Since offices have reopened, I've been faced with the dilemma of how to travel into the city centre. Cycling is my top preference, but a recent flat tyre forced me to consider other modes of transport.
So I jumped on a Voi during my mad rush from the office to my kids' school pick-up. The first thing that struck me was how bumpy the trip was compared to cycling.
I felt every cobble at the top of Castle Park, it was also harder to avoid Bristol's savage potholes. I didn't realise how much more agile bikes were compared to Vois until I was faced with a huge dip in the road, and with a car close to my right, I had no option but to ride over it, which was the closest I came to falling off.
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There were also a few near-misses with dozy drivers opening their car doors after parking up, although this is a common problem when I'm cycling as well.
Another small hiccup was the occasional issue when taking off after stopping at a junction. It could be just me with this issue, but when traffic lights turned green, despite repeatedly pushing down the button, the scooter barely moved.
The worst part of my journey was attempting to park the device. I had arrived with a luxurious five minutes to go until my kids were let out the gates. I attempted to leave the scooter on a large stretch of pavement only for the map to show me I needed to move around 500 metres down a very busy road.
I then got to that suggested spot for it again to show on the map I needed to keep going, this happened three times before I eventually was able to leave the scooter in a safe parking bay. By this time I was a five-minute walk from the school.
The trip also costs around double the price compared to jumping on a bus. It set me back around £4 compared to £2 for a single bus fare.
But it wasn't all bad - e-scooters are definitely one of the fastest ways to get around the city (minus the problem with parking). They are also quite satisfying when you get to sail past a line of bumper-to-bumper cars. Overall though, I'm looking forward to getting back on my trusted and sturdy bike.
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