Modern Vespa

Out the window yesterday morning, San Francisco looked gorgeous. Unfortunately in person, it was stupid-windy. I realized it wouldn't be much fun to be outside in those conditions, so I traded the hike I was considering in for an afternoon at home. I washed the Vespa, played some video games, and didn't do much else.

I was feeling a bit restless, so I checked a Facebook group for last minute concert tickets. Sure enough, someone had just posted tickets for a show that started an hour later. I gave them a 20 second listen, decided they'd probably be fun live, and requested the tickets. Then I found out, the show is in Oakland. I don't love riding in the East Bay - not only is there mandatory freeway time and a bridge toll, but East Bay drivers seem to be more reckless. (They invented the sideshow, which will surprise no one who's been on the streets there.) It didn't leave me much time to eat, but getting out of the apartment seemed like a good idea, so I declared "fuck it - let's go."

I made a quick search for the nearest place to grab food before the show, and tapped Start Navigation. For some reason, my music stopped playing after one song. (Perhaps an omen.) I had made it to the highway reasonably quickly, so I didn't have time to repair it. The rest of the ride was silent, save for the occasional "in 1000 feet, take exit blahblah."

A few turns after the freeway, Google had me circling a triangular parking lot. In the photos, the sandwich shop was covered in stickers. At the end of the triangle was a small building covered in stickers. As I approached the corner, I didn't see an entrance to the parking lot, nor easy street parking. Not wanting to go on a goose chase down a maze of unfamiliar city streets, or cross oncoming traffic more than I needed to, I decided to ride up on the sidewalk and look for the parking lot entrance from there.

As I mounted the sidewalk, I was slowing to a walking pace. I stuck my feet out for the Fred Flintstone duck walk. I don't know why I did this - I can certainly handle the Vespa as slow speeds with just a throttle. Maybe I was feeling cheeky. Maybe I was being overly cautious about any unexpected braking in a tight situation.

At the inside corner of the sidewalk was a planter. The planter was framed by a concrete curb that met at a point. Somehow, my foot and that point decided they wanted to be friends. 500+ lbs of slow-moving inertia emptied itself into the space between the outer bones of my left foot.

The rest of the story is fittingly stupid: the entrance to the (apparently unrelated) parking lot was actually behind me at the time I noticed the sandwich shop, and there was plenty of street parking on the street I'd avoided turning onto. There was no indoor seating. You had to order your food online. By the time I got the menu loaded and sandwich selected, it was within 20 minutes of closing, so the menu declined my order. Thankfully, the girl behind the counter took it manually. I spent the next 20 minutes waiting for food in the cold wind, hoping I could ride home safely after I'd eaten.

I made it home without incident. (I didn't dare try the concert - the potential for darker, colder, more tired, and less adrenaline crossing the bridge far outweighed any joy I'd get from listening to a band I'd never heard of at a show where everyone is surely standing.) Thankfully the Vespa is pretty easy to ride with one foot.

I spent today calling around to podiatrists, urgent cares, and One Medical. By the time I found a receptionist who could clearly articulate that they were in network and what my expected costs would be ($180 for a first visit with a podiatrist, including x-ray), they were booked up for the day. I'll get it looked at tomorrow.

A friend of mine took a bad step a couple months ago and broke his foot. He said the swelling was the tell-tale sign it was broken. Mine's not that swollen, so hopefully there's no lasting damage.

Apologies to my landlord downstairs for all the hopping around one one foot I'll be doing.

Sorry to hear about your crunched foot. Hope the doc determines all you need is a little RICE.

Looks like the 19th Street BART would have been the safer play.

Sorry, Mr Mayor, that sucks. In high school I rolled my foot and it swelled up big, but it wasn't broken. I hope a sprain is in your future. Good luck!

Oh, ouch: And I thought momentarily losing partial use of my (non-dominant) left hand was a bummer. Yours sounds worse. Seriously hoping nothing's broken/fractured, and the healing-up process is reasonably swift.

If your landperson is perturbed by your situation, have them Google: Wilbury Twist.

Don't beat yourself up about it, we all paddle-walk when manoeuvring to select a parking spot. Put a positive spin on it, your foot probably saved damage to your scooter

Ouch, you don't seem to have much luck lately! Fingers crossed that it all goes away with just taking it easy for the next couple of weeks. Take care.

I'm sorry for your pain Mayor. I hope it's not broken. Glad the Vespa is ok.

Damn.. That sucks mate..
I can tell you from personally experiencing broken bones. If it isn't swollen, you can wiggle your toes and are able to rotate with pain, then you maybe fine. You will find out for sure soon. Guess until then ice and ibuprofen is what you are using to manage the pain.

Well, good story, at least. Let's hope it has a (fairly) happy ending...

Don't feel stupid. Stupid is me dumping my scoots in the carport by snagging the lawn mower handle while pulling in.Time and time again. It only took a decade to figure out that relocating the lawnmower actually prevents this.

Travels all over Italy on two wheels, no injuries... Oakland for 5 minutes, messes up foot Bummer.

Take care man, good excuse to rest up.

Thanks all!

Sounds like I was pretty unlucky about where I made contact - it is indeed broken.

If you imagine a cartoon bone like this one - 🦴 - there's a shaft in the middle and a bulb at either end. The shaft is stronger than the bulb, and smaller bones are weaker than big ones. Where my 4th toe attaches, the bulb separated from the shaft. It's hanging out on top of the shaft (as you can see in the x-ray).

She said relative to breaking any other bone in your foot, I'm in good shape. She doesn't expect long term ramifications. She said people tend to get arthritis in joints as they get older, and that the extra space I'll have might avert some of that. She also said there's a small chance it'll develop neuralgia(?) when I'm old, where it will feel like there's a pebble in my boot when there isn't.

Thankfully, it doesn't hurt that bad. Walking can be slow and intense, but laying down I hardly notice it's broken. This makes me more confident that I did indeed break my kneecap on a bicycle when I was too young and cheap to get it looked at - it was annoying for a month, but eventually got better.

Bones take 6-8 weeks to heal. It'll feel better in 2, but still avoid being too active on it. Longer walks and cycling are fine after 6 weeks. Ice and/or elevate when resting. Get a stiff-soled moon boot for walking around. These are hard to find locally. Most places don't have my size, and charge $100+. Amazon will get me one by Friday for $40.

Paradoxically, looking for parking on a sidewalk is what got me here, and I've been doing a lot more of it since it happened. Riding doesn't aggravate it, but walking certainly does. 20' feels far now. It's really nice to be able to ride up to the door of e.g. a restaurant, have lunch, hop back on and ride home.

Looks like you've got Morton's toe. Me too.
Maybe there's a connection between toes and scooter riders.
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Morton%27s_Toe

It never would have occurred to me that it would be weird to have a long second toe, because middle fingers are known to be the longest. But upon further thought the middle finger is actually the third joint (since hands have thumbs and feet don't).

Dang, you beat me.

Yup, that broke. :|Not fun to bear weight on, but should heal fairly well. Good that you already have an ideal conveyance.

Kinda thinking of how you could do double duty with a good riding boot....

I've been thinking about getting something more hardcore for commuting. It tells you something about the lack of rigidity that this break occurred through the sole of my Stormhawk, rolling at a slow speed.

Heck, that's me, too.

Doesn't everyone?

Man, not me. Wondering if I need to sell my Vespa?