Scootering Luggage

What do you bring with you when you go scooting? I suppose the answer might depend on the type of scootering you do. On short scoots, all I need is my helmet, my Bluetooth speaker, my wallet and keys, a little water and not much more. On long scootering adventures of many miles, I carry more gear. 

I'm going to share 2 strategies that I'm using for those longer treks. The 1st configuration, I've used many times and the 2nd is currently in the primary stages of experimentation and evaluation.

Setup #1

Click on any image for a larger view

This is what I carry when I go on a "Long Distance Scoot". It's what I carried on my recent 32 mile circumnavigation of Mission Bay. I carry as little as possible and only bring "essentials". Since all of this is attached to my body, I'll be lifting it up and down on EVERY stroke. The lighter the better.

1) A CamelBak backpack with water bladder. It'll hold up to a liter of water and a reasonable amount of gear. It's on the smallish side which is a good thing. If I carried a larger backpack, I'd be tempted to fill it up making it heavier. Here I'll stash my wallet, pen and lip balm. I'll sometimes carry a bandana (as useful as a towel for those who hitchhike the galaxy), an extra t-shirt or windbreaker. 

2) An over the shoulder sling bag. I wear this on my chest for easy access. Here I'll keep my cell phone and camera gear (#6 below) and kickstand (#11 below). 

3) Blinker and Light. There are days that I've had so much fun scooting that I've lost track of time and have been caught out in the dark. The blinker can attached to my CamelBak and the (bright) light can attached to my handlebars. 

4) Maintenance gear. An air pump, air pressure gauge, Allen wrench, tire changing tool and tire patches. I started carrying these items ever since I started riding a scooter with pneumatic tires. If I'm riding on polyurethane wheels, I can leave some of this behind.

5) An energy bar. I like RXBARs. Although on really long scoots, I'll typically buy food, an RXBAR is a good supplement to avoid bonking.

6) Photo kit. Photos are important to me. A GorillaPod, selfie stick, phone mount and remote control. This combo allows me to mount it or stand it up (like a tripod) for photos.

7) A Leatherman Wave multi-tool. If you don't know how useful these are, you should find out.

8) Kleenex. I don't know about you, but I get sniffly when I really push myself and exert a legit workout. This is a welcome comfort and well worth its weight.

9) A Mophie Juice Pack battery and cable. This will charge my phone. Essential. When I scoot, I'm typically running a fitness app (Runkeeper) to track / map my progress and the Music app on my iPhone. A few hours of this can run my phone battery down to zero. 

10) Hand sanitizer or moist hand-wipes

11) A handcrafted, custom made, perfect-height, portable kickstand. Allows me to stand up my scooter for photos. 

12) A "horseshoe" shaped Bluetooth neck speaker. Lets me groove to tunes while still being able to hear outside "road" noise. Helps me keep my situational awareness of cars, bikes, rodents of unusual size, etc.

Also wearing a helmet, neck gaiter and fingerless gloves.


Here's what it looks like while scooting

Setup #2

One difference between scooting and biking is carrying weight on your body. If you carry a backpack on a bike, the weight is on your shoulders, spine and seat. The weight of the backpack is not causing you any more "work" than if you were sitting on a chair at home. Scooting is different. With each stroke, you are lifting that backpack up and down, again and again. The weight of the backpack is added to your body weight as you rise up and down with each stroke. Over a long, strenuous journey, those repeated lifts add up.

It's for this reason that I'm experimenting with offloading some of my gear to scooter-mounted luggage. I ordered 2 bags for my experiment.


The bags now carry a large 40oz water bottle, my backup phone battery, blinker and light and other weighty items. I did a 7 mile test-scoot the other day and here is what I found:
  • It's noticeable not to have that weight on my shoulders. I felt lighter and more nimble.
  • Folding the scooter to fit in the trunk of my car, while the bags are attached, is a frustrating pain and I've had to learn new skills and techniques to get this done. Where to hold and grab the scooter, etc.
  • Attaching or removing the bags is not quick. It's easy, but it takes a while to RIP RIP RIP the Velcro pieces on and off.
  • The front bag, with the large water bottle, shifted to the left and right on my test ride. This was easily remedied. The kit I ordered came with this "grippy, rubbery, tape-like stuff". It's meant to add friction to your scooter tube. Once I applied it, it did JUST that and works like a charm. No more swinging from left to right. 
  • The top bag has a lot of space, is hard shelled and doesn't swing. Solid.
  • It doesn't feel like it's going to "tip over" when riding (like I thought it would) even when loaded with gear. When I wasn't moving though, and tipped the scooter a little, the tippiness and weight was more noticeable.
  • It didn't seem to add at all to the amount of energy I needed to expend to move the scooter. This kinda makes sense, the weight is there in either case, on my back or on the scooter so I still have to move that mass, on straights, uphill, etc. If anything, I was using less energy, as I described earlier, from repeated lifting. 
Here's what my setup looks like:



The weight of my gear is now being carried by the scooter and not my legs and back


Which luggage setup will persist and I continue to use? I'm not sure yet. But I intend to put many miles on as I evaluate my scooter luggage. I'll keep you posted.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Scooter Using BOTH Feet

Image
This essential "trick" will allow you to go further and faster on any scooter. You NEED to push with both  feet (not at the same time though ... heh heh). Here's why: When you only push with one foot (i.e. push with your left, while your right is planted on the deck), your planted thigh muscles will quickly tire. Your pushing leg will also get tired, but it's using different muscles. If you can alternate your pushing and plant legs every few strokes, you can give both of your legs a " rest " when you change the muscles being used.  Here's how it's done (see the video at the bottom) Push with your left foot while your right is planted. Push about 5 - 10 strokes. Pivot on your right heel and at the same time plant, and put weight on the deck with the toe area of your left foot. Pivot your left foot, on your toes, to straighten it and at the same time take your right foot off. Push 5 - 10 strokes. Now, left heel pivot, right toe plant Right toe pivot,...
Read more

Review - Scooters I Own

Image
Summary review of scooters I own: Pros and Cons I love scootering and own several kick, push, manual (not electric) scooters. They’re nimble, excellent for low impact exercise and are a great way to get around to find Geocaches. As I've mentioned in a previous article , I think scooters are a great solution to quickly get around (a location you might otherwise walk). They're almost as fast as bikes, but don't require a cumbersome bike rack to transport them. You can fold and fit several in your trunk. Get to your destination, unfold them and you're off! Skateboards are just as nimble but require a bit more training. Because of the brakes and added stability that handlebars offer, most people have the confidence to give scooters a go and quickly learn how to scoot.  I am, by no means, an expert regarding kick-scooters, but I have spent a lot of time riding scooters and have logged many miles doing so . Over time, I've come to own a handful of scooters. Each one was ...
Read more

My Boardy Scooter

Image
My impression and review of my Boardy scooter. I also own a Razor A5 Lux and Xootr Mg. I enjoy long distance "exploring" over varied terrain. In one day, I have scootered over 30 miles on my Xootr and on another day over 32 miles on my Boardy . I also enjoy scooting for fitness, pushing the scooter at sustained speeds.  I don’t want to use a bike rack on my car to carry it to my scooting locations. My scooters  must  fit in the trunk of my small car (Mazda Miata). Pros: It's smooth over rough pavement, dirt roads. One of the reasons: it uses 12” high pressure, pneumatic tires. I keep the air pressure high to make the tires as firm as possible. It offers less rolling resistance, but still absorbs shock. Another reason it rides smooth is that it has a "flexy" wooden / fiberglass deck. Absorbs even more shock. Feels kinda like a skateboard. It can get a bit bouncy, but I think it's groovy. The deck is made of layers of wood and fiberglass. It's seems flexi...
Read more

Scooting over 30 miles around San Diego Bay

Image
click on the image for a larger view of the map March 13, 2021, I scootered over 30 miles around San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U.S.–Mexico border. The bay, which is 12 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's 840 miles of coastline. The highly urbanized land adjacent to the bay includes the city of San Diego (eighth-largest in the United States) and four other cities: National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado. San Diego Bay is one of my favorite places to hang out. As you might expect for a large bay connected to a large metropolitan city, a major portion is a "working seaport", replete with cargo ships, air craft carriers and various warships. Still there are large parts of it that are well designed for recreation. Here's a link for more info on recreation at San Diego Bay Growing up in San Diego,...
Read more

Why do I ride a scooter?

Image
  I've posted about my scooter rides. I got my Xootr kick-scooter for Christmas and have been riding it as often as I can. It provides a legit workout and gives me a chance to experience the joy of outdoor motion and exploration that I so often crave. I wanted something that I could put in the trunk of my Miata, drive places and go! Generally, there are 4 choices of common “locomotion” that I could transport via my car: bikes, skates, skateboards and scooters. These allow you to cover the “last mile”. Drive your car to a location, park, explore an area, get back to where you parked. I’ll go over what I think the benefits and drawbacks are of each of these alternatives. Bikes : Although I LOVE riding bikes, a bike takes too much time to load and prep and I can’t carry one on my Miata. On our other car, I’d need to install a bike rack each time. Tires can go flat. Brakes and gear shifters need maintenance, lots of moving parts. I love to ride bikes and they certainly deserve consider...
Read more