Monday, November 30, 2015

Scooter Jousting

    Sometimes an innocent idea turns into a thing. We had salvaged two of the cheap throwaway scoots from the dumpster. They didn't run, and really weren't worth fixing, but what to do with them? So, the idea of having a few friends over to joust was born. We spent a few bucks and way too much time to make these scooters run; so we had to do it. Then...the idea grew.

     It became an idea for an event. A Facebook page was created and friends were invited. There was some brief talk about safety and someone even mentioned rules. We set the date; were blessed with some good weather, and had a full house.

     A row of leftover scooter packing crates were placed in the middle of the grass lot to form a list. The jousting lances were built from PVC and pool noodles for "safety". A few helmets and face masks were available if you felt the need, and we were off. Oh yes, we were "off" all right.

                                                       A well prepared Knight on his mount.

    A water bottle was taped to the helmets of the competitors as they lined up. The object was to knock the taped bottle off of your opponent's head. This system need to be improved for next year, but this was our first run.
                                                                           
 

                                         The choices of armour were varied in looks and effectiveness   
                                                                           
                                      Individual combat also broke out on the sidelines, all in good fun.                         

                                          At times the techniques MAY have been questionable.                                 
                                                                        
                                       We were thrilled that everyone seemed to have a good time        

    This event was set-up to be fun for everyone, but the extreme fun did take its toll on the machines. This was the same trusty steed as above at the end of the event.



    The event began with  the use of the lists and the tilt did maintain proper jousting technique for a time.
                                                                           
                As you would expect, for our group at the shop; it rapidly devolved into shenanigans.

                                                                               

   We ended the evening with a nice fire and food shared with good friends. Upon asking if we should do this event again, we were greeted with a resounding "YES", so this may just become an annual event.


 For a viewpoint from another participant, we also appeared in a nice article on Scooterfile.

A special THANK YOU to Heather Holmes Snyder, Tim Snyder and Denny Magdule for the pictures and video!

                                                                     

                                                                          
                                                                                 
                                                                               


                                                   

   


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Support your local shop.

                           

Now that Halloween has past, our thoughts turn to Thanksgiving and holiday shopping.  One of the things we are thankful for here at Carlisle Cycle and Scooters is our customers.  Thankful that you entrust us with your hard earned money and your beloved vehicles. That you appreciate our expertise in our chosen field. We are a small Mom-&-Pop shop and this business supports our family. Many small businesses like ours are struggling to stay afloat against the convenience of shopping online.  We understand that it is easy and the deals seem better.
                                         


  Please understand that if you are a regular customer of a small local shop, the benefits that you receive will far exceed the few dollars that you might save with that "online deal".

Service.  You cannot buy that online.  It is even difficult to find at the big box stores.  We provide our customers with one-on-one, face to face service.  We will tell you which products we prefer, and which to stay away from (some "deals" can be money sucking mistakes).  We won't steer you wrong because if we do, we are going to have to look you in the eye and justify ourselves. We want you to be happy shopping here.
That helmet you buy online? We sell that here, and the gloves,too. We can get most anything that you see online, we can frequently come close to their deals, and we can get it in a few days too. Keeping local small businesses in business means that we will be here to help you in the future when you can't solve your problems by yourself.
We understand that our "quaint" shop may not be to everyone's taste.  That is fine, check out our competition.  There are several shops in the area and each has it's own personality. We would love for everyone to do all of their shopping here, but if not, please support other local businesses.  When you shop locally you are helping your neighbors and friends to pay their bills.

                                                                     



 Besides, when you support a local business it feels good.