Finding Our Way On Adult Kick Scooters

My friend Jorge and I continue riding sequential chunks of the Los Angeles River Trail on our Xootr Mg adult kick scooters, working our way south towards Long Beach Harbor.

How we found our way on adult kick scooters

We started today’s ride at the west end of San Juan Street, in Paramount, at the Los Angeles River Trail several blocks north of Somerset Blvd. It’s residential, with a small public parking area at the end of the street.

I’ve been stalled in a rut where I put off riding trails farther and farther from home, because of the extra minutes of driving time needed for a longer trip to the starting point.
The rut be damned… if I have to drive forty minutes instead of twenty, my driving time to the Lario Park Trail in Irwindale, so be it.

Weaving memories of all the bike trails

I want to stitch as complete an experience as I can weaving memories of all the bike trails in and around Los Angeles into my life’s tapestry. I want to do it while I still can.

While I plan to keep riding my Xootr scooter until I drop, I recognize that at 80 it isn’t getting any easier to jump up from a chair without a push-off with my hands; and not so easy to put my socks on in the morning without leaning up against a door jamb to keep my balance.

Until the day comes where I can no longer ride my Xootr scooter

For now I can easily handle riding the Xootr scooter… but the day may come when this could change, either from age-related deterioration, or from a black swan event like an injury from a fall.

Riding 3.5 miles

So, Jorge and I set out, with the intention of riding 3.5 miles, to where Long Beach Boulevard crosses the Los Angeles River Trail. Cross streets are unmarked on this portion of the trail, so we soon found we’d scooted past the Plan A turn-around, and were at Del Amo Bvd in Long Beach, at C. David Molina Park, on the southeast corner of Del Amo and the river trail.

4.4 miles from our starting point. This was our Plan B turn-around, easier to find, and that much closer to Long Beach Harbor.

Our usual great conversation

Jorge and I had our usual great conversation on the trail, solving all the problems of the day.

The turnaround point

From our turnaround point, it was easy to see the harbor cranes masked in light haze in the Port of Long Beach, probably just five miles further south of us.

We’re getting there. Finding our way. Through life.

Don’t forget to check out my website at JonathanKelley.net.