If you ride enough you’ll get confused.
You may wonder where you are, what you’re doing, or even why you are sitting on your scooter or motorcycle at all. As much as I try to let the common concerns of everyday life behind they show up with the slightest provocation. Looking at these signs during a stop of a ride last weekend suddenly had me back in my office wrestling with a project that I’m having trouble making a decision.
Intrusive thoughts can lead to interrupted riding — a tarnishing of the escape I hope to make.
It wasn’t until I looked at this photograph later that I wondered what it was trying to say, especially since it was along an ordinary road with no choices to make.
Perhaps it was a hallucination.
Paul Ruby and I were on our way to breakfast in Alexandria, Pennsylvania — a meal served at the Methodist Church as part of Hartslog Day. Neither of us was familiar with the event nor were prepared for the sudden appearance of thousands of people gathering for a celebration which closed the town to traffic and led to more interrupted riding.
The older I get, the more seriously work to avoid crowds. Three is a crowd. We rode past Alexandria with new plans.
In my dreams I spend most of my time riding and absorbing the scenery — a quiet meditative act that allows me to ease into a life that’s less stressful, more intentional. Whatever that means.
This building is the Huntingdon Furnace Grist Mill which is part of, I think, the Huntingdon Furnace complex between Warriors Mark and Seven Stars. I wondered how many other men or women have stood where I was looking at the shadows on the stones cast by the morning sun?
Looking at the picture now I can only think of how there’s more interrupted riding — this time due to a sudden flare of an old back injury — one occurring in high school while attempting to become a pole vaulter.
It’s discouraging when things don’t go as planned despite how much I try not to hold onto expectations. The autumn world is a dazzling time to ride the Vespa. Our slow meandering path through the dappled colored leaves made the lack of a specific place to eat unimportant.
Sitting here now writing, knowing I can’t ride, knowing even getting out of the chair will involve wincing pain and struggle — it just sucks.
I’ve been here before. The last time was in 2008. Before that every five or six years since the pole vaulting nonsense some insignificant event would trigger a debilitating situation. Decades ago it became known as Saab Battery Disease — the result of pulling the battery from my 1969 Saab 99. Years latter it was a pair of wet jeans pulled from the washing machine. This time it was sitting in a chair at dog class for Lily.
Interrupted riding plans.
On the second day of chiropractic care I was sent for an x-ray of my spine just to confirm radiographically that my ankylosing spondylitis hasn’t escaped the grasp of my current medications and this is still just pole vaulting interrupting riding plans.
I would be pissed if this current situation is spondylitis related. Would make the whole “not retiring yet” seem wrongheaded.
Mostly, I’m frustrated that I can’t ride. Getting the Vespa on and off the centerstand would be a nightmare.
Paul and I eventually found a place to eat but not until bypassing two Hartslog Day choices and one out of business hole in the wall establishment. We ended up at Top’s Diner along US Route 22 between Mount Union and Huntingdon. The place was crowded with Penn State fans on their way to the football game but well worth the wait for breakfast.
When we left home the temperature was 46F — chilly by any measure but mitigated greatly by the sunshine. Leaving the diner it was nearly 60F which is near perfect riding weather in my book.
The ride home is often discouraging — the entire time you know something you love is ending. I hate that melancholy feeling. Maybe it’s because I’ve not exhausted my riding lust. It must be how my dogs feel when we head home before they’ve tired of chasing the tennis ball or swimming in the pond.
I’d happily take on that melancholy feeling right now in exchange for the nagging back pain. An hour ago I almost collapsed in the street as I tried to shuffle quickly ahead of oncoming cars. And almost anything that falls to the ground stays there. Retrieval means and complex process of descent and hands and knees work before calling upon my best MacGyver skills to get myself back up. And both directions involve cursing and cringing.
Someone once told me that “life sucks and then you die.”
Life is great right now. Really great.
Geez Steve, hope things get better for you and your back! After all, Jack Riepe’s got his descending coglione issue and needs your riding thought and pictures to while away the time while he waits for the Jersey shore to sink further under the waves.
I really liked the picture of the tunnel of trees.
Nothing like a bad back to suddenly make you feel old. Hopefully all will improve over the next few days.
What can one say about Jack Riepe? His concerns of descending and rising things are too much to process.
That tunnel of trees was pretty nice. Soon the leaves will be gone and snow will be falling. It’s all happening too fast.
i was wondering why I hadn’t seen a post for a few days. I hope you are on the mend soon and it is not a deterioration of the ankylosing spondylitis. i hate dealing with chronic injuries that rear their beastly head. Take care and I’m sending you good healing thoughts.
Thank you for the healing thoughts. Right now time and rest are the prescription I’ve received. Doesn’t fit well with the desire to ride…
Gee wiz, I know your crowed thing is real, but next time you ride by zip code 16652 give a yell, I’ll show you a hide out.
Peace
You know all the hideouts Mike. Does it involve a hydraulic lunch?
I went through this a year ago. I had to have a new pacemaker and lead wire implanted and was told “No Riding” for at least a month or things might shift becoming ugly. Unlike you I felt perfectly fine and not riding, or working, was torture. My late Wife monitored my behavior knowing what kind of child I am. By the time I could get back on the snows had arrived. I feel your pain.
Maybe this is a wonderful opportunity to practice patience!
So very sorry about your back. This has just not been the best year for you but I hope that you’ll be able to hang in there. Remember that there is a Vespa ride at the end ot the tunnel! Very best wishes!
Thanks Melu. I have my fingers crossed that there is a Vespa somewhere ahead.
Ouch.
Ouch is right. I’ve been making a lot of odd sounds and words with the same meaning.
Feel better soon vibes coming at you over the interweb. I hope it doesn’t take too long to heal.
I think we’ll miss your photos almost as much as you’ll miss riding. The grist mill picture is lovely.
I’m hoping in a couple days I’ll be able to go for a ride again. Right now I would not chance a sudden loss of control due to a lightning pain strike…
Thanks for the kind words about the photos. I do enjoy wandering with a camera.
“… why you are sitting on your scooter or motorcycle at all”
I can’t remember ever thinking that. But maybe I have a bad memory. I think I remember being accused of that … I think …
The nagging back pain doesn’t sound good.
Those thoughts don’t come often but when they do they have some power. The nagging back pain doesn’t diminish them, only make the dark thoughts darker…
A couple of really stunning pictures there; the arch of trees and the two bikes with the hill and blue sky behind.
Read this latest post the other evening (was it October 14?) Can’t recall.
You’ve had your share o f medical trials this year, my son. And as you’re younger than I am by a number of years can write that!
You’re a big guy to be high-jumping, even in secondary school. Mind when we do these
physical things, forgetting down the road said activity will make us less mobile and pain shall become your enemy, in the darndest way.
Your chiropractor is your best friend right now, and he was wise to send you for a spinal
x-ray. If the ankylosing spondylitis has become worse (you’ve probably been bouncing your body in unknown ways doing your post-cardiac exercise) then you know exactly more or less how to enable the problem to subside. Would suspect getting in and out of the Honda Fit is a problem; that vehicle as with all such vehicles has your butt close to terra firma, and as you’re tall that is also a long way down. The Odyessy is a much higher perch, and more comfortable at times I would suspect.
As to the Vespa, I’d suggest parking the conveyance for a bit, you want to be able to continue enjoying life. Give the selfie of you in the X-ray room would expect moving your arms, say to shave for example, to be agony; unless you’re cultivating your winter face coat.
It could be said that time will heal all maladies; my positive vibes are with you Steve;
for you too, shall recover. It may not be tomorrow, or next week however you will recover. And have you ever noticed; it’s the small things that trigger the negative happenings in our aging anatomy. Aging is not for sissies!
It sure seems like a lot of things are happening health wise. Similar stories around the house and appliances — things are just falling into disrepair. But all are manageable and the latest input from the medical community is positive.
I abandoned pole vaulting to focus on high jumping and the triple jump. My performance was less than stellar though I suppose I had some fun. The outstanding memory seems to involve after practice meals on Wednesday night at the local Howard Johnsons where we tried to clean them out on all you can eat chicken dinners. Never managed that no matter how many team members showed up.
It appears the injury was mechanical and not AS related. I’m on the mend and hope to be on two wheels before the snow flies. I’ve stayed with the Honda van because I suspect the drop into the Fit wouldn’t be fun.
Shaving wasn’t an issue. Putting on socks, tying shoes, putting down dog bowls, picking up dog logs, anything that required bending and straightening was agony. Much better right now.
Thanks for the positive vibes and here’s to aging gracefully!
I have sometimes suffered with a sore back. It’s completely debilitating.
I sincerely hope it passes as soon as humanly possible and that the possibility of a recurrence recedes as far as those things are wont to do.
Who knows, maybe a scheme to ride from somewhere-to-be-determined to Key West, will see the light of day.
In the meantime, the dogs and the Vespa will just have to cool their heels.
I keep thinking of something I read once in a yoga book, “You are as young as your spine is flexible.”. That holds a lot of wisdom and when my back got bad I felt really old really fast.
Key West seems a long way off…
Steve-sorry to hear of your frustrating struggles with back issues. Been there, done that and the aggravation is beyond coping some days.
I always enjoy your photos and thoughts and today was no exception. So close to my own heart.
I hope you can get some relief and some more rides in before the winter snows blow up there in PA.
It snowed a bit on Sunday morning — just some flakes and ice crystals in the air. I am not excited to see snow this year.
Thanks for your kind words about the photos and text — it helps to know someone finds some value in them.
You had a 1969 Saab 99?!?! Wow, you have truly lived a charmed and blessed life. So sorry about your back issues, hopefully they will be of short duration.
That last photo of Paul with the two bikes, the arched hill, the tree and sky, truly sublime. You have a great talent to spot, frame, and take shots of that caliber, you have my respect.
I did have a Saab 99. Bought it from a neighbor in 1980(?) when the water pump went out and you had to pull the engine to replace it. I tinkered with it for awhile but eventually sold it to a more serious Saab enthusiast.
Thanks for the kind thoughts about the photos. Sometimes they just present themselves and all I need do is press the shutter release…
Sorry about the back, Steve. One of those things can can put the brakes on pretty quickly.
Funny, as I’m reading along, wondering, “Gee, hope he has a good chiropractor!” Looks like you’re set in that department. If you were closer, I’d offer my services, but it’s a bit of a haul to Wisconsin. ;o)
Hope you’re back on the road soon.
I definitely have a good chiropractor and I’ll be like new soon (I hope). I’ve found chiropractic to have great benefits for me when it has come to injuries involving the back and neck.
So sorry to hear about your back. I also have been in that same situation (far more times than my wife and I would have liked. Scootering is new to me—started in March/April, just about to hit 1,500 miles. I purchased my Stella after being away from work for six months having new fusions added to my neck and then my lower back, adding to the number of Titanium parts I have accumulated. There is something wonderful about sitting straight up, tightening my core, and hurtling down the road on my two wheel new best friend. I hate to think about the next forced exile from Stella.
Hope you are back in the saddle soon.
The thing I hate most about chronic pain and my own “debilitating episodes” is how much they get in my way of doing what I enjoy. Pain is depressing enough. Adding deprivation of joy is just plain unfair.
One of these days, I would like to share scars and surgery stories, and get your advice on the best choice of winter tires so I can keep commute to the Innovation Park on two wheels for well into this winter.
Chronic injuries and pain can be a nightmare. I’ve been lucky that my arthritis has been relatively easily managed in terms of inflammation and pain and the back pain was managed mostly by getting into positions that didn’t hurt and taking it easy. But I know people who are not so lucky and require medication and therapy just to bring things to a tolerable level. Pain is a terrible thing and our culture seems unprepared to deal with it. That’s another topic though..
Congratulations on your 1500 miles on the Stella. Hopefully your own medical adventures will abate allowing you a few more miles before the snow flies. I’ll drop you a note and perhaps we can get together for lunch and talk about riding in winter!