Steve & Georgia Carter

Grand Junction recently allowed Limes and Birds to appear on the streets. These are small electric scooters which are quite popular elsewhere. They’re parked alongside buildings downtown and on the sidewalks elsewhere; you simply rent one than leave it and hope there’s another one there when you want to go back. I thought I’d try one this morning, so I downloaded the app and located a bunch of them not far from my barbershop. I hoped to find a spot near a parking lot so that I could practice without risking life and limb riding on the streets. Unlocking the thing was easy, and the instructions simple. But after one turn around the parking lot, I was convinced that I needed more practice at a secluded location where nobody would stare at me.

Then the trouble began. I returned the scooter to the place I’d picked it up but I couldn’t end the ride because the app told me I had to be in the designated parking spot, which was on the sidewalk across the street. There was a big sign on the scooter “Do Not Ride on Sidewalks.” I wasted at least ten minutes (49 cents per minute) arguing with the app .. really a futile idea .. then finally tried to ride the scooter to the parking spot on the sidewalk. It stopped and told me that I couldn’t ride on the sidewalk. What do do?

Eventually, I walked the damn thing to the designated parking spot and was able to turn it off … after taking a mandatory picture of the scooter, apparently to prove to them that it really was where it was supposed to be.

So my first attempt to rent a scooter was a dismal and expensive ($8.25 including tax) failure. They look like fun and they might be practical, since the range on a full battery charge is supposed to be up to 15 miles. Maybe I’ll rent one at Canyon View Park tomorrow and ride around the empty parking lot to get used to it.