Scooter weather arrives on the upper prairie

May 19, 12:30 PMSouth St. Paul ExaminerRob Shirk

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Heavy metal thunder

There is not much that is more thrilling on an every day basis than a motorcycle. Getting 100 miles per gallon is close.

If a person opts for the frugal as one of life's ultimate goals, it behooves that person to at least consider a motor scooter. Not one of those namby pamby jobs that you see that can't climb a hill or tag you as a moron, but something with a little get up and go. Get at least a 125cc.

Gas was rising last summer and my wife, who works pretty close to home figured that she should join the "Get your motor running" crowd. She is more of the frugal sort, so off we went and bought one sweet scooter saving gas yet helping the future Barack Obama economy by actually buying something.

She had no need to hop on the freeway so she did not have that as a priority. We do have the bluffs along the Mississippi and while I wouldn't call them the front range of the Rockies, there are hills that you'd want sufficient power.

Scooter weather has arrived here in South St. Paul. In much of the world it is scooter weather all the time. Here on the upper prairie we get about 7 months of comfortable riding. It is cold in the mornings well into May and while the "Head out on the highway" crowd may laugh they rarely have to ride in nurse's scrubs. Maybe under the chaps it is really what they have on but that would be a whole other story, now, wouldn't it?

Now that the motorcycle crowd is out in full glory, I see her talking with other riders at gas stations, supermarkets, wherever. A bond, however tenuous, has developed between her, her Yamaha scooter and the rally in Sturgis. She even ran into a guy sporting the colors of Freemen. In the land of 10,000 lakes and 10,000 treatment centers it sort of makes sense to have a sober motorcycle club. She commented on the cold weather. He informed her that it's easy to ride when it's warm.

There is an endless supply of these types of adventures when she get's home. "___ing Camry God____ nearly killed me down on Annapolis St. when he cut me off!" The sweet, compassionate nurse morphs into that sneering, watchful, motorcycle mama that only God knew existed.

Tip o' the hat to Riley for letting me in on the video.

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