Riding is Not Exercise
I’ve struggled to rationalize it otherwise, but the cold stare of reality shows few qualities of exercise while riding a scooter or motorcycle. Yet there are strong physical qualities that, for me, raise riding to a physical act of purpose and action. I was reminded of this effect while riding the Vespa to breakfast on a cold, murky morning.
It was wet but not really raining. A mist that was cold enough to cause visor troubles and have a hand continually wiping it clear.
Riding was an ongoing physical act.
Of Body and Mind
At home, I’m often distracted, by things I must do, but more often by a desire to escape whatever I’m doing or feeling. I can go to great lengths to avoid feeling uncomfortable. Riding however is just the opposite, my mind focuses on the road, I handle the machine, and am continually evaluating the road. My mind may wander a bit while riding, but nothing like it can while sitting at home.
By the time I got to the Waffle Shop I was monitoring the warmth of my palms on the heated grips as contrasted by the chill in my gloved fingertips. My core was warm while I felt rivulets of cold air running along the exposed flesh between helmet and jacket. And the familiar watering of eyes that can come with the cold.
Wandering
After a fine breakfast and lingering conversation with my friend Mike, I made the decision to linger on the road rather than take the direct route home. The past few winters have been increasingly challenging mentally and physically. Half the winter passed last year before I was readily able to move from the warmth of the house and onto the road. It wasn’t so long ago that I leaped at every chance to ride. Now I have grown more discriminating.
Post heart attack and the requisite medications have left me less cold tolerant. But mostly the change is a mental one. Often a voice in my head is whispering, “It’s too cold.” It has taken some time and effort to stand up and muster a level of acceptance on my part of my current condition and say to myself, “Yes, it’s cold, but I’ll love going for a ride.”
And as always, once I’m outfitted and on the road, I’m loving life. There is no limit to the things I see and experience.
The Slow Decline
I’ve watched this place for over 40 years. I’ve parked the Vespa here many times when there was still a barn standing. The landscape is continually changing and I’m grateful to be awake enough to bear witness.
Joy in the Cold
What can I say? I love to ride. And perhaps, even more, when it’s cold.
Standing alongside the road, gazing out across the fields, feeling the cold against my skin and knowing I have made a choice to move from the coddling of the house, I feel my spirit swell and I want to scream, “I’m alive!”
I am alive.
Homeward Bound
Closing in on 43,000 miles on the Vespa, it’s still running fine. Often I can’t discern any difference from when it was new. Soon I’ll be adding its winter garb, the Termoscud apron and bar muffs, Heidenau snow tires, and do whatever else needs to be done to prepare for another winter of riding.
By the time I stopped to make this photograph I was time to go home. The gloves were too light for the temperature, jeans didn’t offer enough protection from the cold air, and my feet were starting to get cold.
It was good to feel these assaults.
Just as I can be unaware of the world around me, so it can be with my body. So when I ride, especially in cold weather, I’m wonderfully aware of the physical aspects of living. There’s a recognition of being alive.
Right here. Right now.
Reflections and Digressions
Just a few days later the cold and wet of this morning ride seemed rather tame. But that’s a story for another post.
Apologies for the wandering thoughts. They do have me wanting to push the scooter or motorcycle outside and ride. Alas, the past couple days have shown snow, freezing rain and things that are best viewed from afar.
The dogs raced out the backdoor and quickly slid to the ground on an icy deck. If they can’t manage on four, claw-equipped feet, then I probably shouldn’t tempt fate on the Vespa.
I enjoy reading your thoughts, Steve, especially during the winter months when I shudder to hop on my Vespa. I know it’s a matter of wearing the right clothes and marshaling the right equipment but I have never enjoyed winter riding. I guess I’m just a fair-weather rider.
Not everyone warms to riding in winter. Even with a lot of gear, it’s sometimes difficult for me to stay warm. I’ll probably keep riding as long as I feel warm most of the time. But once I find it too cold my winter riding will dwindle. I’ll just have to store up a bunch of pictures and stories to post through the dark months!
Steve;
The very thoughts and feelings you expressed in this post are tempting me to buy another machine and start riding again.
Steel
It’s a good time to buy I bet. Everyone is unloading things now and few buyers this time of year. I bet there’s a bargain waiting for you!
You sound calm and light . It’s like Vespa therapy eh? PDR
I’m often calm and light while riding. Definitely Vespa therapy.
Steve;
The thoughts and feelings you mentioned in this post are exactly why I am considering getting another machine and resuming riding again.
Hey. You posted the same comment as Jef!
I have had the pleasure of taking brekky at the Waffle Shop, most enjoyable. I do find my mind wandering when riding. I know first hand, that if I am on my way to State College and arriving late that afternoon, that my mind’s eye is going to be perusing the Waffle Shops menu. Rolling down Wyckoff Run lost in thoughts of enjoying runny poached eggs, corn beef hash or the scrummy homefries at the Waffle Shop the following morning. It’s the same thing after brekky. Once mounted up and heading further south I start to think about brekky on morning two. Will it meet the Waffle Shops high standards, my mind continues its sinewy journey.
You sure find yourself in this neck of the woods a lot. The Waffle Shop I understand. But Wycoff Run — that’s a bit more obscure. Next you’re going to say you’ve had cheeseburgers at the Driftwood Inn.
Have fun on your continuing journeys. I’ll look for you the next time I’m at the Waffle Shop.
Ah yes, the Driftwood. I have a photo of that burger tucked away somewhere. I used to get through State College twice a year, Spring and early Fall, not so much these days. I will check in with you if I think I/we will be riding through. I can guarantee that it will be during a warmer time of the year. Stay warm.
Great read! I enjoy riding in the cold to a certain degree as well, as long as it isn’t icy. And the photos of the fields are not all that different than the ones in Brandenburg, near Berlin. No mountains or majestic lakes, but beautiful just the same, and peaceful. Hope you get some more riding in before the real winter descends!
The photographs you have on your blog are stunning. I would love to ride through Germany and Czechoslovakia someday. You’re right about the fields to a point but I have to say many of the meadows and pastures in Europe just look different. Richer. More diversity of plants or something.
Winter is not far off but I hope I can continue riding. Will add the snow tires and cold weather stuff soon.
I think exercise is in the eye of the beholder. I find my heart rate picks up as I anticipate the actions required on a ride. Shifting, braking, leaning and watching the road for changes has me pumped up some of the time. Any time your heart beats faster you’re burning more calories. Is it weight lifting or Marathon running? No. But you are “Exercising”.
Something is happening that’s for sure. But every doctor I’ve asked about riding being exercise has responded negatively. And the last, my cardiologist, rides a BMW F800 GS. He’s not buying the exercise idea either. He wants me doing more cardio work. It’s heart rate and hard breathing which is the result of activity requiring more oxygen. Excitement and a faster heartbeat doesn’t create a need for more I guess…
As always, I love seeing photos of the scoot with no cars on the road. Simply unknown where I am in Florida. Like you Steve, my mind is far too active at home but on the bike, the day’s mental clutter is reduced to the necessities: throttle/brakes/traffic.
Great thoughts too. Right here, right now – it’s all we’re guaranteed.
I forget sometimes how fortunate I am to have access to so many lightly traveled roads. Not everyone is in that situation.
You’re right about what we’re guaranteed. Better make the most of it.
Have I mentioned just how much I love your “wandering” thoughts?
No, riding a PTW isn’t quite the same as the classic definition of “exercise”, but I’ll tell you this: there’s a lot more physical input there than piloting a four-wheeler down the same road. My most-recent out-of-state excursions have borne this out. And I absolutely love it. Even the 80-mile nighttime ride back from Philly some weeks back, which caught me ever-so-slightly under-dressed for the weather, felt so damned alive. (Cue Tony & Diana singing “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.”)
Yes, the cold bites at me more than it did even ten years ago, though likely not as hard as it does you. And, yes, there’s (some) snow out there right now…so soon! A harbinger of what this Winter is going to be like? The longest Melody’s been idle in the four years I’ve had her is a little under two weeks, which explains why I haven’t bothered with a battery tender thus far.
Le Wife returns in two days from her month-long artists’ residency in Costa Rica. Even though she’s “acclimating” at her brother’s house in Miami for a few days, I’ll likely have to help her readjust to these-here wintry climes, then sort out how I’ll deal with same.
(And: those roads you’ve photographed…talk about instilling wanderlust.)
Thanks for your kind words on my wandering thoughts. Every time I move away from the more technically oriented descriptions of riding I worry that I’m creating noise.
You’re right that riding on two-wheels is definitely more physical than sitting in a car. While I enjoy driving, it can’t hold a candle to a scooter or motorcycle most of the time. But there are days I am glad I’m in a cage.
I use Battery Tenders all the time, year-round. Probably don’t need them. Perhaps it’s not even good for the batteries. But habits die hard for me.
Your wife may definitely need to acclimate when moving from Costa Rica to New Jersey. You’ll have to share some links to her work if something goes online. I always enjoy seeing what people create.
Be safe on the road as the weather hardens. Don’t take any chances!
Steve, I had a nice ride out through Sugar Valley on Friday. I was going to stop at the donut place you showed me last fall but was wooed away by the prospect of a new road to explore through the Tiadaghton forest, spitting me out somewhere in Elimsport. Not sure I’d ever heard of Elimsport before, which is a bit of a small thrill in and of itself for someone who probably needs to get out more.
And speaking of the colder weather, I couldn’t help but wonder (as I later trudged through Lowes in Mill Hall looking for a new door knob and trying to warm up a bit) if my numb feet made me walk like a peg legged pirate, because it sure felt like it.
There are many places in and around Sugar Valley that I’ve not yet explored. I suspect I could spend years before exploring them all. That fact, and that there are many similar areas, make central Pennsylvania a great place to ride.
Cold weather and trudging go together Andy!