I took the Whill-CI to do some errands today. Here are my first impressions.
Driving with a joystick is getting easier. I still have the (wrong) impulse to push harder to go faster.
Definitely enjoying the extra speed and the comfortable seating.
The wobbly wheel feeling is still there. It seems to be the way the front wheels sometimes hit a sidewalk crack (one in parallel to the wheels, not the ones perpendicular). Small changes in slope also make a big difference in pulling the front wheels in one direction or the other.
Notching down the speed when going through a doorway or when in line worked OK for me. Opening doors is harder than it is in the TravelScoot, and I’m wider, so there’s less room for error. Definitely appreciated door-opening buttons today (automatic door at Walgreens, door button at Pinhole Coffee)
I am seated lower down than on the travelscoot, and can’t reach most payment systems in shops and cafes.
People look past me more, not even glancing up, like they are embarrassed. They cut in front of me in line automatically and try to push past me in a situation where they could have gone a different way, said excuse me, or expected a standing person to move aside. That’s not new, but it seemed worse today. It may be partly from the height difference.
I feel a bit odd not having something in front of me, curiously vulnerable.
But cool, at the same time, from my extra speed and my casual leaning back posture.
I do miss the unicorn horn and my decorations on the TravelScoot. Thinking now about how to decorate the CI to be a little sillier. Not quite ready to plaster it with random stickers…
Backpack straps work pretty well. It is a little harder to shop and put things in a bag when I don’t have front handlebars to hang a bag on. The under-seat basket is too rattly and loud for everyday use, so I took it off. I may try to get someone to make a canvas one.
I went to the dispensary, where the bouncer complimented my wheels; Walgreens to pick up stuff at the pharmacy; a cafe to have a pastry and coffee and work a bit (pulling up the arms of the chair to sit at the table, as they do so neatly in the promotional videos!), and up a long steep hill to Pinhole to pick up some ground decaf and the butcher shop for fish for tonight and turkey for the holiday. No complaints on the hill so far.
However… I do have a complaint. I did not magically materialize on a yacht and then go for a picnic with an elfin sweater-wearing lady carrying a bottle of wine at the Palace of Fine Arts. Where’s my damn yacht — instead I just got elbowed in the face in line at the drugstore as usual! hahahah! classy!
Tomorrow I’ll try riding the J train (which should be not too crowded), going to a different cafe to work and have lunch with friends. Wednesday I may try the bus. (The bus feels daunting so I want more practice before trying to maneuver in such a tight space where other people can be very tense about it.)
I went about a mile and a half total — the battery went from 97% to 87%.