I actually had a chance to meet the guy driving the bike rack’s newest arrival, a sleek black Vespa, the other day. We were both unlocking our respective rides when I offered up some lame entree like “That must be fun to ride.”

Black Rider, a fairly typical looking 35-something in business casual, said it was one of the best purchases he’d ever made.

I asked if those $4.30 gallons of gas figured into his decision to buy one. He said it indeed did, but there was a bigger factor at work: “I got tired of getting my car dented in the station parking lot,” he said.

With that, we wished each other well and were on our separate ways.