Ride to Nowhere

Before I begin I want to extend to each of you warm wishes for our day of thanksgiving. In a complicated world it’s easy to overlook the bounty that is before us.

There are some days, dare I say it, that I don’t feel much like riding. Thoughts I had earlier in the week of a long ride evaporated among an assortment of chores and responsibilities. Plans abandoned I still had the day off from work and rode into town to have breakfast with my friend Howard. After a leisurely meal, discussions of hikes and canoe trips, reviewing the state of his airplane, and generally assessing the state of the world we said our goodbyes and I headed for the bank to get a little cash for the holidays.

Emerging from the bank I stood for a while looking at the scooter, the darkening sky, and wondered if I should take a ride. I had a few hours but had no idea where I should go. Seeing the approaching darkness what better course than to head straight for it.

While those might sound like foolhardy words keep in mind that the temperature was rising towards 55 degrees and only a chance of scattered rain showers existed. I rode directly west out of town and turned off the main road onto a small road that I had somehow missed in the decades I have been prowling this area.

I rode along a narrow road through forested land enjoying the scenery; the fragrance of decaying leaves and the slow easy riding that abounds in this region. Progress was slow as I stopped often just to look around, take a picture, and just enjoy the complete disconnection from the normal workday.

Then I come to a turn onto Ardrey Hollow Road. A sign greets this turn saying “Snow Tires or Chains Required”. What better invitation could there be. At this point I depart from the paved road and travel up the mountain on a gravel road.

On the first ridge a road turns off to the left past a cemetery. This one is paved and I would probably been well advised to take that one but instead I only stopped to take a look at one of the old cemeteries that can be found throughout the hills in this part of Pennsylvania.

There are a number of Ardrey’s buried here, no doubt the namesakes of the road and hollow. The oldest died in 1830 at the age of 63 years, 11 months, and 3 days.

After a look around I get back on Ardrey Hollow Road and continue on towards the Allegheny Front which is some hundreds of feet higher.

The road continues to wind it’s way upwards with sweeping views across the valley. I continue to stop and look around and wonder where this road goes. The Moshanon State Forest lies ahead somewhere farther up the mountain.

Around a bend and the road narrows. Traffic is non-existent so I can park in the middle of the road for a picture. The Vespa handles things nicely and I have a full tank of gas so what the heck.

Reaching a crossroad I know where left and right will take me. The muddier choice straight ahead is unknown. As I sit at the bottom of the hill a pickup truck comes down the road and stops to ask me if I am going to try to go up the mountain on that “thing”. He says it’s pretty muddy and rocky. This is where the smart rider would turn left of right but I’ve already decided I need to find out where this road goes. How bad could the mud be anyways?

Mostly the Vespa moved along fine. There were a few places where the road was more rock that road and sudden areas of sloppy mud that seemed more like heavy snow and slush than dirt road. This is where tires with aggressive tread would be useful to keep the scooter from wandering and wanting to fall down.

The scooter slogged along slowly at times working so hard that the radiator fans kicked in to cool the engine down. I was getting tired using my feet as outriggers to keep everything upright.

Eventually I emerged onto Strawband Beaver Road, still gravel but definitely a hard and stable surface.

I could move along at 35 mph providing the scooter and I some welcome natural cooling effect. It is still bear hunting season here and I wondered if anyone would confuse me with a black bear. It was only a passing thought.

I found a familiar paved road just in time to head for home. The scooter had some mud under the fenders and on the engine but nothing a garden hose wouldn’t fix. After riding through the messy stuff you really appreciate a smooth paved road. Just one more thing to be thankful for.