More on Scootering

Today was Day 2 of the scooter experiment, and as a result of today's riding, I have a few corrections and a few more comments to address to yesterday's blog.

Distance
Yesterday I 'only' rode 5.5 miles. Today was 6. I apologize for the error and any inconvenience that I may have caused myself.

Muscles
I noticed that the going was far easier today. I don't think I was any stronger (perhaps the opposite), but I am already perfecting some energy-saving techniques, so I was able to push fewer times to get the same distance. On a flat, smooth surface, I can go a block in about ten pushes.

Hammer Time
I also forgot to note yesterday that I have a hammer toe on my right foot. As a result, running or normal scootering (using that foot to push) is a bit painful, while unicycling is not.

Police, or "Scootering while White"
I forgot to mention that just one block into my ride yesterday, I was 'pulled over' by a cop who was standing with two fellow rookies (judging by the fact that none of them was yet old enough to shave, and two of them still hadn't taken the plastic off their guns). He kindly asked to see some id. I was wearing my earbuds, so I started to take them off and asked him to repeat what I thought I'd heard. He asked again for id, and I said, "Are you serious?" At this point he relented on the identification, but he still took time to point out that according to NYC law, scooters are considered to be in the same category as bikes
and are therefore illegal on sidewalks. But then he told me to go ahead as long as I was careful. Hmm. Not the most assertive policeman, but at least he was polite. "Sir, will you kindly drop that weapon as soon as you can and then put up your hands, if that would be convenient?!" Interestingly, I had just been listening to a podcast called "The Risk of Frisk," about blacks being stopped ... and even frisked ... simply for walking in a high-crime area. So as I rode away, I kept wondering how my interaction would have gone if I'd been black.

Tomorrow is Friday, my extra day off. No scootering. Yippee.