every year about this time, San Francisco is flooded with around 400 Vespas, Lambrettas, and "others" for what is the biggest scooter rally stateside. and i nearly missed the fun because my bike having some injuries from an old accident fixed and things had been worse than we'd thought. but thanks to Barry at Scooter Centre, i had my little orange P125 back with a day to spare.

Rebecca joined me this year on the big Sunday ride and instantly fell in love with scooters, despite her pre-exisiting affinity for a larger, more reliable motorcycle. after eating a not-exactly-leisurely breakfast, we hurried down to First Kick for the start of the ride. of course, being a scooter rally, the ride actually started 45 minutes after it was supposed to. par for the course ... should have known better.

once we all revved up our bikes and got ready to go, however, the sound and excitement of 400 scooters more than made up for any wait. the ride took us around the City a few times, up and down hills, through the park, on wide open roads, and down narrow side streets. and when you're riding with that many bikes, you just don't stop for red lights or stop signs. (which, of course, irked some four-wheeled motorists and amused others.)

we ended up at our usual spot in Golden Gate Park where we ate barbeque, oogled the requisite naked scooterist, sat, chatted, and got sunburnt. in all, an excellent way to spend a day.

of course, as soon as the ride was officially over and Rebecca and i decided to go get ice cream, my bike cut out and wouldn't start again. i guess it decided that was enough for one day.