This is how I roll. At the moment…

I look like I’m having so much fun, don’t I? (Paul Nickell iPhone photo)

The right foot is doing well, thanks. I have to wear a weird-looking bootie, and use a cane to keep weight off of it, which is not a lot of fun when trying to navigate a ginormous grocery store. Good thing Fred Meyer supplies lots of (oh, hell) scooters to make shopping for those of us whose legs don’t work at 100% efficiency easier…

Remember the commuter derby?

Orin O’Neill photo

Some of you have asked about the commuter derby the GTS and I did last summer.

Exactly 1.2 lbs of zombie flesh

You may have noticed I haven’t been hanging around here as much.

About 10 days ago, Pablo sat me down and said, “we’re going to the hospital.” I’d been leaving some bloody footprints around the house, see.

The reason for that? About four months ago, I noticed my right foot was rather swollen. Since at the time I had no health insurance and no money, about all I could do was shrug and hope it didn’t get worse.

Well, it did. I’ll tell you, my right foot was something straight outta Night of the Living Dead by the time I arrived at Portland VA Medical Center’s emergency room. I was drawing a crowd. Heck, even the emergency room director stopped by to have a look.

Long story short, the front third of my right foot was so badly infected, it had to be amputated. I still have my tonsils and my appendix in spite of growing up at a time when conventional medical wisdom said get rid of them (“hey kid, you can have ice cream after the operaiton!”). Needless to say, my time in hospital has been a gut-wrenching, life-changing experience, and I will have lots to say about it in the weeks and months to come. Maybe not here, but somewhere.

But most importantly for this particular journal, there isn’t gonna be any riding until the right foot heals. So posts will be sporadic, though not completely absent. After all, there will still be weird new microcars and scooters, and news that makes riding easier, or more difficult. Or both.

There’s still time to ride in Portland (and other places), so get out there. Just watch out for the wet leaves and rotting jack o’lanterns…

Where there’s real fall colour

Portland so far has been wanting in the fall colors department. Unseasonably warm weather has kept leaves still attached to the trees green, and the ones that did turn got blown off by the howling Gorge winds.

When it comes to fall colors, New England never disappoints, Our lucky friend Jeff Roddick just got back from that neighborhood. He drives a moving truck, so he gets to go all over North America. But he doesn’t carry 52-inch plasma TVs and waterbeds to exurban McMansions, oh no. He’s the guy you call when you want to transport art exhibits, or concept cars, or other way cool stuff.

And I’m fallin’

Orin O’Neill photo

When it’s warm and sunny, the idea of a scooter being your only vehicle is almost a no-brainer. Especially if your scooter is fast enough to ride on any road you’d care to travel.

But the autumn switch has been flipped in Portland.

Multnomah’s fall

“Uh, sir, you have to park your moped next to the bike rack.” (Orin O’Neill photos)

This weekend was the last gasp of Indian summer, so I decided to head for Multnomah Falls on the Historic Columbia River Highway. I’d been meaning to make this trip for a while.

Yet another 4-wheeled scooter concept

Nissan photo

The run-up to the Tokyo Auto Show sees more offbeat concepts like this one, the Nissan Land Glider.

Moped parking: Portland

Park your cage here at your peril (Orin O’Neill photos)

While Portland is often lauded as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the U.S., the climate for scooter and motorcycle riders is friendly as well, if these examples are any indication.