusiastic thumbs up. That could have meant a couple of things.

  • Good for you old dude! You still have some game.
  • Cool wheel thingy.

I will gladly accept either meaning. Or could it be a bit of both?

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