The weather cleared up OK as I rode toward Traverse City. I stopped to take off my rain gear and made a big mistake. I trusted the scooter’s little kickstand (instead of it’s main center stand) on an uneven surface, and it failed to hold him up. I saw him start to go, and reached for him, but was too late. Crash. Fortunately, the only damage was to the left brake lever, which snapped right off.
I still had one working brake so the scooter was ridable, but not very safe. I tried calling the Genuine dealer in Charlevoix, my next stop, but the number was disconnected. The web site is down too. I tried a Vespa/Piaggio/RV dealer I found listed just south of TC on M-37, but he didn’t have anything that fit. So after calling to make sure someone was there and could help, I scooted back to Frankfort, which I had zipped though through yesterday. Bayside Cycles is the last Genuine dealer on the trip until Green Bay, so in that sense I’m pretty lucky that it didn’t happen any later in the trip than this.
It wasn’t a huge detour, since I’d already doublebacked from Leelanau State Park to near Traverse City when it happened. I took US-31 most of the way, which was a pain because of the traffic stacked up behind me… and oncoming, so they can’t pass. It got worse closer to Frankfort, where it got hilly. Going uphill I slowed to 20mph and going downhill I was cautiously riding the single brake I had, for fear of going too fast and needing both of them. And shortly before reaching Frankfort it turned cold and foggy. I turned on my hazards and road the shoulder. For the ride back to Traverse, I think I’m going to take more of the same route I took yesterday (closer to the lakeshore), which wasn’t so bad.
As for the rest of the day’s plans, riding out and back on Old Mission Peninsula is out, but I can still make it to Charlevoix, assuming all goes well.
