Riding alone has curative powers for my irritated mind. Destination or route don’t seem to matter as much as being alone with my thoughts. Being alone isn’t as much a desire as it is a need. Without recurring doses of time alone I get:
- irritable
- grumpy
- disagreeable
- out of sorts
- quick-tempered
- cranky
Basically a pain in the ass.
At some level I probably recognized this personal quality and adjusted my interests and time to satisfy the need to be alone. Walking, hiking, wandering with a camera and now riding. A few miles on the scooter and the world begins to make sense. Or at least my restless thinking begins to calm down.
This morning it was cold when I left the house with the temperature at 41F. Destinations rolled through my head as I pushed the Vespa out of the garage but none fired enough neurons to form a plan. A plan isn’t really necessary when being alone is the goal.
Most of the leaves are down now and we could see snow at any time. The days continue to shorten and already I’ve gone to work and returned home in the dark. This morning I took a short ride just to soak up some sunshine and embrace the day. I’ve been by this place many times but I’ve still not really seen it. When asked if I bore of riding the same paths I always think of the photographer, Josef Sudek, who during the Nazi occupation of Prague spent years photographing in his little studio and window and made a remarkably complex and rich collection of photographs.
There’s much more to see on the roads I travel.
I never saw this hay bale pilgrim all ready for Thanksgiving. Someone spent some time and effort putting it together including the use of hydraulics considering the weight of a round bale of hay.
Lots to see on the road.
A perfect morning. Looking at the scooter in such an idyllic setting it’s hard for me to understand why anyone would oppose someone learning to ride. Even when considering more traffic intensive places the question persists.
I’ve heard a resistant spouse or lover raise the danger question fearing the almost certain death that accompanies riding. It may present as “we have children” or “I had a friend who rode…”. I understand the concern and I’ll be the first to admit that riding is more dangerous than driving a car. But there are other points to consider.
Who is taking the greater risk? A distracted driver, frustrated and in a hurry to beat traffic or a rider focused on the road, relaxed and happy?
And who is a better partner, parent or lover? The angry driver who comes home wound tight or the rider who arrives home with a measure of serenity mixed with pleasure?
I like to think riding has made me a better person. I certainly feel lighter and happier after a ride, even a short one through ordinary places, alone on the road, alone with my thoughts.
At the end of the ride I stopped at the Pump Station Cafe to make a few notes and read a few more pages from Thomas Merton’s Thoughts In Solitude
Like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
It’s safe to read — I wouldn’t fear abandoning your worldly possessions to become a monk. And besides, if you have a scooter or motorcycle, you don’t really need a monastery.
Nice-looking bit of countryside. Zen bored me s***less I have to say, one of the very few books I gave up on and skipped through.
Howevermy best ideas on the creative side of my mind came when I used to ride small bikes on the highway often.
Pirsig’s book has moments but I’ve read it a number of times but have never gotten all the way through with understanding. But each time I get a little farther and get what he’s saying. But I want more motorcycles in it!
I often get good ideas on the road on my little scooter…
Martha calls riding my “Prozac on wheels “
She told me you get crabby if you can’t ride. I just found that hard to believe.
I must admit that I feel many times better about everything during and after a ride. The distance doesn’t really matter and it just isn’t the same as driving. Walking seems to have the same effect on me or for that matter just about any other activity outdoors.
Though I must admit that even being out in the garage messing around with something on the bike is almost as therapeutic. (A Ural and an BMW airhead both need a fair amount of “messing around”) I, personally, enjoyed Pirsig’s book and must’ve read it a half dozen times over the years.
RichardM, took me I think five attempts to get through Pirsig’s book and it was an audio version during a time in my career when I was in a plane often, where I finally finished it and somewhat “got it”.
For a reader like me, where one tends to go too fast and assume the message of a section, it’s not a book that’s easy. The audio version made me listen to the message and even then, it was tough to grasp, for me.
It’s not an easy book that’s for sure. And I bet if it were “Zen and the Art of Chevy Maintenance” no one would have read the thing…
I’m the same — distance doesn’t matter. Driving can be ok at times but more often than not I feel more stress after driving, at least locally.
If it’s not cold in the garage I can find the same sort of therapeutic effect tinkering with the scooter. If my garage were heated I’d have more therapy!!!
Great post! I especially love the hay bale pilgrim. Solitude is definitely restorative. I enjoy road trips in the car, too, but it’s always better on the bike.
That hay bale pilgrim is as close as I’ll get to one of Fuzzy’s muffler man statues.
Ah solitude —- never enough.
My life has been blessed with “No Riding Resistance”. My Dad rides, my Mom rode until the fifth child came, my late spouse rode and a good friend still has her M license. They all know what most of us Riders do. Accidents happen anywhere, anytime. I was laid up for two months after a head on collision with a State snow plow. You know the funny thing? No one asked, “Well, now that they nearly killed you, are you going to give up driving those stupid cars??”
When I first read your comment I thought you ran into the snow plow with a scooter. But you’re right, I can’t think of anyone suggesting a person stop driving after an accident. Except for someone too old to be driving maybe. Non-riders have a hard time understanding the benefits because they can’t get past their dread of what might happen.
Oh. Thomas Merton came up several times this week. Once when I was telling someone he was electrocuted in the shower in India (there was metal tonges to remove the toaster toast at our hotel) and then his buddy Thomas Keating lives in Snow(mass?) Colorado by a man I just met in my spiritual group.
Yes, sadly and tragically electrocuted – but it was in Bankok Thailand not India.
Riding is my zen and my Prozac. I sure could have used a dose of it on the weekend, there is a hurricane of emotional tumult of uncertainty swirling around in my life right now and it has been hard to even be motivated to pull the bike out the garage, particularly in the rainy weather. Unfortunately it has made me withdraw into myself a little more and I need some 2 wheel therapy to think and get perspective. It doesn’t fix everything, but it sure helps.
Hey Dar, maybe you should think of it this way. Had you not been born you would never have experienced those emotions on the weekend. At least you can mount the beast when the weather clears and enjoy what nature has to offer.
I heard a great saying yesterday, “To a worm in horseradish the whole world is horseradish so get outside with the wind in your face.
Good luck & Peace.
Mike,
Thank you so much! Sometimes when your in the proverbial eye of the hurricane its hard to gain perspective. Peace back!
That very last sentence made me smile…
I had to add that disclaimer — I’ve always feared what might happen if I saw the light….
Steve, I always look forward to your travel and life experience postings, and your photography. Off topic question, but I’m considering getting a Givi Monolock top case for my Vespa 300 gts, probably the E370. The installation booklet cautions for a 3 KG maximum loading capacity. I understand about changes to geometry with adding weight high and to the rear of the scooter, but 3 KG, I guess that’s only about 6.9 lbs, seem like not much can be stored in there. What has been your experience in carrying “stuff” in the top case for perhaps an overnight ride/camping trip? etc.? Your guidance/suggestions/experience will be most welcome. Thanks so much.
Bill Hughes, Thousand Oaks, CA
Bill,
I remember being where you are when trying to wrap my head around that 3kg maximum load for the rear rack and topcase. I don’t know how that number was identified. I’ll bet the manufacturers and dealers need to cover their liability exposure so they give that very conservative estimate. I can share my experience though with the loads I’ve carried.
I’ve hauled a gallon of milk along with six cans of vegetables and other groceries in the topcase without incident. Total weight would be near twenty pounds. I’ve not detected any adverse effects to the handling of the Vespa or failures in the rear rack. I will say when I have a big load on the scooter, when camping for instance, having the front rack allows for some balancing of the load. The same loading restrictions were in place there but I’ve hauled two watermelons on the front rack without a problem and I can only guess that the total weight had to be more than thirty pounds.
I remember seeing a Vespa photo from southeast Asia with a washing machine on a rack on the back of the scooter. If they can haul that and still ride anything I am going to put into the topcase short of a block of gold isn’t going to be a problem.
I’m the sort of rider that figures, “What’s the worst that can happen?” Rack breaks, something falls on the road…
I would suggest you experiment a bit and see for yourself whether you can detect any issues when you begin to increase the load. Just go slow and be careful until you fully understand how the scooter is responding.
It might be a part of that proverbial grass always being greener on the other side thing, but for as much as I cherish the solitude of a ride with the introspective opportunity and time that it brings for delving into one’s own psyche, I’ve found myself at various times wishing for a riding partner with whom I could share the joy of exploring back roads and by ways and forked roads that lead to places unknown. I suppose, though, I should leave well enough alone, embrace the alone time, and take advantage of the brain cleaning with which my rides often gift me.
The right riding partner would be a nice addition to a ride but there are sometimes I just need to be alone. For me they are two completely different experiences, each with their own unique gifts.
I understand completely. Nothing makes me as happy as a scooter ride. Distance doesn’t matter, whether it be one mile of a thousand, I always arrive feeling better than when I started.
Yep, that’s how it is with me.