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First ride


Catlord17

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6 hours ago, RayRay said:

Tampa was largely spared from storm damage. I was asked to come into work on Monday (but it was my day off). I rode to work today, but my coworkers are used to seeing me on my wheel and nobody is batting an eye anymore...

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I think how you carry yourself (while riding an euc) has a lot to do with other people's reactions. People definitely see me on my wheel (my riding gear demands it), but the reactions I get tend to range from nonchalance to 'look-out for that crazy guy'! (The latter mostly from pedestrians who notice me at the last second.)

As for the fuzz, they don't hassle me. I'm doing my own thing and not bothering anyone...

I pretend like what I'm doing is no big deal:

  • Just on my way to work officer...
  • Heading to Walmart to grab some things (nothing unusual here)...
  • Good day sir, nice day for ride isn't it?

 

I think you are on to something.  When I first started riding, I got all manner of comments from the peanut gallery.  Nowadays, people don't seem to take as much notice.  As a starstruck newbie, I was probably projecting some kind of "look at me doing this amazing thing" aura, and people responded accordingly.  

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16 hours ago, Catlord17 said:

Made it through the storm with only a damaged roof.  Hope everyone else did as well or better!

Yesterday I went out again, thinking, it's been three days, I'm going to have forgotten how... only to find that once again, time off advanced me a lot and riding was almost as natural as breathing.  I rode 6 miles to explore this new experience, and then rode from my house to my local IHOP and back.

During my first six miles, I was stopped by two different police officers and ended up in about 45 minutes worth of conversation, and then when I got to IHOP I encountered three more, who also asked questions and requested a demonstration.  I talked top them for about 15 minutes before taking off to go home.

So I effectively introduced five different police officers in my city to EUCs in a positive way in one night.  Kind of surprising... and now I have a top speed record of 23.9 miles per hour and I don't see myself needing to go that fast any time soon.

Slowing down quickly is still an exercise in wobbling without falling off.  But now there are at least 8 or 9 police officers I've met who know me as the EUC guy and it was a positive encounter, so that's a good thing.  

That is a GREAT thing. Did they discuss how it pertains to local laws at all?

I have only seen one cop so far.. he braked, and looked, but didn't stop. 

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8 hours ago, GoinPostal said:

That is a GREAT thing. Did they discuss how it pertains to local laws at all?

I have only seen one cop so far.. he braked, and looked, but didn't stop. 

One commented that I was supposed to be riding it in the bike lane, and not on the sidewalk... which would seem to contradict the Florida laws I read, as I understood them... but did not seem surprised when I said that it was much safer to ride on the sidewalk.  He then informed me that, marked or not, all roads in Florida have a bike lane as being the rightmost two feet of the road, whether or not it is marked as such. I asked him how many drivers would be aware of that, he commented that it was probably less than the number who know to pull aside for police vehicles that are stopped on the road, and pretty much conceded my point.  I pointed out that if my goal was to stay alive, I was going to try to avoid getting hit as much as possible.  Then we were off to other topics.

The three at the IHOP, two of them saw me riding on the sidewalk after I left, and they had no problem with it.

My understanding of the Florida Laws is that electric self balancing motorized vehicles are not allowed in bike lanes, but are not prohibited in the sidewalk areas.  I will be glad to follow whatever law is extant, but the definition of the device does not yet explicitly cover single wheeled devices, and so no law apparently explicitly applies.  But if the police want me to ride in the bike lane, I'll do that.  If the sidewalk is preferable, I'll do that.  I'm down to abide by the laws, as long as I know what they are.

Right now, they seem confused.

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11 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

One commented that I was supposed to be riding it in the bike lane, and not on the sidewalk... which would seem to contradict the Florida laws I read, as I understood them... but did not seem surprised when I said that it was much safer to ride on the sidewalk.  He then informed me that, marked or not, all roads in Florida have a bike lane as being the rightmost two feet of the road, whether or not it is marked as such. I asked him how many drivers would be aware of that, he commented that it was probably less than the number who know to pull aside for police vehicles that are stopped on the road, and pretty much conceded my point.  I pointed out that if my goal was to stay alive, I was going to try to avoid getting hit as much as possible.  Then we were off to other topics.

The three at the IHOP, two of them saw me riding on the sidewalk after I left, and they had no problem with it.

My understanding of the Florida Laws is that electric self balancing motorized vehicles are not allowed in bike lanes, but are not prohibited in the sidewalk areas.  I will be glad to follow whatever law is extant, but the definition of the device does not yet explicitly cover single wheeled devices, and so no law apparently explicitly applies.  But if the police want me to ride in the bike lane, I'll do that.  If the sidewalk is preferable, I'll do that.  I'm down to abide by the laws, as long as I know what they are.

Right now, they seem confused.

Everybody is confused because there is simply no law explicitly regulating the use of EUCs. Until every city or state has something, we will continue to be in the "wild west" age of EUCs where where and when you can ride is just decided by the opinion of an law enforcement officer. Fortunately for the vast majority of cops in general they don't care and are fine with us riding in public spaces and treating us like regular pedestrians and/or bicyclists.

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@Catlord17 i think it's one of those things u just use common sense and don't hurt anybody else. if u ask, the answer will be "no". that's always the easiest answer. in the meanwhile, other than standing on them, because of irma and my laziness still haven't tried them yet. the blow down from all my oak trees on my road, is overwhelming. i have a big tractor and rake but it's a pita. not very safe going outside. u can imagine what a 4' long 6" caliper rotten oak tree limb would do to u falling 30 or so feet. i've been waiting for stuff to dry out but i did pad the ks18s today. maybe i'm wrong but i don't think the pedals are in plane with each other. not sure if a few degrees matters but the right pedal looks like it's leaning back, left looks somewhat level.

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@Catlord17 yeah, if u wanted lights, you would wanna trim the foam there, not hard. this is very lightweight/non dense foam. $6 for 24 x 96 x1 sheet from walmart, delivered. $4 for white hd duck tape. i'll never need the lights , i rarely leave the ranch and when i do, i take my one ton dooley, shows u how much i like/trust drivers. ultimately for the ks-18s i plan on making a sleeve out of this dense pool float foam. that will be the finished product.

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@Catlord17 yeah, just from the videos i've sent a couple and not seeing them in person, kinda getting mixed reviews. and my friends are kinda techy like me. just like all kids, if they can't master it in 30 minutes, they move on. and girls like my friends are more concerned how their butt looks riding one than probably anything else. 

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@steve454 if i remember correctly, in the app, there's on-off and auto for the lights but not sure if that works. this foam is so light, idk if it wouldn't make in sunlight anyway. the foam is lapped over in the front and back, so technically, 2 1" layers of foam, compressed about a quarter of an inch. much better than nothing but not enough for a 20 mph dismount.

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