Change
Riding provides a landscape on which I can let my mind wander across thoughts and ideas the are either bothering me, or just spring to life as the scooter and I are running down the road. One of those ideas that has been bouncing around in my head — the ability to change.
It’s strange how often things occur to me while I’m standing alongside a road, alone, and relaxed.
Fear, Fear, and More Fear
Why is it so difficult to wear a mask?
They’re annoying, especially if you wear glasses, but it’s not as bad as wearing a suit and tie or shaving.
I think it’s fear. It can represent surrendering beliefs and preconceptions. A risk that everything that was one clear will become dark. Giving up rigidity and a death grip on ideas for fear there might be something different in the future. Better. If I steer that way who knows who I’ll become.
I wear a mask now anytime I go indoors where I might be around other people. I wear it out of requirement. I wear it out of respect for others. I wear it because a virus is among us and wearing masks drastically reduces transmission. Add social distancing and handwashing and I have all I need to be safe.
I listened to a person rage against having to wear a mask. Their argument was not unlike the ones I’ve heard about mandatory helmet wearing. A mask seemed so dangerous to their individual freedom that they could not risk putting one on. They believed the virus was present but could not accept the call to use one. Shirts and shoes for service were ok. Seatbelts and no-smoking were fine. But the mask was a bridge too far.
The fear and death grip on an idea was too strong.
Scooter or Motorcycle
Simple physics, mass, and gravity, tells me that eventually, a scooter will be the only motorized, two-wheeled contraption I will be able to handle if I wish to continue on down the old age road. I accept what time has in store for me. And riding a scooter never diminished my idea of what it meant to be a rider.
I know others though who hold tightly to their idea of what it means to be a rider. And that means a motorcycle. Changing to a smaller motorcycle or to a scooter is clearly unfathomable.
Is it strange for someone to dismiss an option without even trying it? Fear of change is a powerful force in life. Not just in riding.
Clearing the Cobwebs
Three things in my life consistently clear away the noise in my head.
Coming in at third place is photography. Using the camera as a tool for inspection of my life and the world around me is a powerful tool to focus my body and mind. Mental noise and chaos cease to exist.
In second place — walking. Aside from the physical benefits suggested by my cardiologist, walking frees me from the anxiety of doing nothing. My dogs insist I take care of myself by walking, so much so that they selflessly volunteer to accompany me as I engage in that important work.
And in first place is riding. Whether I’m on the scooter or motorcycle I continue to find emotional release, mental clarity, physical well being, and spiritual awakening when I’m on the road.
Short Rides
This ride was short. An hour, maybe an hour and a half, circling the valley and climbing through forests and across farm fields. I stopped to look at the lime plant near Bellefonte for no reason I could identify then, or now, other than it looked ‘interesting.” I never do that while driving a car. Riding opens a curiosity door that harkens back to childhood when the world was full of wonder.
I’m grateful for the gifts these short rides offer.
Scooter Country
Save for land posted with “No Trespassing” signs (or worse), I will go anywhere on the Vespa scooter. I know the scooter isn’t a mud machine but I just had to tale a look at the exquisite patterns the red clay and late day sun were creating. The mud was mostly dry with only a few places that might create some problems for the Vespa but I deftly avoided them. Mostly because I knew how annoying it is to remove this heavy clay from tires, wheels and the rest of the machine.
By the time I got home I wasn’t thinking much about change. Whatever annoyance I was holding on to regarding others in the world had disappeared. I accepted responsibility for my own behavior (again) and could as easily manage a non-mask wearing throng during a pandemic as easily as I could some red clay in my path.
It just requires some change on my part.
I have a 750cc bike, a 250cc bike and a 250cc scooter. I have observed numerous bikes in the 300cc category that would work if I was to be forced to have only one. Also a Lance 200i or SYM Fiddle III scooter if I had to go that route. My Dad rode his 750cc until age 90 so if genetics mean anything I may be good for a while.
Man, what a gift it would be to manage a big bike into your 90s. Sadly for most of us, that’s just not the case.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you Jim!
It’s against the law to drive drunk, because it endangers other people. It’s against the law to smoke indoors, because it endangers other people. Nor wearing the mask is the same thing.
Makes sense to me. But somehow a mask has come to represent something other than protecting others. The power of media? The failure of education? Or merely a momentary lapse in societal judgment?
Psychologists will be debating for decades the underlying reasons for how such a basic health measure was so easily turned into a political weapon.
Whatever the determination, it doesn’t seem to bode well for humanity to address difficult problems.
Some changes in one’s life can be good while other changes are simply annoying. Need to take the time to distinguish one from the other and hold on to the better.
I agree. Time and consideration.
Remember that day you followed Robert and me into the woods? We were on dirt bikes and you your Vespa? Did I tell you I thought, “ There’s no way Steve’s going to be able to follow, we will have to tow or carry that Vespa out of here”. But you didn’t complain, just took a little longer and proved mostly its the man not the machine.
I remember that day. When Robert turned off the dirt road and into the woods I thought, “This is going to be fun.” The biggest challenge was moving through tall weeds and suddenly hitting an unseen rock or log. Not a lot of suspension travel on the Vespa!
Guess I need to view this mask thing like wearing pants ,something we put on before leaving the house..I was in Waco tx.yesterday was asked to leave a store due to no mask.Grumbled but left anyway.Our governor reported 10,ooo new cases in the last two days. Maybe I need to not b not so hardheaded and heed the warnings.Perhaps if I do maybe I will live long enough to have to decide when to downsize my two wheels or stop riding period.One day at a time has always been tuff for me all my life,seems I’m always looking at tomorrow today●
I’ve watched the numbers in Texas and Florida rise and see how they are following the pattern that New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania had. It happened so fast here and the bodies started piling up quickly that there was no time to worry about politics or the economy. And even now as things have opened up people are wary. Most people wear masks in stores as they are asked to do. There are a few who don’t and I give them a wide berth. When I go to a drive-through for food I always put on a mask. The danger comes from our mouths. And not just words!
I would hate to contract the virus knowing I took a risk by not wearing a mask. When I die, I don’t want it to be because I was foolish about something.
I’m with you Don — I would like to live long enough where decisions about downsizing become necessary!
I am old. I don’t like change. I like to live. I wear a mask.
Some friends of ours own a very small coffee shop in very small Florida fishing village at the end of 22 mile road from the nearest highway. This is on their front door https://www.facebook.com/1842dailygrind/photos/pb.1622844794707664.-2207520000../2689822374676562/?type=3&theater
I do not wear a communicator or listen to “tunes” while I ride. I need all my concentration on the road and I prefer the company of my brain. I just rode hours of long straight familiar roads to the Daily Grind Coffee shop and I had great conversations. Worked out many problems. One being how to get in some descent riding in a time of masks. I decided I would finally use my trailer in a bag for what it is bought for. Going to better riding country without having to ride old familiar roads for three days to get there and reducing exposure along the way. I have resisted using the trailer in this way as I have looked at in the past as a sign of weakness.
I look forward to riding alone through back roads of the mountains and being able to pull off, walk away from the scooter, look back it and think of all the pleasures it has brought. Returning to the comfort of a small family owned refuge not having to worry about dodging through a lobby or where to eat safely.
I hope I will channelling you on these rides.
The Facebook link doesn’t work but some detective work suggests the 1842 Daily Grind & Mercantile.
No mask – No Service. It sounds like a simple and effective start for a small business trying to mitigate the risks of COVID-19, for their customers and themselves. “Nobody’s health in our shop is worth being risked for an egg sandwich or a cup of coffee.”
I understand how our mind can concoct “signs of weakness.” For me, it grows out of rigidity and stubbornness, two character flaws I continue to work on. It’s a far more peaceful life when we bent with the wind rather than break. Trailering your scooter to better riding areas makes perfect sense to me on lots of levels.
Your comment sums things up perfectly for me, “I look forward to riding alone through back roads of the mountains and being able to pull off, walk away from the scooter, look back it and think of all the pleasures it has brought.”
Thanks for sharing Ken. I appreciate it.
Riding 3 hours to join my wife in Cedar Key on basic straight roads, many four lanes, I had time to drift off and think about what has happened to my riding in Florida. Your post helped me realize that though I used to be the king of U turns and “any left turn” I had lost that style of riding and convinced myself there was nothing new to see. . On the way home I got it back. I did several “any left turns”. Some where rewarding some where not. But the whole thing made me realize that all I had to do was do it. I had the big smile back on my face once again when I got home
Thank you Steve for the stimulation.
It’s easy to fall back into the straight line riding frame of mind. For me, it’s where I find nothing new to see. I’m glad you found the will to make some “any left turns.” I’m still surprised at what I’ll find.
Just last week on the BMW I took a turn down a road that I could not believe existed so close to home. And I was rewarded with some magnificent views. You just never know what you’ll find.
So,you will give your back to BMW?
Hello Emilio,
I suspect someday when I can’t manage the BMW, I’ll sell it to some younger rider who still can. For now, it remains an easy, comfortable motorcycle for me to operate.
In our immediate part of the world you must wear a mask if inside a business and should you refuse, the proprietor is expected to refuse service and ask you leave. I think the idea here is that this isn’t all about you it is about us. This would appear to be a team sport so to speak? We all pull together and we might just end up with the cup. On a lighter note, I concur Steve on the internal noise front and use similar variables though the order bounces around some depending on the season. I might add at least one more therapeutic tool and that would be good coffee. And change, my goodness, I am beside myself! Last week I had three motorcycles and a scooter in the garage and tonight I am down to one motorcycle … Whatever am I to do? Once again, a timely and clever post. Thankyou 👍
I agree Steve, masking wearing and other pandemic-defeating behaviors are about us. A virus respects nothing and will burn through a population that’s unwary, unprepared, or without compassion for their fellow humans. I understand how it may be a nuisance, and for people who lose jobs and their livelihood disastrous, but what chance will they have if we don’t bring the spread under control?
I suspect mask-wearing will be our future for a long time. I understand now why I used to see so many Asian students wearing masks in public for years during flu season. Their experience in other countries was mitigating respiratory diseases for a long time. Sadly for us, that aspect of nature has taken up residence in North America and around the world.
I plan to do some therapy riding later today. While I don’t drink coffee I will be bringing some tea along in a Thermos bottle.
What happened to your machines? Sounds like a terrible dilema.
Regarding the machines, time and space, space both in the garage and between the ears.No regrets as all three machines have provided many miles and smiles. I will add a second contrasting machine down the road at some point as I distill what it is that I most enjoy and savour. Getting on is a variable at play here too and to quote Bob Dylan and reference the title of your post here, “The Times They Are a Changin”
I’ve heard change is good!
Glad to see reason prevailing here. Your thoughts and mine are perfectly in-synch.
It must be because we’ve both drank the Vespa Kool-Aid.