As I read your comments I couldn’t help but think of how riding can be a powerful memory generator at a deep level. It can support introspection in ways that other modes of transport don’t. The notion of questioning what to remember should you never pass this way again — that’s strong.

Safe rides on your ET2!

Ias I stand in my kitchen steaming fresh kale as a take-along for tomorrow’s Saturday ride, I reflect on rides of old and roadways traveled both my Vespa and my soul. New adventure awaits and yet nothing takes away the wonders of travels of old. We are, as humans, a collection of roses — if we stop long enough to see and ~smell the roses~.

Ride safe dear web friend, and say hello to Paul — it was good to see him posted on here recently. Let him know my Vespa ET 2-stroke still purrs along combing the many backroads and US Forest Service roads of Georgia. I hope that makes him smile.

Hard to find a silent place in the East. Even in the remote places there always seems to be a chainsaw in the distance, or an airplane overhead.

Hope you heal quickly and are back on the road! Skippy did a number on you.

“Make haste slowly”. I like that. Simple yet not so simple.

I never understood fast in a motorized vehicle once I graduated from high school and left my drag racing and Baja 500 dreaming in my parents garage. Enjoying the ride for other reasons is where I am today.

Sorry to hear that someone tried to lift your scooter. That would have me clenching my fists…

A friend an client created that mantra, and I think it’s a good one.

I like the occasional fast ride, via pedals or engine. But even on those occasions, “fast” has evolved with time for me…less goal-oriented, more of a sensate thing. Less about maximum velocity on a given path, much more about experiencing the path, understanding its permutations, re-appreciating all five senses, as opposed to just one or two. And you really understand this be learning to slow up a bit, and actually enjoy the pace.

Even when I enjoyed frequently riding fast, I never quite understood the urge to only want to go fast. That speed, like winning, wasn’t just everything, but the only thing. When it stops being an either/or thing, it makes every ride a revelation.

Might’ve been nicer to have sorted this out 25 years earlier. Better late than never, I say.

Note: It looks like Melody suffered some light damage after what might’ve been a bungled theft attempt a day or so ago (we were away the weekend). A fairly easy fix, the worst being a bent brake lever and broken side reflector, but it still left me rattled. (Stuff) Happens, I tell myself, staying mostly-if-not-entirely zen about it.

I’ve ridden a few big touring bikes and can relate to the high speed cruising. Spent some time on a BMW R1200 RT and was shocked to look down at the speedometer to see I was traveling 80mph. Would have sworn I was going 50. Easy to see how a person could spend 10 hours on the saddle of a big comfortable motorcycle and chew up 600 or 700 miles in a day. Probably would have done it myself if my situation were different.

But I’m traveling down the road you are with the smaller scooter. It’s a fine road.

Being in the moment is magic. And for me, it takes a lot of practice. The scooter helps show me how to focus but man it’s tough to bring with me when I dismount. But I’m getting better.

You and Frank share convivial vices huh? Oh what could they be…

That Groucho comment — I’ll have to ponder that for a bit.