Usually a ride on the Vespa cures any ill, the acceleration into flight strips away concerns and distractions and transforms darkness into light — at least with the normal noise and chaos of living. Riding can trigger curiosity and change my whole outlook on life. Saturday morning found me on the road, dodging the raindrops, pushing the scooter onto he little narrow paths that crisscross the area, focusing on the challenges of dirt and gravel, mud and water.
Whenever my mind’s not right I slip off onto less traveled roads to explore and let my mind wander in new directions. Rain threatened all morning as I passed across the valley towards a series of chores. The drama of the landscape never fails to excite, even on these little rides.
Mount Nittany looms in the middle of Happy Valley, a familiar icon for the Penn State faithful. As a young geology student I learning it was an inverted, truncated geosyncline. Or something like that. It’s been 42 years since hearing those words so I could have mixed them up a bit.
Everything is so lush right now with the consistent rain we’ve had this summer. Little pathways wind through tunnels of foliage and provide endless opportunities to explore without needing to travel very far. The only complaint I have is it only takes a few moments for the Black Flies to find you. Those beasts get into your helmet and can drive you a little nuts.
A last stop in a wet, dank tunnel beneath Interstate 99 before surrendering to the necessities of the day. Looking at this picture I’m reminded again at how little riding I actually get done because I’m in a constant search for things to look at which for me means stopping. Some riders make 5o miles in an hour. More often than not I’ll only accomplish 10. Or less. Someone once referred to me as a dawdler though I thought it more accurate to be identified as a curious toddler.
No wonder a motorcycle doesn’t make much sense.
” Looking at this picture I’m reminded again at how little riding I actually get done because I’m in a constant search for things to look at which for me means stopping. Some riders make 5o miles in an hour. More often than not I’ll only accomplish 10. Or less. Someone once referred to me as a dawdler though I thought it more accurate to be identified as a curious toddler.”
All correct Steve. In fact if you enjoy what you are accomplishing, then continue. Consider yourself the carrier of positive vibes for those of us unable to ride a Vespa let alone any standard production motorcycle as all of them are “just too darned physically small”
I’ll try to keep supplying some vicarious riding experiences Bryce!
Steve, beautiful pics, as always. The first one is especially visually striking. You’ve got black flies this time of the year? Here in Ontario they are usually gone by the end of June. We’ve got plenty of mosquitoes, though. Want some?
Thanks for the kind words about the pictures Mike. It’s still a thrill to come upon scenes like that and have a camera with me.
We have multivoltine species of Black Flies in Pennsylvania, or so I’m told. That means that have multiple generations in one season hence their persistence into fall. This year is really bad.
I like the look of the vespa’s headlight in the last picture……
I accidentally left the tachyon particle emitter running and it began to create a quantum singularity. I have to be more careful with that…
Hey, is there some moonshine in that shack to the right just beyond the Vespa in the 2nd photo? I like ALL the photos, but the angles in the first one are great. I guess you go through a lot of brake parts, Steve.
I was reading about a fellow with a Vespa GTS who still had the original brakes at 60K miles. I’m hoping I get that many myself.
Not sure what’s in the shack. If I had to guess I would say some left over parts for lysimeters — those cool devices that measure nitrogen in the soil. It’s a long story.
All the moonshine is kept on the other side of the valley.
I like the “curious toddler” handle better than dawdler. I am a moto dawdler and actually find it extremely frustrating riding with friends because they never stop and I see so many things I want to take pictures of and they find it annoying to stop. I have missed some truly wonderful pictures on rides like that. I love to cement the memories and document where I’ve been. I was on a road trip recently with a friend and we didn’t stop and I was disappointed, so on my way home I moto dawdled and took photos whenever the whim struck. I find it sac when people just ride for the sake of racking up mileage, it should be more about the journey and experiences rather than how many miles. Love your pictures Steve!
If you like to stop and smell the roses it almost means you can’t ride with anyone else. And even if they are tolerant I can feel guilty enough that I just won’t stop. Guess I need to make a T-Shirt: “Ride Free, Ride Alone”.