It’s snowing outside again. Not hard but enough to influence a decision to stay off the road. I had my riding pants on before deciding to keep the Vespa in the garage. The roads are wet, mostly free of snow, and with temperatures in the high 20’s a ride is not out of the question.
I received a note from a fellow rider this week that described my riding and writing as revealing “the beauty that dwells in the middle”. He went on to explain this as a marked contrast to the media culture that pushes extremes. I smiled when I saw an advertisement on the online version of the New York Times announcing the coming episodes of National Geographic’s Planet Carnivore. I don’t live there.
Before moving on to safety I confess to a wonderful comfort in the middle. I am not an adventurer, warrior, or adrenaline seeker. I look at and think about the world in front of me and wherever I find myself it is enough. There are more discoveries still waiting for me in my backyard. As a photographer I find connection and direction in the work of Czech photographer Josef Sudek and his ability to find beauty right in front of him.
As a rider I am still learning. I don’t expect to stop until time or circumstance prevents me from continuing. Living in the middle as a rider means thinking about safety and carefully considering what that means to me and what risks I am willing to take. I don’t confuse living safely with managing riding risk. If I wanted to live safely I would not ride. It’s here that things can get sticky for some would be riders that want to live safely, carefully, and want to believe that accidents will never happen if they follow steps a, b, c….
The notion that accidents should not happen if everyone follows the rules may be how someone justifies a legal action for an accident. Unmet expectations on the road might lead to anger and rage when others don’t perform as they should. This angry energy gives rise to more and more unsafe drivers and highways. And it leaves me with more difficult questions related to managing risk. What can I do?
Safety breaks down into four areas for me:
1. State of mind
2. My physical condition
3. Mechanical readiness of the scooter
4. My skill and experience in making and executing decisions
Each of these can respond to work and energy that I put into them. None fall into the Act-of-God area. All benefit from practice and attention and will make my ride safer. And I know they make me a better man. When I look at this short list and ask myself if I applied it to driving before I became a rider the answer is no. Riding safely, managing risk, and riding “in the middle” works together like magic to sweep away the curtain that make it difficult to appreciate the quiet places and moments in front of me.
The snow has continued to fall while I have typed this post. The house is quiet save for Kim turning pages in a magazine and I am living in the middle. I’m grateful that riding has made it much easier to accept and appreciate the life I have.
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Steve,
I was born and raised very close to you in Clearfield, PA. I have been living in Delaware for almost ten years though. I am buying my first Vespa (GT200) on Monday and can’t wait. I love your blog, especially the pics of places in and around State College that are familiar to me. Maybe I’ll see you riding on 322 sometime when I am passing through on my Vespa. Keep up the great work.
-Best,
DLIII
Between extremes — this seems appropriate:
“Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
TSElliot – THE HOLLOW MEN
Holy Cow,
My little LX 150 is still sitting in my living room with the valentine bow on it, yet some how I feel am already more at peace with the world around me. JK. I am looking forward to exploring the corners of CT when the ice and snow melt, your portraits of scooter courage have inspired me.
KBR
I think that living in the middle would be a great place to call home, but I would probably want to sneek past the boundaries now and again to keep things interesting.
I don’t need to push the envelope to find the extremes, but there is a bit of thrill that can be found outside of the box.
Have fun,
Bill
DLIII: Congratulations on the GT200! It’s a great Vespa and you’ll love it. What color are you going to get?
pitchertaker: I have to read that poem for awhile. Sounds as if the in between place isn’t so good…
krenap: That scooter will transport you to more places than you can imagine. Have great rides!
bill: I’ve been surprised to find thrills inside the box. I always thought they were elsewhere.