Be careful out there…

Be careful out there, folks.
…In the rain.
…On slick streets.
…On hills and curves.
…Passing cars.
…With other cars changing lanes.
…At dusk.
…And all of these together.

Or you might end up on Columbian Way, passing a car to change lanes in front of it, and have another car zip off I-5 onto Columbian and cut right in front of you to change across two lanes.

Down goes the scooter, skidding on its side up the hill.  (Here’s a map.  It happened right about at the top of the curve.  Thursday, October 9, at about 6:15 pm.)

Down goes the rider, body surfing on the wet asphalt.  Face down, feet first, uphill.  Looking at the wheels of the car he just passed coming closer as the driver slams on his brakes.  And the other driver just zips on up the hill and around the curve, probably not even realizing anything happened.

Thank god for leather jackets and helmets, and for drivers who are on their toes and able to stop.

Clothing Damage

• Wet pants and shirt (but nothing torn).
• Half-dollar sized abrasion on the jacket’s left elbow, and other scrapes on that sleeve, but the wet pavement actually protected the jacket from other damage, I think.
• Leather shoes have a scuffed up right toe.  I probably lifted my feet up during the slide.
• iPhone in the front jacket pocket is fine.

Scooter Damage

• Half-dollar sized scrape on the scooter trunk.
• Small scrapes on other side bits.
• Busted housing for right front blinker, but it still works.
• Scraped aluminum from the right brake lever and the metal end of the throttle handle.
• Throttle handle’s metal end is now tipped out and spins.
• Throttle was stuck at first, but got it unstuck after 30 seconds or so.  The throttle doesn’t always roll back to off now, though; the tipped end provides too much friction against the rubber handle, although I can spin the tipped end to a position where it's about 90% fine.  (I’ll definitely need to get this fixed.)
• Badly scraped and cracked footboard side panels (they were already scraped from dropping the scooter in the past, but now scraped even more).
• Mirror out of whack, but I think I’ve adjusted it back to okay now.
• The exhaust pipe or muffler appears to have taken a little damage, too, bending one of the bolts inward a little.  I don’t notice any issues with it — and I’ve done two 60-mile rides since — but I should get it looked at.

Except for the throttle issue, seems to be cosmetic damage and drivable.

Personal Damage

• Bruised right knee.
• Scraped left elbow, even a trickle of blood.
• Tingly left pinkie and forearm.  Still bothering me a little bit, few days later.
• Would have gone to the chiropractor the next day, as a preventative, but they are closed on Fridays.  I seem to be doing fine in that regard, though, so the regular Wednesday appointment will do.

Lucky.

Nobody tell my mother, okay?

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Updated on January 26, 2010

I didn’t note it at the time, but I was on my way home (a) to meet the guy doing some landscaping work for me to consult about my back stairs, and (b) to have a first dinner date with the guy who has now become my boyfriend in the intervening year-and-some.