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Scooting the city

Cruisin'
By ABIGAIL CROCKER  |  October 14, 2009

Move aside four-wheelers. On Wednesday nights, it's scooter time.

The weekly ride, kick-started by Patrick Engeman, owner of North Main's Javaspeed Scooters, draws about a dozen to two dozen riders. The assembled gear up behind the dealership/repair shop/coffee shop, strapping on helmets, leather, and eye protection. And then they ride.

The rides are meant for show. Engeman hopes to encourage novice riders to practice riding with traffic -- but also to create a buzz and revive scooter culture.

And the event has attracted attention. Not all of it approving.

"If there are 10 scooters, people think they've seen 50," said rider Marc Ardizzone.

"We sound like a pack of lawnmowers," added regular Gary Constantine.

The venture turned from a small sporadic gathering to a once-a-week staple soon after the rides got some notoriety in the fall of 2002, about the same time Engeman opened Javaspeed Scooters.

And the jaunts are not for the feint of heart. On a recent spin, the scooters rode across a Wickenden Street intersection and proceeded onto Benefit Street, gaping potholes shaking drivers' feet off the pegs meant to sturdy them.

The scooters took a turn onto Westminster Street and rode on the cobblestone. Some drivers darted in and out of formation but, like a school of fish, the group remained more or less intact. As they cut through the residential areas of the East Side, the riders spread out, carving S-turns across the pavement.

Downtown, a woman in a pink dress stopped on a corner next to Tazza to watch the motorists. She flashed a smile. Another man ready to cross the street scowled.

"We get a lot of reaction," said Engeman.

Engeman recalled the driver of a red Camaro shouting at Wednesday night regular Luigi Ghiasi after the group passed the vehicle idling at a stop sign.

"He said, 'Swerve at me again, you fat motherfucker,'" Engeman said. "It's funny that some guy felt assaulted by Luigi swerving near him when he's in a car. We're the ones who are vulnerable."

The squad has faced more than epithets, though. The gang used to make Thayer Street a routine dinner stop. But after neighbors complained of noise, the city enforced parking restrictions making it hard for two-wheelers to stop for long.

The group found alternatives. A couple of Wednesdays ago, the scooters stopped at Rick's Roadhouse on Richmond Street -- a venue with ample parking. The Red Fez on Peck Street is a favorite when the weather gets colder and the squad thins.

And despite the occasional hassle, the riders get away with quite a bit. Though Ardizzone rides his Stella (an Indian-built version of the 1970s Vespa) at 45 mph -- about 20 miles per hour over the city's residential speed limit -- the cops don't stop him. He attributes the lax attitude to his scooter's nerd factor.

"They chuckle at us and say, 'What a weenie,' " said Ardizzone. "If I was driving a red sports car, they would pull me over."

Related: Back on the surf-rock sonar, Buttinskies, litterbugs, and scooter-cide, Steel, blowtorches, and a little trash talk, More more >
  Topics: This Just In , stella, Tazza, Tazza,  More more >
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Comments
Re: Scooting the city
While all in all, I think your article is a colorful story, as someone who rides with this group from time to time, I would like to make a few points. 1. Safety is top of mind for all the riders. The more experienced riders position and look out for those with less skill. While it makes for a good story, serious speeding and being reckless is something I have never seen when riding with this group. 2. The group has a deep knowledge and appreciation for scooters but can laugh at itself by lightly using the notion of being a gang for a few hours. 3. The reason parking was closed to motorcycles and scooters on Thayer street has nothing to do with the scooter rides. My understanding is that the number of motorcycles and  Scooters from all over the city were taking up so many parking spaces, cars could not park and people could not make their way into the stores. The combination of noise due to the number of bikes in combination with store revenue loss motivated the city to take action. With that said, I would recommend that anyone who wants to learn about scooters should come meet the group and maybe for an hour or two a week, become one of the gang.   

 

By Gadgetman on 10/15/2009 at 8:18:58

ARTICLES BY ABIGAIL CROCKER
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   SCOOTING THE CITY  |  October 14, 2009
    Move aside four-wheelers. On Wednesday nights, it's scooter time.
  •   READY, SET, HOWL!  |  October 07, 2009
    From the people who brought you the Woolly Fair, the city's furriest art festival, a bit of hairy exercise this past weekend.
  •   STEEL, BLOWTORCHES, AND A LITTLE TRASH TALK  |  September 23, 2009
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    John Duksta's latest bit of high-tech wizardry — a machine that would aid in the creation of circuit boards — fell a bit short.
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    Those with a hankering for slick riffs and dirty break beats look no further.

 See all articles by: ABIGAIL CROCKER

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