Last week my editor sent me one of the most challenging assignments of my relatively short career in journalism: To ride an e-scooter, maintaining my balance long enough for fellow reporter Michael Briones to snap at least one photo. After I read that email I had to pause and ask myself – am I up to that? I paced around for a few minutes, stared out the window for a while and then decided that yes, I would ‘take one for the team’ and put my life on the line. I would ride an e-scooter for the first time in my life. Evolve’s e-bike and e-scooter share launched in Parksville on April 22, which happens to be Earth Day. After signing my life away on the waiver, I was lent a helmet and given instructions on how to safely ride the scooter, which includes staying off the sidewalk, by the way, unless you’re walking it. Not being a scooter rider, I felt a bit unsure of myself, as I slowly made my way slightly uphill on Craig Street and turned onto a quiet side street. Having both feet up on the deck, legs close together, felt a bit unnatural at first, but only for a minute. Riding downhill on my return was more fun. I felt a lot more confident and was able to enjoy myself more. Don’t let my grumpy expression in the photos fool you, I pretty much always look like that. The accelerator is designed to be very gentle, so even if you push the button down all the way, it’s not going to jerk you forward suddenly. The scooter has a handbrake on each handlebar just like a bicycle. The signals also took some getting used to. Of course, you can always use hand signals if you’re comfortable taking one arm off the handlebars, but otherwise you push a right or left arrow button to show others where you are going. But remember that the signal won’t switch off automatically after you turn like they do in a car. You can see them blinking on the ends of your handlebars. There are 20 e-bikes and 30 e-scooters available at more than 10 locations throughout Parksville and the Evo app can be used to find the nearest location and book one for $0.35 per minute or $12.99 per hour, whichever is cheaper, according to Evo. Timing the launch for Earth Day is a great reminder that riding an e-bike or an e-scooter is not only fun, it’s good for the environment. RELATED: FORSYTH: E-bikes are great but please don’t run me over
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