Meals provide frequent excuses to ride. A 30 mile ride to breakfast just the most recent of many. Like private pilots flying to a distant airport cafe for a cheeseburger, the relative cost of breakfast at the end of a ride is unimportant.
This morning my friend Paul Ruby and I combed our hair and rolled out our respective two-wheeled contraptions for a leisurely jaunt. Paul parked his Piaggio Fly 150 in favor of his 2008 Ducati Hypermotard — 1200cc of air cooled power, 97 horsepower available at the twist of the throttle — necessary to keep up with the Vespa.
Fog shrouded most of Tussey Mountain but cleared at the summit leaving a fine view of nothing but white. Another rider was programming his GPS for a ride north to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon but Paul and I were going the other direction to Huntingdon.
Paul D. Ruby, motorcycle and scooter rider, engineer, eBay entrepreneur, photographer, poet, adventurer, friend — just a few of the identifiers I can attribute at the moment. When we ride, he always seems to pull coffee out of his hat, like the cute little thermos he had this morning.
The route to Huntingdon is familiar; I’ve ridden it many times. Traveling the countryside I have a birds-eye picture in my head of where we are and where the surrounding geographic features and towns should be. Passing an unfamiliar road that seemed to lead up towards a mountain we usually have to ride around I pulled off the road, consulted my mental birds-eye view, and made a U-turn to take a new route.
Sometimes detours and explorations are disappointing diversions but this morning we were rewarded with the wonderfully winding path through a quiet forest. A short stop to wander around had me working with the camera while Paul inspected the condition of a recent chain swap he did.
About the time I made this exposure my stomach reminded me that it was time for breakfast. The goal — the Standing Stone Coffee Company Cafe which I hoped was growing closer rather than farther away with this exploration. As luck would have it we emerged in a few miles to a familiar place that would take us right into Huntingdon.
The Standing Stone Coffee Company Cafe in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania is a wonderful gem of a cafe that I’ve somehow missed for years. Unfortunately hunger and running into an old friend inside distracted me from making pictures so now I have a reason to return. Suffice to say that the food was excellent, the environment superb, and I’ll be back. Another 30 mile breakfast is in my future.
While a lot of people think of a Vespa scooter as “small” it’s apparent in this photo that the scooter has a physical size that’s relatively equal to the 1200cc Ducati Hypermotard albeit 75 or so horsepower less.
Breakfast over and chores beckoning led us home from here. One more mountain to cross and then on through the valley. A fine way to start the day.
“While a lot of people think of a Vespa scooter as “small” it’s apparent in this photo that the scooter has a physical size that’s relatively equal to the 1200cc Ducati Hypermotard”
Not just size but weight too. A Modern Superbike scales in at relatively the same weight even though it possesses numerous more parts. A scooter is fairly heavy for its size.
I was looking at the baby “town man” (Suzuki Burgman 200), and noticed it is 359 pounds “wet” – enough power for limited freeway use, the excellent weather protection (including optional heated grips!), and huge storage area are all tempting, but I am afraid that it would lose the bicycle like maneuverability that makes the 100-150cc “city” scooters such a delight to ride in the right environment.
I think the wheel size has more to do with the feeling of being nimble on the road, especially at slow speed, than the weight does. It’s the small wheel size that also contributes to the feeling of instability that some people sense at high speeds. It’s a trade-off — one I gladly make for my kind of riding that’s generally under 70mph.
I tend to think of my Vespa scooter as small but I catch myself comparing it to motorcycles at times and being surprised how often it’s of similar size.
“Paul parked his Piaggio Fly 150 in favor of his 2008 Ducati Hypermotard — 1200cc of air cooled power, 97 horsepower available at the twist of the throttle — necessary to keep up with the Vespa.”
Love this line, I will be stealing it in one form or another on some future ride.
Feel free. Who can complain about theft of the truth!
Huntingdon, as in The Huntingdon & Broad Top Mountain Railroad, (now abandoned)
built way back when. Oviously another good place to eat and talk. Maybe you should publish a short list of the good places you’ve been (and that still exist) for coffee or meals?
Actually Bryce, another two-wheeling person that Steve and Paul know, Ken Hull, has explored the area and published two volumes of eateries in the area. You can see Ken’s work at http://goinglocalpa.com/
Gee Bryce, the Huntingdon and Broadtop Railroad ceased operations before I was born. They stopped in early 1954. There were a lot of little railroads about then servicing the coal industry and transporting passengers. And the cafe was indeed in the same town as the railroad headquarters.
Good idea about publishing a list of places to eat. Hadn’t thought of that though my friend Ken Hull has published two moto books specifically on that. I’ll have to share that info as well.
I like your jesting line:
“in order to keep up with the Vespa”….
A Ducati? Nope. A URAL? You bet! 😉
I was just discussing URALs with Jack Riepe last night — he’s a fan just like me!
My Vespa had no trouble keeping up with Paul’s Hypermotard.
Vespas rock!!
That’s because Paul, riding his Hypermotard, allows Steve to keep up.
Last week, going home from work on my GTS, a BMW pulled up alongside of me at a stop light (probably K1200). The light turned green, and by the time I crossed the intersection the beemer was gone, and he wasn’t even trying hard (and I was).
To be fair to Ducati, and to not overly damage our powerful Vespa reputations, Paul does go easy on the throttle when he rides with us. I’m not saying it’s exactly like a parent walking with their toddler child, but it’s close…
I thought the size comparison between the Vespa and the Ducati was interesting. Nice photos!
Ha ha ha.
I note the Vespa always arrived first at the destination.
The only reason the Vespa always arrives first is because I”m always in the lead. I used to think it was because Paul didn’t want to run away from me but I’ve come to realize he just has no idea where he’s going.
I’ve ridden many different motorcycles with Steve always on his Vespa 150 or the above a 250. Even a 150 Vespa will go 65mph, more than that down hill. The Ducati won’t go well at 20mph though. It yanks at the chain and the throttle is too sensitive. So if Steve’s daughter has shown up with her 125cc Yamaha Vino I would have taken my 150 Piaggio. In the past Steve has cruises 70 up hill on the interstate. 150’s won’t go that fast. The Standing Stone was really nice. We got lucky. Nice atmosphere and the food was a cut above also. – Paul
Paul, you show a lot of patience riding with the speed challenged riders. I appreciate it.
The Standing Stone Cafe was a treat. We’ll need to go there again.