#30DaysofScootering - Day 30 - Hello OLAF, Goodbye McNugget

Last fall I backed the OLAF scooter on Kickstarter. Yesterday, my OLAF Urban arrived.

It's a backpack kick scooter combination. Folded up, it's easy to carry.

Viewed from the front, it looks like an ordinary backpack.

 You can also use it as a wheeled trolley.

The pack has nice reflective bits.

The scooter steers by leaning. It has a little friction fender brake on the back.

The backpack can either be left on the platform while scootering or worn as a backpack.

The pack is really nicely designed. It's got lots of reflective bits, good construction and a nicely padded internal laptop sleeve.

The handle can also be folded down to make the OLAF into a skateboard. I suck at skateboarding.

The handle can extend to three different heights. I prefer the middle setting, but the OLAF should work well for folks both small and tall.

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I also have to report some sad news today. McNugget the Rooster, a long time Issaquah resident who I've mentioned here various times, was killed Tuesday night by an escaped dog. Details of the tragedy can be read here.

Swifty and I scootered over to McNugget's place today. Various friends of McNugget have set up a memorial there.

The memorial sums it up, McNugget was loved.

2.41 miles of scootering today, so the month closes out with a grand total of 165.87 miles.

#30DaysofScootering - Day 29 - Another Seattle Scoot Commute

On Wednesdays I work in Seattle. I take the bus from Issaquah to downtown Seattle and then scoot the 6 miles to Greenwood. I always budget some time for wandering around.

Quite a few geese make South Lake Union their home.

There are always interesting vessels at the Center for Wooden Boats.

Seattle has many fine book shops. It's still too early for Ophelia's to be open, but I like to see what they have on display.

This looks interesting. I should stop back another time.

The climb up Fremont Avenue is slow going, but there are interesting things along the way.

When you're going slow, you have the time to notice more.

A lot of the bikes I work on at G&O are big cargo bikes, but some are small, like this Brompton. Note the auxiliary kid seat. 

This bit of wisdom is printed on the end of a Faraday Porteur box.

Here's another Brompton. They're very nice little bikes.

Tyler is putting one of the cargo bikes to good use.

After a full day at the shop, I roll back toward downtown.

Construction cranes are the defining feature of the Seattle skyline these days.

But there's still only one Space Needle.

12.88 miles of scootering today, bringing the month's total to 163.46 miles.

#30DaysofScootering - Day 28 - A Brief Rain Ride

It was another damp day in Issaquah. After work I scootered for a bit, but I wasn't really motivated to go very far.

The rain today is typical of what we get in the Cascade foothills, a persistent drizzle.

The clouds cloak the mountains while the rain makes the sidewalks shine.

Time to head for home and a hot beverage.

2.82 miles of scootering today, bringing the month's total to 150.58 miles.

#30DaysofScootering - Day 27 - Christine Scoots!

After 26 days of blog posts, I was complaining to my beautiful wife that I had no idea what to do for today's #30DaysofScootering blog post. Christine, of course, had the perfect idea. "You know," she said, "I've never really had a chance to ride Swifty." She was right. I'd been selfish.

Christine took to Swifty right away. OK, there was a moment of "How do I stop it?" where I wound up explaining Swifty's hand and foot brakes to her but then I was chasing after her saying "wait up, I need to get shots of you in action!"

Christine waited up and then scootered off again.

"Swifty lives up to his name," she informed me.

She did eventually loop back and return my scooter. "I'll take some pictures of you."

 I'm not nearly as pretty as my wife, so one picture is enough.

Christine is a natural scooterist.

It's a lovely evening in Issaquah. A dad on a longboard and his daughter on a bike check out Christine's sweet scooter.

She's already got a pretty good kicking technique.

It looks like we might have to become a two Swifty family. "That orange one I saw on the website looks very nice." Christine informs me.

2.10 miles of scootering today (some of it chasing after my wife) bringing the month's total to 147.76 miles.