Skate Power!

Cycling home tonight up Banbury Road, I encountered a man on a motorised skateboard. At first i thought he was being towed by a cyclist, but no; he really did have a skateboard with a little engine under it. I guess it was an electric motor (it made no noise), positioned underneath the deck, between the trucks. He had some sort of controller in has hand that looked like a staple-gun, which he regulated his speed with. He was going at a fair pace, overtaking some cyclists and I had to cycle a little faster than normal to keep up with him.

He reckoned he could get up to 20mph on it. I asked him if it was an experiment, or just his usual commuting arrangement. He replied that he usually used it if it wasn't raining. Well, I cycle that road every day and I've never seen him before, so either he's exaggerating somewhat, or it's just a damning indictment of the Great British Summer...

I didn't know quite what to make of it really; the hardened commuter-cyclist in me thought he was insane, the boring law-abiding citizen in me wondered if it was legal and the skate-kid in me thought it was the best thing since bread came sliced, my childhood dreams come true!

I'm inclined to agree with skate-kid...