Spring in Washington

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom and so are the tourists. While it's wall-to-wall people at the Tidal Basin in downtown D.C., a little further north, the National Arboretum offers a much more relaxing take on things. Yes, there are far fewer trees in bloom, but getting to them is so much easier. To be honest, I didn't actually see a lot of cherry trees on this visit, but the magnolias were gorgeous!

And the grounds of the Arboretum are a fun place to explore by scoot. Even though Ryan had his "big bike" out, he didn't mind riding along with me on my "little one" so that I could test out a new piece of equipment. Stay tuned for more on that later this week!

Hints of Green

The sun was shining and temperatures were in the 50s. We gassed up the scoots and hit the road for an afternoon adventure. Not a pot of gold in sight, but we did find hints of green on the shores of a local reservoir. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Paris or bust

Thanks to Gerri Jo for including Polly Scoot's in a fun Etsy treasury devoted to "Amelie." If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend this great French film. The movie includes a gnome and a Motobecane moped--who could ask for anything more?

They sure know how to make them

I'm not a Vespa girl myself, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it when they make a hot new bike. When I started seeing news about this scoot in Scootering Magazine, I couldn't help but be a bit intrigued. At about 5'4", many new bikes are just too tall for me to feel comfortable riding. A new smallframe-like bike sounded interesting indeed.

When the Motorcycle Show came to town this year, I was happy to see the Vespa S in person. Not sure that I like all the "chrome" ascents, but all in all, it's a good looking bike. And, I could touch the ground just fine when I rolled her off the center stand.

Snow, what snow?

I wouldn't call it a good idea, but there's definitely something liberating about surviving a scooter ride home in a snowstorm.

I haven't given it enough credit lately, but my little Vino rocks! This 50cc wonder was my first scooter, and now, almost five years later, its the most reliable of the bunch. Its drum brakes did surprisingly well in the snow and freezing rain last week. Just take it slow and you're good to go!

Reflections

What is hairspray doing in your toolbox?

One of the first things I changed on my Stella was the grips. The stock ones were hard as a brick and boringly plain. In the usual web search for tips on making the switch, I came across multiple recommendations for aerosol hairspray as a good lubricant and glue for putting and keeping the new grips on. All the web posts were right and some hairspray did the trick.

Two plus years, and one sorry trailer ride later, my throttle side grip had come completely off. I slide it back on and rode around for several months with it slipping and sliding around--always smart. And of course, at every stop light I was giving it a whack to slip it back in place.


Finally, last weekend I stopped being lazy and searched the hall closet to see if my trusty can of aerosol hairspray was still around. Since I don't remember the last time I used hairspray on my hair, I was pleasantly surprise to find a can. Off I went to deliver some long overdue TLC to the Stella.

Unlike that first time around, but not surprisingly, the old grip slide right off. I peeled off some of the goopy stuff left over from the original job, sprayed the handlebar end and inside of the grip with hairspray and ta da--back in business.

Think it's about time for the hairspray to live outside with the other scooter tools.