Central Pennsylvania riders are blessed with a seemingly endless supply of winding roads — the one in Bald Eagle State Forest.
I thought of my father this morning while riding through the dense green of Bald Eagle State Forest. He would have been 87 today had years of hard work in mines, steel mills and cigarettes not claimed his lungs and life eleven years ago. As a boy he and my mother would take me to places like this on picnics or to just walk — a reflection of my mother growing up in the Alps in a “walking” family.
Riding a Vespa scooter through the empty places in central Pennsylvania affords space to let the mind wander, entertain dreams and fantasies, and face the pressing questions of the moment. And there’s the quiet thrill of flying along on two-wheels, the sense that my spirit is expanding beyond the body and I feel connected to the world. At those moments I’m painfully aware of the brief but magnificent opportunity life really is.
Vespa GTS 250ie along road in Brush Valley, Pennsylvania.
I remain enthralled with the Vespa — form and function. On two lane roads, my route of choice, it performs as well as any motorcycle at legal speeds and can exceed them by 20mph — fast enough for any responsible rider.
My father would never have approved of my riding. All pleadings and schemes to acquire go-karts and mini-bikes, motorcycles and BB guns were repeatedly rejected. Perhaps being an only child played into my parents strategy. His feelings about motorcycles were clear — they were dangerous and unnecessary toys and nothing more. Only fools and people with issues had them.
I do have issues.
Vespa GTS 250ie scooter in Sugar Valley
The road seems long. A camera lens can exaggerate perspective to trick the viewer. The mind can do the same thing as a lens, distort reality. Where I once believed the road is long, now I’m not so sure. I’ve always known that distance isn’t a requirement of a rich ride on the scooter. Same holds true of life. How many miles traveled is less important that the quality of those miles.
I saw many Amish buggies on the road this morning but resisted the urge to make a clever image of that archaic method of transportation with the Vespa. The Amish endure enough peeping from the English.
Lost in on the road, winding through the forest.
A Harley-Davidson motorcycle rumbled past me while I made this picture and I watched them carve through these turns. For the next 12 miles the road twisted and turned through hairpin turns and provided plenty of gravel strewn bends to keep things interesting.
My dad drove like I ride — slow and with few concerns for others on the road save for common courtesy. If he were a rider I like to think he would be on a Vespa and wave to other riders regardless of their riding choice.
Fuel and water stop.
With 70 miles of winding road behind me the scooter needed a drink and so did I. My new diet has kept me out of many of the greasy haunts I would have patronized. Now is fuel, a few glugs of water from a bottle, and a banana or apple. No more hearty bacon breakfast choices.
Vespa GTS 250ie scooter on gravel road.
Who knows where the road will lead. Circumstance and choice guide routes and outcomes. I often don’t really know why I end up at the places I do.
Vespa at the end of the road.
Often little gravel byways and path dry up or are gated closed. The Vespa isn’t something I want to tear through the brush to continue on with an exploration.
My father was neither an explorer or traveler. When he taught me to hunt we were always on familiar territory. I didn’t inherit that trait from him and instead have my mother’s travel instincts — to move on from place to place and not worry about the outcome. It explains many of our travels in Europe without destination or hotel arrangements.
We did just fine.
A stop for water and to munch on a few baked potato chips — the meal of salt lovers…
Some roads feel like tunnels slowly drawing me into something but I’m not sure what. The Vespa was fine but I felt tentative. And that’s ok sometimes.
Sometimes you just need to keep riding until you find what you’re looking for.
Not sure where things will lead. It’s good to have a vantage point to see ahead, if only for a a short distance. So I’ll keep going and see where I end up and take advantage of the brief but magnificent opportunity afforded by life.
My love for my Vespa is undimished by my affair with Sonja’s Shadow (which she has taken to calling Black Betty, but I have nicknamed Thunderbird).
On the highway at speed the Vespa rides like a cloud, the Honda like a bone rattling war horse.
Loved your musing on your parents.
Like you, I’ve seriously considered adding a motorcycle to the fleet. The list includes some 80s and 90s vintage BMW airheads, mid-90s K75s, the Kawasaki KLR, and the Triumph Bonneville and Scrambler. Just to name a few. Having ridden all of them I know they can never live up to what the Vespa delivers. Your appraisal of it like riding a cloud is accurate. I would go one step further in saying it’s like flying in a cloud. No motorcycle I’ve ridden has that feeling.
I try and keep my parents close in my mind and heart. The older I get, the more I realize they gave me.
I never had to deal with Parental issues regarding motorcycles. My Dad taught me and my younger brother when I was 10 and my brother was 7. I’m the first in the family to explore scooters after decades on a bike. My Dad, now 89, has asked me repeatedly “why” and I just tell him “It’s a phase.” He still rides a Kawasaki ZR-750 several times a week and isn’t stopping anytime soon.
At 89 I hope I’m able to walk let alone ride. That is a gift of genetics and good fortune.
I suppose every family has something that they pass on to their children. My father taught me to work, use tools, and not let much bother me. Motorcycles unfortunately weren’t in the mix.
The Kawasaki ZR 750 always reminded me of the old Honda Nighthawk 750s. Both cool machines.
So Jim, when will your scooter phase run its course?
“Who knows where the road will lead. Circumstance and choice guide routes and outcomes. I often don’t really know why I end up at the places I do.”
What a great line.
Thanks Robert. Funny what flows through your head and onto the page when you sit down to write.
enjoyed your thoughtful impressions here, and i enjoy your vespa worthy wanderings. We find a lot of lost roads, forgotten places in verrrmont; our best memories happen on those back roads. It’s endearing to hear that other two-wheel enthusiasts find similar appreciation there. Ride on; the wind will never ask you why.
peace ~ resa
I imagine Vermont would be a fantastic place to ride. Mountains and lakes, forests and villages. I always think of it as a more extreme version of Pennsylvania.
“Ride on; the wind will never ask you why.” That’s a great thought. Thank you.
A beautiful post with beautiful scenery to go with it.
I hope you re enjoying those bananas and apples. A change in diet can do the body good. We’ve been vegan almost 4 years now and were vegetarian for about 3 before that.
I definitely feel better and I think having cleaned up my diet has helped as well. My calorie intake is reduced now that I am not living on fast food so I’m experimenting to see how that plays with energy levels. I’m not ready to go vegetarian just yet but headed that direction a little. We’ll see!
Interesting comment on the passing of your father. My own Dad was 62 when he died in
1982 and would have been 97 this past May 22. My Mum died in 2011 at age 94.
Thinking of our past and those who reared us we tend to contemplate our own mortality.
Especially when serious often fatal illness becomes a part of our own lives.
Steve, you missed the bullet by good fortune and luck. Changing the stress of life by eating healthy foods will help. Problem is most of us are on the other side of the hill, the down side. Best we apply the brakes so the ride down is not so fast. Going vegetarain can help. Rule of thumb to not eat anything that has an eye and you’ll probably be good.
Which I guess means, don’t eat your Vespa, as it has one eye as well!
As to the roads and the photographs, the skies seem overcast, as a prediction of moisture. Then too old loggingroads and roads which lead to open shaft mines in the sides of hill, can also be of interest. Abandoned railroad properties as well, often converted to trails although not intended for motorized vehicles. Wonder if you can lash a bicyle to the back of your Vespa for such trail rides????
Thoughts or mortality have definitely been on my mind for awhile. The heart attack just sharpened the focus a bit.
I definitely dodged a bullet through good fortune and luck. Now it’s up to me to take positive action to help the odds in the future and to slow the descent you describe a bit. Another adventure.
Your ideas for places of interest are great. One made me think of a friend who has been asking me about a rails to trails ride for a long time…
Beautiful photos and sensitive reflections. Thanks for both. Inspired me to think about my old guy who died at 84 about 20 years ago. It was a troubled relationship between us but we both survived it and I am so glad he got to come out to Australia once before he died. He loved it.
Take care and good health with all that compostable tucker you are getting into.
Thanks for your thoughts on the post Fred. Making peace, or finding closure with a parent in the living years is a gift I think. I would hate to think of how I would feel if things were left unsaid or undone.
I love the countryside and winding roads in your pictures. It captures the feeling of the road, the weather and the outdoors. I felt a little nostalgic when you spoke of your parents and father. Made me think of how lucky we are to have been born and how many never had that experience!
I find my thoughts turn to nostalgia when I’m riding under gray skies. It’s as if I’m in some Jane Austen or Edith Wharton novel…
Boy, I hope I have “issues”. The other option may be more accurate but I’m pretending not to have read that statement.
Beautiful photos. All I’ve seen in PA are miles and miles of roads flanked by farms…
Hah! Issues!
Pennsylvania does have a lot of farmland. But we also have millions of acres of forest land as well. Both great landscapes for a ride.
Oy, the father and son dynamic… It can be complicated–unnecessarily. I believe that most fathers just want the respect of their sons, and most sons just want their fathers to be proud of them. I wonder how often each party gets what it wants.
(I don’t know what, if anything, that adds to the conversation…)
“How many miles traveled is less important than the quality of those miles.” Steve, we all need such a reminder–often.
Maybe what we want, as fathers and sons, isn’t as important as we think. Or at least we might be better off in the long run to surrender those wants and instead just be open to whatever comes along. A father need only love his son and a son his father. The same would apply to mothers and daughters. Our own wants just get in the way by burdening others with expectations they may not be able to live up to…
Nice post Steve….though life without bacon….the horror
The last picture pretty much sums it up for me, long road traveled but still more to go!
Bacon. I miss that along with hot dogs, cheeseburgers, pizza and a whole raft of other unfortunate offerings. They say I can have an occasional meal but that’s just torture.
I’m hoping I have more miles to go myself!
“So Jim, when will your scooter phase run its course?”
I’m not sure but in the meantime I keep an eye on Craigslist.
I’ve run into some of the Parent versus Biker dilemma myself. My daughter has goaded me into teaching her how to ride the Honda Rebel in the garage. How do you tell your Daughter that, “No child of mine will ride those dangerous things” after I myself have done it for a half century. Fortunately I live deep into the sticks and she can learn how to ride with little traffic underfoot.
The “don’t do as I do, do as I say” doesn’t quite work with our kids. So train her, get her good gear, and keep your fingers crossed!
Hi Steve ,
Great bit of writing mate backed up by great choice pics……your a clever guy Steve and pieces of writing like this allow me to take a deep breath and get me thinking about life and it’s magic and …..well it takes me to a calm place.
Really good stuff.
Kind regards
Len
Thank you Len. Glad I can help you find a quiet place.
Hello sir!
I am Ria .(22yr old) girl from INDIA.
I m crazy about bikes,bullets but don’t know much about the automobile things
I always thought that a scooter can never travel a long distance.. after reading and seeing your Vespa pictures on the road i have decided that i will also travel with my scooter.
Yesterday i bought a scooter(hero maestro) and was searching randomly (that if i could travel long distance with new my scooter or not)and i suddenly found your blog and right now i m in love with your pictures , the roads and your vespa..
i just want to travel like you with my new scooter.
1> Can you please tell me few things that is it possible with my new scooter to travel a long distance..?
2> My new scooter hero maestro have the capacity to travel a long distance or not?
as i dont have any idea about automobiles or its parts i just need tips before starting my rides.M very much excited
Hero maestro (BLUE)
here is the picture: http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/attachments/ownership-reviews/72703d1354367657-hero-maestro-electric-blue-review-dsc_0090.jpg
and its specification:
http://overdrive.in/bike-specs/hero-maestro-2013-deluxe/
Ria,
It is possible to ride a small scooter a long way. There are plenty of scooter riders who have traversed continents on them. You just need to make sure you have a solid machine that is well serviced. Other issues that affect choice is how easy it is to get serviced on the road or to find parts. More obscure brands present problems. Vespa, Piaggio, Honda, Yamaha and Kymco have extensive dealer and parts networks. I can’t comment on your particular scooter.
I would suggest you try and reach out to your local scooter community to get feedback on your particular scooter and it’s capabilities and ease of parts and service.
Hope this helps.
Thankyou very much for the comment 🙂
wow so thankful for this site and to you Steve I’m able to scooter while at work and eases my scooter pains until my days labor ends. This is more than casual reading but an anthem to anyone who enjoys the ride….. PHOTOGRAPHS are AWESOME !!! TAKE care and the adventure awaits DON E.
Thanks for your kind words of support Don, I appreciate them. Glad to know my words and pictures help ease the scooter withdrawal.
Now it’s time to enjoy the ride!