The intrusion of work, life, age and weather conspire to build powerful physical and cerebral riding resistance. As the interval between rides (or blog posts) grows, the energy required to regain motion increases as well.
Or so it is with me…
Evaluating Snow
Our new snow blower, cardiologist recommended, cuts a fine path to push the Vespa scooter out of the garage and into the world. I did the winter riding dance, testing the road surface, evaluated the quality of snow, traffic and forecast for more of the white stuff.
Riding a scooter or motorcycle in winter, especially in snow, demands a long checklist of considerations. On this morning I stopped at “Snow tires mounted”. My Heidenau snow tires are sitting in the garage waiting to be called to action.
It’s been a week since I went for a ride and already I’m feeling the resistance.
Flights of Euphoria (or not)
Last weekend I abided the damp chill of a light rain and temperatures in the upper thirties as I wandered the countryside pondering thoughts trespassing my serenity. Some rides are flights of euphoria while others chained to the noise of existence, the scooter, like a team of draft horses, part of a forced toil dragging my grey cloud spirit along in hopes of finding clearer skies.
Ride Cancelled Due to Snow
The view from the Pump Station Cafe in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania as I write this post. Part of me wishes the Vespa was in the picture. Most of me is happy I drove the car. What sort of Vespa adventurer does that make me?
I don’t care. Contentment, serenity and attendant happiness arrived when I grew comfortable with my choices and actions. Wish it hadn’t taken so long to get here.
Eight inches of snow are on the ground with more falling. Deciding not to ride is a good choice. Provides an opportunity to respond to a mountain of unanswered email, write a post, rub the dog’s bellies, make pancakes, and generally frolic in the little joys of being alive.
Except for that part about email.
Center of the World
I know my photographs of the scooter in the center of an empty space are metaphors for my brooding on life — especially the pathway decorated with murals of aging. I’m not sure what’s more thrilling; riding to these places, or thinking about them later. It’s a gift finding joy in both.
Everyone observes their path differently. A quote from the movie based on Larry McMurtry’s book Lonesome Dove
“The older the violin, the sweeter the music.”
— spoken by Augustus McCrae
Resistance is Futile
The scooter always takes me where I want to go. I may not know the destination or the reason I’m on the road but there always seems to be a mysterious arrival at the right place at the right time despite the rocky mental roads along the way. Riding resistance has continued to melt as the call of the road becomes louder.
For now, the snow will keep the scooter in the garage while I attend to other matters.
All is well.
Sometimes it is quite hard, to overcome ride inertia….luckily those eight inches of snow showed up to give you a good excuse. Pretty sure that much snow is higher than a Vespa’s ground clearance? 🙂
Eight inches of untracked snow would be about the limit for the Vespa. But there were plenty of vehicles that had been on the roads that I’m certain I could have found a track to follow. But without the snow tires on the scooter I wouldn’t want to even give it a try. They make a big difference in the kind of snow we have now.
I can ride another day…
Hmmm cardiologist reccomended eh?
My brain immediately thought “as his
specialist has suggested another mechanical
device in the garage, might it be too bold to
suggest said specialist pay forthe purchase of same?”
Then too as your family quadraycycles live outside, they cover the
parking area which means those areas do not have to be cleared
of snow!
In the days of old before erstwhile Steve had heart problems;
who cleared the snow then? Kim, or you or some younger than
you secondary school school student in the neighbourhood
looking for some earned money?
I know I know, there are no students of today willing to work for
low wages shoveling drives and sidewalks; everyonec has some form of
mechanical device which is better, and easier. Nothing is simple
anymore, is it Steve?
Tomorrow, Sunday take a quiet drive in
the Honda Fit to Saint’s Cafe,
have a warm muffin and a cup of tea
and revel in the situation that “you”
might even skip installing snow tyres
on the Vespa this year…
I didn’t ask for a prescription and didn’t send the receipt from Home Depot into my health insurance carrier. But I will say the snow blower is a lot of fun. Up until today I was the snow shoveler here and only once or twice did a high school kid stop by looking to earn some extra money.
Simple has a range of definitions. For me, a snow blower is simple. And my back doesn’t hurt.
You’re probably right about the snow tyres — maybe I won’t put them on. Instead, I may turn the Vespa over to a local body shop to repaint the underside of the scooter. Lots of rust forming from all those winter rides…
… and the devil whispers… “February, winter at its cruelest of cruel lows… I wonder if riding a Vespa down to the Florida keys would be worth a post or three, or six, six, six…”
IF a ride to the Florida Keys were ever to take place THEN I suspect it would fuel many, many blog posts. But no devil is whispering and instead I’m listening to the call of work…
David is starting to sound evil but then again he may have had a lot of practice in his former corporate job. Your weather is making up for lost time. Giving you a full winter’s worth of snow in only a couple of days. We, on the other hand, could sure use more.
I gave up on the snow blower last fall after having to clear the driveway six times in one day. It was kind of like the snowfall some parts of the eastern seaboard are seeing. Something like 40″ in only a couple of days. The truck mounted plow is so much faster.
I didn’t look at many blogs for a couple weeks and then suddenly David appears homeless. I’ll have to see what trouble he’s getting into. I expect him to start trailing along after the Grateful Dead or Phish or something like that.
Winter is here but only a soft roar so far. The snow blower is just what I needed. I used to live on a farm and one winter I had to pay someone with a front loader to dig out our lane seven times. Snow was too deep for a truck plow. Glad I don’t have to do that anymore…
Hi Steve,
The path cut out by your snow blower look sharp.
How is the comparison with using snow tyres against not…..are they really that much noticeably different?
Once the rugged grip is full of snow do they actual still aid in road gripping.
Steve going out in snow on the scooter always makes me feel kind of young and excitedly challenged….it somehow brings something to life deep down in my belly:)
Fun provided you don’t forget the dangers that are there.
Nice pics and as usual a good read.
The snow tyres make a difference — particularly in snow that has not been packed down into ice. And when the temperature gets near the freezing mark they are good as well. Haven’t put them on this year yet and maybe I won’t. I can ride in the cold when the roads are clear and we’ve had plenty of that so far. I’m not as excited (yet) this season to ride in the snow. Perhaps that will change. My daughter suggests I stay home. Probably not a bad plan.
Well, once I got the forecast early in the week, I did thr following:
– Got a lot of riding-time in on Melody before Friday (mostly errands)
– Made room in the shed Friday afternoon
– Poured requisite quantity of Sta-Bil into Melody’s tank (dide same with miwer & portable generator)
– Fired up Melody, rolled into shed
Now, of course, I’m hoping against hope that this snowy stuff doesn’t hang around longer than a few weeks, otherwise I’ll be making a trip to buy the battery tender I kept hoping I wouldn’t need to run out and buy. But at leadt the bike is safe from the frosty elements for now.
And, yes, a snowblower would’ve been a fine, fine thing to clear yon driveway n’ walkway with the last two days. I’m fortunate my ticker can take it, although I watch myself nonetheless.
Sounds as if you have a solid plan for winter. Our roads have cleared enough to ride but I’ve not done anything about it. A bad rider.
I’ve never used Sta-Bil or other gas treatments since I’ve been able to keep the scooter running year round with only a few multiweek rests. The Battery Tender was necessary though. It’s kind of amazing how quickly a battery on a scooter runs out of power in the cold. Even with the Tender there are days where the temperature is near zero and the scooter is sitting outside all day at work and it seems as if it doesn’t have much energy to turn the starter. That’s why I bought the Anti-Gravity battery that sits in the topcase. Just in case. So far I’ve only used it to start my Honda Fit.
I’m a snowblower convert!