Train of Thought

One of the most delightful aspects of riding is being alone with your thoughts. It’s curious how many problems can be unraveled while wandering down the road. A train of thought can be clear, direct and arrive at its destination quickly, or it can be a meandering slog up mountainsides and through jungles. These adventures are why I don’t listen to music while riding and generally choose to ride alone.

But even when riding with others, unless you’re using a two-way communication device, your thoughts are free to wander.

This past Saturday evening I received a text: “Call Paul”. A few minutes later it was decided we would head out of town for breakfast. The next morning the Vespa was ready to go.

The landscape is changing as fall approaches. The air is cool in the morning and a mix of fog and hazy hangs in the valley. Traffic is light as we near Warriors Mark, Pennsylvania. Paul polices the litter — an empty Newport cigarette pack on the road.

Our breakfast destination was Tom and Joes’ Diner, an Altoona, Pennsylvania tradition operating since 1933. As I stood looking toward the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament which rises over the city my train of thought raced back to the railroad heydays when the Pennsylvania Railroad ruled the world as the largest railroad in the country and at one time having an operating budget larger than the United States government.

For a moment I felt a twang of nostalgia for those smoking, hulking locomotives I remember from childhood.

The inside of Tom and Joes was packed with people – so many faces and bodies that you end up not seeing anyone.  Case in point.  My Vespa riding father-in-law was two booths away, something we determined on the phone later that day.

Forty-four years ago I began traveling through Altoona on my way to college — a long trip from Pittsburgh to State College.  There wasn’t a lot between those locations except for Altoona.  It was a lively, bustling city then.  Now the hustle and bustle seems to have moved out to the shopping malls outside of town.

I’m not the only one following a train of thought.  Paul is always on the lookout for the right old car. It’s as if some small part of his brain is always focused on the goal.  We stopped so he could inspect this rusty old Cadillac.  The kind of unique automobile that a place like Altoona might have available.

The railroad still is invested in Altoona though perhaps not at the same level as when the Pennsylvania Railroad employed over 250,ooo people at its height.  The repair shops are still impressive even though they’re but a shadow of their former glory.  And it’s Norfolk Southern today.

A few miles down the road at DelGrosso Park Paul and I parted ways as he stopped to see the foreign car show. My path led toward home.

The roads here are as varied as my train of thought.  It’s nice to be able to choose from a series of routes to get to the same place.  With mind still wandering and all roads leading home it was a fine way to end a Sunday morning ride.

Alone.

And with my thoughts.