I was so excited when I heard Jefferson City was going to get not only bikes, but scooters too. Growing up in the country, bikes were our mode of transportation to get to a neighbor's house or ride to the school to meet friends to play a softball game. Only I had asthma as a child so for me it was strenuous to ride.
After my children left for college, I started riding the Katy Trail. I still had difficulty with breathing as I rode, but loved to feel the wind in my face whipping my hair to and fro while enjoying the beauty of nature. Riding is such a freeing experience. I eventually stopped riding because I got busy with other endeavors.
However, when I visited my daughter in Los Angeles last spring, she introduced me to a way to have that same freeing experience with a less strenuous mode of travel. I wasn't sure I wanted to try to ride a motorized scooter, but she has a way of talking me into trying new things. So I downloaded the App on my phone. We found two scooters and rode to the Santa Monica pier from Venice.
Wow! It was an amazing experience. At first, I went very slow and tottered a bit, but once I learned the correct footing to balance my weight on that thin little board, I was off flying over the trail along the beach. That great feeling of the wind in my face, of my hair blowing to and fro, and of being energized by the pure fun of flying along the sidewalk by the ocean was pure joy.
So, when my daughter suggested we get lunch the next day, I asked if we could ride scooters to the restaurant. She laughed. We walked out of her house and found two scooters in the same block. We rode them to the restaurant. As we ate, we watched the scooters we arrived on be used by others and more scooters being dropped off by those who came in to dine. When we were done, we grabbed another two scooters and off we went to shop.
When I learned that Jefferson City was getting bikes and eventually would be getting scooters, I was elated. I told all my friends about how great it was going to be to breeze around town on this delightful mode of transportation.
Dr. Rita Esterly is a psychologist and family counselor, practicing at 915 Southwest Blvd. in Jefferson City.