Scooters, Rallies, and Alcohol Question

runtotorun121 · Post by **runtotorun121** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:57 am

I probably have a stupid question here,

but I have been looking around at different Scooter Rally schedules and photos of past rallies, and I see meeting at bars and beer drinking and such during the socializing. I am wondering if this is pretty much a regular part of scooter get-togethers, much like biker get-togethers?

MikieTaps · Post by **MikieTaps** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:05 am

I have only been on a couple rides so far, and when we stop for food, I see lots of people have A beer with a meal. I have done this while riding my scooter to dinner also... I dont think I would be comfortable having more than one tho... unless it was a LONG pit stop...

Racenut · Post by **Racenut** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:05 am

It's OK, it's all LIGHT beer

illnoise · Post by **illnoise** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:17 am

Traditionally, camping rallies involve some serious boozing because you're where you're going to be, and no one has to ride anywhere.

City rallies usually end up at a bar or club, just because a bar or club is usually happy to accommodate us, and that's where bands/DJs play. People drink, and just like anywhere, the responsible ones limit their drinking or have a safe way home and the irresponsible ones don't. At a rally where out-of-towners are staying at a hotel or someone's house, most people wait until they're back to the hotel or house, THEN go nuts.

In either case, you won't be ostracized at all if you don't drink, in fact, if you're not drinking and you can get a few drunks (and/or their bikes) home safely, you'll make a lot of friends.

For day-rides, there's often a stop at a roadhouse kinda place, and people will have a beer with lunch. There are occasional pub crawls, which are admittedly a pretty bad idea, but they're usually up front about the plan, so you can easily avoid them.

Obviously, just one drink can affect your reaction time and many people won't drink at all if they plan to ride. They're smart. Other people limit themselves to one drink, others stick to "one drink per wheel" which is pretty iffy, and some people leave the bike at home or take a cab home. People ride drunk, it happens, and others (and rally organizers) try to prevent it, but drinking is popular (ha) and isn't likely to disappear from rallies anytime soon. It used to be a lot worse than it is these days, I've had 3-4 friends learn the hard way that drinking and scootering don't mix (luckily no deaths, but some really ugly accidents and/or DUIs) and gladly, my circle of friends seems to have learned from others' experiences.

heavypetting · Post by **heavypetting** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:27 pm

Root Beer is your best bet.

Orange Guy · Post by **Orange Guy** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:05 pm

I haven't been on a scoot long enough to have the two mix, but I have a theory.

It's kind of like disc golf. We have players show up at a tournament at 9 a.m. with beer in hand and continue to drink all day. They complain they played poorly and hardly remember the event.

I enjoy scootering and disc golfing enough that each of them is an event by itself and doesn't need to be enhanced with a beer. I'll save the guzzling for backyard BBQs and camping.

Drumwoulf · Post by **Drumwoulf** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:30 pm

illnoise wrote:In either case, you won't be ostracized at all if you don't drink, in fact, if you're not drinking and you can get a few drunks (and/or their bikes) home safely, you'll make a lot of friends..

Wow, that sounds like a real fun time!

Shepherding drunks home; geez, I just can't wait to go on a rally where I can get a chance to do THAT!!

kazoo · Post by **kazoo** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:17 pm

http://tinyurl.com/3ulhtw

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:18 pm

kazoo wrote:http://tinyurl.com/3ulhtw

Yes, you'll look like a young corpse, as they say.

It's kind of a no-brainer that alcohol and scootering don't mix, but I know plenty of otherwise well-adjusted adults who don't know their limits (especially those in their mid 30s or so whose limits have changed with their slowing metabolisms). I used to be a fairly... uh... active social drinker, but scootering has cut down on my consumption by quite a bit. Can't say that I miss it. I love scootering more than drinking. People who knew me in my 20s would be shocked.

I'll have a beer or glass of wine, maybe 2 with food over a several hour period, but no more. This means that when I do plan to go out and get my drink on, some additional planning is required.

kazoo · Post by **kazoo** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:47 pm

I agree with Mr. Eric 100 %

I just have family thats involved in the wine industry so I feel its my duty to pass along this hype. If you must Drink, please do it responsibly, after all its not the 1950's anylonger and there's just to many people on the road

Kaz

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:56 pm

kazoo wrote:I agree with Mr. Eric 100 %

I just have family thats involved in the wine industry so I feel its my duty to pass along this hype. If you must Drink, please do it responsibly, after all its not the 1950's anylonger and there's just to many people on the road

Kaz

It's not even the 1980s or '90s any longer...

Don't get me wrong, I love living in the future.

runtotorun121 · Post by **runtotorun121** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:12 pm

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

Yes, like others I may have had a little more alcohol a time or two a few years back,

but right now I am not much of a drinker. I just have more fun without it, and I certainly can't imagine getting on a scooter even after I had only one drink. I am not a terribly big person, but even if I had a little more height and weight to absorb the alcohol I don't think I would want even a little bit of an edge off my senses if I was driving my scooter.

I am a pretty social person and I love parties, so I was excited to think about the opportunity to meet other scooterists and have some fun, but when I saw all the photos with alcohol in hands and on tables I wondered if I might feel out of place if this was just a recreation of a college bar scene with scooters added in the mix.

Piedmont · Post by **Piedmont** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:51 pm

I just noticed you're in KC. Which meetup are you planning on going to? Carmen and I would love to mee some other scooterists in the area.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:31 pm

runtotorun121 wrote:...when I saw all the photos with alcohol in hands and on tables I wondered if I might feel out of place if this was just a recreation of a college bar scene with scooters added in the mix.

For medical reasons, I pretty much abstain, so I've had occasion to think about this, too. My conclusion is at a well-run rally, there should be plenty of stuff to do other than drink. There should be a ride out, a gymkhana, whatever, something involving scooters that's fun to do. The other thing is, there always have to be sober folks around to help put on the events. For example, somebody has to be awake and alert to make breakfast in the morning at a camping rally, and that's a great job for the abstainers and couple-sips-of-a-beer folks like me.

So my message is; get involved, help out, find a way to make things better and you'll end up enjoying yourself a lot more.

Apiarist · Post by **Apiarist** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:36 pm

i enjoy drinking once in a while, but don't like being drunk. i rode to a happy hour after work, had one beer, a meal and waited an hour after drinking it before i left. i still felt unsafe. felt like i did not have all my perceptive and reaction powers.
nowadays if drinking is part of the plan, i don't ride. period. which kind of stinks cuz as i said, i like a drink now and then... but scootering is much funner. choose yer relative poison.

Johnny · Post by **Johnny** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:56 pm

Don't you all know - most scooterists are just alcoholics with a scooter problem.

dru_ · Post by **dru_** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:45 pm

I've done several rallies, and yes boozing is part of the environment, but I've never seen it forced, nor have I been in any way slightly because I choose not to imbibe.

There is a fair amount of respect.

I should also add that it seems that Pabst Blue Ribbon seems to be a drink of choice among scooterist around here, and that my friends isn't even worth the effort of drinking

.

ScooterTrash · Post by **ScooterTrash** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:43 am

I don't drink, nor will anyone who rides with me. If we were camping overnight I would not mind but even one before riding is unacceptable to me

kennelkeeper · Post by **kennelkeeper** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 3:14 am

For all you Buddy riders in the KC MO /KS area who read this board. I'm planning a ride on Saturday, June 21st. Plan on leaving from Scooter World 9 am and we'll ride to Coffee Break Coffee Shop. Then head out for a ride to the KC City Market. Good opportunity to meet other Buddy owners. Coffee is on me. PM me to confirm so I can get a count.

runtotorun121 · Post by **runtotorun121** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 3:17 am

Aha. It is the man from whom I bought my scooter!

Drumwoulf · Post by **Drumwoulf** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 4:36 am

ScooterTrash wrote:I don't drink, nor will anyone who rides with me. If we were camping overnight I would not mind but even one before riding is unacceptable to me

Yes, that's something that bothers me too... To keep things on the safe side, I don't drink and ride. So why would I want to ride in close formation with other people on scooters who've been drinking? If I don't trust my own judgment and riding abilities after drinking, why should I even consider trusting anyone elses??????