Rockrant

Scootering

I am going to be starting to write a scooter column for Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly. Pretty much the same thing of what has been done in the past. Rally reviews, scooter news and maybe the new bikes that come to our shores from around the world.

It looks like Vespa introduced a new line of scooters to take over for the ET2 and ET4s. The LX line is similar in design to the GT 200 which was introduced last year.

TGB a new scooter company to the US, probably best known for having riders race across the country in pizza delivery scooters will introduce a new scooter to go along with their pizza bike, 101s a bike that competes against the Yahama Zuma and the Laser a sporty styled bike. The new scooter, the R50X is in the sport style but has angular lines and is a 50cc. I'm sure the US spec version will have different blinkers on the front and maybe on the back. What is intersting about this model is that there is a big tachometer right in the middle with a smaller digital speedo off to one side.

#6 Every Second Counts By Lance Armstrong

This book starts up where "It's Not About the Bike" left off. Lance has battled cancer that no one thought that he would beat, needless to say he did beat it and then went on to win the Tour de France a record 6 times. I read "It's Not About the Bike" after my accident and when my mom was going through cancer treatment and it was very inspirational for me. I wanted to get up and ride even though I couldn't even get out of bed. He made me want to keep going and believe in myself and my doctors.

Of course since then I haven't gone on to win anything but that book still stays with me. "Every Second Counts" has a different tone. I don't know if he is just cashing in on his fame at the moment but it didn't have the same passion as his previous book. But the subject matter was also a lot more interesting, his life and death struggle with cancer and then getting on his bike and winning the most punishing race imaginable. It is nice to hear about what he has done in the time since the first book. Like starting the Lance Armstrong Foundation and meeting with all of the different cancer patients around the world. He also talks about his different teammates on the USPS team and the training that they have to go through in order to help him win the tour.

Maybe it was just the situation that I was in when reading "It's not about the bike" but I was really disappointed in this one. Maybe a few years should pass and he could have written it with a bit more objectivity. It is hard to be insightful when you are in the middle of the situation. If he writes another book I hope it is 5 years down the line after he has retired and can give the whole scope of the cancer and racing. But I may be asking too much, because he is after all only a bike racer not a writer.