My last blog entry was about the possibilities of riding an electric moped in the winter in my town of Elmhurst, IL. Today, I am writing about my last day out this past Sunday. First of all, the weather was outstanding, about 50 degrees, uncommonly warm for the first day of March in the Chicago area. I decided right away that I needed to be out and about on my Flux EM1 to take advantage of the awesome weather. I went to my church in the town center, about a mile from my house. I love the fact that I live close to the center of town. As I wrote in earlier blogs, I don’t mind walking occasionally, but I’m not a morning person and walking or biking to the Metra train in the morning on a weekday is “not my thing”. My electric Flux EM1 is the perfect solution as my local ride - it’s a 3-minute commute to town, easy to park, and fun. As I rode to church on Sunday, I enjoyed the first of a number of short stops that I was looking forward to make. After church, I grabbed some groceries at Jewel and dropped them in my Top Case on the back of my Flux EM1. For those that don’t know, a Top Case is a plastic case mounted to the back of a moped that can hold things like your helmet, or groceries (see accompanying picture). I lock my helmet in my Top Case when I park it at the Metra station every weekday. Mine holds the equivalent of a couple of bags of groceries (or a couple of stainless steel growlers for you craft beer drinkers like me) - enough for almost all small trips to the store. After a few more errands, I decided to take a ride west on Second Street, out towards the quarry. It’s a quiet, residential neighborhood, making for a perfect ride on an electric moped that makes no noise. From there I cruised over to College View near Elmhurst College, enjoying the ride around the campus buildings. I then made a stop at the Elmhurst Public Library, the site of the Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition meetings that I attend monthly. My final points of interest took me past Brewpoint Coffee, Pilot Pete’s, Red Arrow Tap and then on home. In my next blog entries, I’ll write about riding in the Elmhurst St. Patrick’s Day Parade to promote smart choices for short distance transportation around Elmhurst as well as the Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition and the great work they do regarding green initiatives.
- Scott Christensen
