A riding intermission pushed other things into awareness. Autumn on the road gave way to the dogs racing through the garden as I pondered the bright yellow Sassafras leaves with my camera. The desire to ride despite a flare of an old back injury finally receded when I surrendered to a battle I could not win on my schedule. And now October has faded into November. Every leaf speaks bliss when I take time to pay attention.
Autumn has always generated a nostalgic energy which colors my thoughts. As a child I recognized the change and loss the came with the season. Now I connect it with the natural cycle of life — in the mirror I see autumn. My body whispers of changes.
A first ride since an old back injury flared and sidelined the Vespa. Pushing the scooter out of the garage hinted of improvement and by the time I stopped to make a photograph I could assess the limits of body and mind.
Junior, our seven year old Belgian Sheepdog (with faulty ears), saw more of me the past two weeks. While I couldn’t ride I could still toss a tennis ball and reach the dog cookies on the counter. It’s easy to understand the positive affect a dog can have on people suffering from myriad ailments.
Thank you Junior.
The biggest physical challenge to riding is sudden, jarring movements. The kind of indifferent attitude I had to where I rode and parked the scooter now is a more careful, studied act. I don’t want to pull the scooter on and off the centerstand several times looking for solid ground. My back demands I do it once.
It was cold during the ride — 37F when I departed. The heavy sky didn’t seem to matter save for add mood to the morning. Any fear I had of not being as cold tolerant after the heart attack seems unfounded. I remained warm save for the cold air striking my neck which my misplaced balaclava would normally protect and the expected cold hands.
Lily is no Junior. Not yet at least. At almost 10 months old she’s full of energy and has little time to comfort and console. She will ram into you at breakneck speeds or relentlessly remind you of the need to throw the ball, throw the ball again, retrieve a treat, serve some food, throw a ball, throw a ball…
At least you feel needed.
I’ve missed most of the flaming foliage this year. Riding through the forest I could see much of the canopy is now on the ground. Riding on the gravel roads introduced occasional ruts that provided striking reminders of my back. Strong enough to have me make a note to self: “No off-pavement riding for awhile”.
By the time I reached Bellefonte, Pennsylvania I had meandered for about thirty miles and decided my hands were cold enough to enjoy a cup of hot tea. I still love the transition from bracing chill to cozy coffee shop.
Cool Beans Coffee and Tea provided a welcome respite from the riding experiment and enough distance from the gathered throng of Penn State football fans gathered just ten miles away.
My friend Paul (somewhere in Kansas) is on his way to New Mexico with his Ducati in the back of his truck. He sent an email in response to a query about the trip and he said he was sitting in a cafe, drinking his coffee and reading his book. He’s trying to have no expectations and just do whatever he wants when he wants. Sitting in Cool Beans I was thinking of how difficult it is to reach that state.
Moments after making this photograph I learned a lesson about bad habits — leaving the engine running while stopping for a picture. That habit started some years ago when I was riding with a suspect battery which left me stranded a few times. I started not turning off the engine. Seems to work fine right?
As I walked back to the Vespa I could see it slowly start to fall over. With my camera in one hand I grabbed the grip with the other — the throttle grip. I wondered why the engine was revving so high and suddenly realized as the scooter fell more my hold on the throttle was applying more fuel. Had it come off the centerstand the scooter would have scooted right across the road.
My pride would have been injured at the very least.
So my riding experiment yielded useful data. My back is improving but not enough to ride with reckless abandon. I don’t seem to be less cold tolerant. And I’ve learned to shut off the engine when I park the Vespa. Add that to the still lovely riding landscape and it was a pretty good ride.
Very nice pictures Steve….you do realize that most alternators don’t really start charging until the RPMs are higher right? At idle, it’s probably not charging. Vespas could be different, I grant you, but something to look into.
Martha’s scooter has a kickstart….yours does not?
URALs rarely fall over…..just saying…. ;P
The Vespa definitely doesn’t charge at idle. I know what I was doing was short term thinking –“It’s running now, don’t shut it off”. New battery cured the problem but the habit continued.
No kickstarter on the GTS.
URAL? What’s that??
Cool Beans. I love that place.
Glad you didn’t wrench your back when you grabbed the throttle and glad the scoot didn’t catch the rear wheel and rocket away. Maybe I’ll send you a pic of my DR on it’s side, far down the Blue Ridge Parkway, when I forgot to leave it in gear when parked facing down hill. Drifted off the side-stand, of course.
Nice leaf/road/scooter pics as usual. I’ll leave this tab open so I can look at them again.
I was fortunate that the scooter did not rocket away. That would have been bad. Saw your picture of the motorcycle asleep on the road. The little things get you…
In the last picture, what’s that hanging down on the right side of the scooter?
That’s just the end of the guide rail along the road. The telephoto lens compresses it to the point where it appears as part of the scooter.
Great shots creating a lovely atmosphere in your world.
Backs can be a bummer but you still portray enjoyment…so good to witness.
Back is at 80 percent right now. Not sure how far it will recover but hopefully a bit more. I just try and find enjoyment where I can.
Steve, I hope to hold you to your offer of a cup of coffee sometime this week if you’re up to it. I’m off tomorrow except for a trip to the hospital for preop testing. Let me know if anytime works for you this week and I’ll do my best to accommodate.
Wednesday and Friday are the best days for me. I’ll send you a note in the morning when I have a look at my calendar and the project management system that will soon rule my life…
Was the center stand sinking in the mud when it started to fall over?
Dom beat me to the observation that sidecar rigs rarely fall over (not just Urals).
Yes, the narrow side of the stand was starting to sink into the soft soil. I’ve had it fall over a half dozen times in similar situations. Most of them with the engine running.
There’s that word again — URAL. What the heck is that??
“Junior, our seven year old Belgian Sheepdog (with faulty ears), saw more of me the past two weeks.”
IMO nothing wrong or faulty with Junior’s ears, he simply did not have them docked surgically when a young pup. Suspect Junior listens as well as any seven year old dog of the same temperment.
As for you Steve, you’re aging however I have ten years on you and I gve up thinking about aging. Like taxes and the sun rising and setting, it just happens.
Now as to the sidecar for the Vespa, it wouldn’t allow you to be as adventurous as you currently are on two wheels. however it would ensure the Vespa didn’t suddenly lie down on the verge and die…
Bite your tongue — no surgical work on Belgian ears — their ears naturally stick up or not at all. Junior has lazy ears which deprived him of a life as a gigolo and led him to our home.
Aging is an adventure so far but I can see where it will be a pain in the ass — literally.
No sidecars yet. Someday maybe, just not yet.
Glad your back in the saddle again! Lovely pictures.
Like shooting fish in a barrel — you can’t make a bad picture this time of year.
Now that was a close call on two counts (back + Vespa).
This past summer I was showing my bike to a friend. We had met for lunch downtown at a restaurant at a very busy intersection. I was getting ready to leave, pulling on my gear. The bike was on the side stand, and I had the bike idling. Stupid, I know. My friend used to ride motorcycles, a long time ago.
I was standing on the left getting ready to saddle up, he was on the right. As we chatted, I saw him reaching appreciatively for the throttle.
I warned him and got to the kill switch before his hand reached the throttle.
I was very lucky.
Stephanie Yue wasn’t so lucky. She had her bike idling on the side stand while hopping off to grap a quick photo. Her hand snagged her throttle rocker and launched the bike.
Better to switch the ignition off.
YouTube has some videos of scooters launched that way. I don’t want to be one of them so I’m going to make a rule — get off the scooter? Turn it off first. I have an Anti-Gravity battery in my top case should the battery go dead so no need to be like a truck or bus idling all day long…
“In the mirror, I see autumn.” You have such a knack for words. Those five words say so much.
Your pics are beautiful. I like 004 the best. As for Junior and Lily, I can’t imagine life without dogs.
Thanks for the kind words about the post and pictures. I appreciate them.
The scooter in that field seemed sort of perfectly balanced to me — visually and in the “energy” of the place — whatever that is. Every so often one of the pictures just feels right.
I’ve had a dog for most of my life and don’t regret a minute of the time I’ve had with them. Have two snoring ones next to me as I type.
The photos are achingly beautiful (speaking as a photographer who can get occasionally snarky, but usually isn’t).
Cool Beans looks cool in that deliciously low-key way, and somehow I’ll need to scoot there before terribly long (but obviously after my road test, since I’m still flying on my permit, and the place I’d normally take my road test is under reconstruction…until January. (Currently looking for the next-closest place to take the test.) I’m lucky to have a friendly breakfast/brunch place right across the street from me (Sunset Landing) in a particularly bucolic part of Asbury Park, which generally isn’t terribly lacking in bucolic parts. You might want to check it out if you’re ever up in these parts, especially once the bridge here is finished
Your near-catastrophe reminded me of why I’m paranoid about parking my Vespa on anything less than truly firm terra firma. Had a mishap with a dirt bike many years back to this effect…yes, engine running, too.
Thanks for the kind words about the photos. I just try to pay attention to what’s going on around me and point the camera.
Cool Beans is a nice place among many here. It’s a long way from Asbury Park! If you do head this way let me know.