The Heart of the Ride
I wake in the middle of the night and think. Sometimes about riding. More often about the deranged state of everyday reality. I prefer thoughts of riding. Of moving, traveling, experiencing. It’s the heart of the ride.
Autumn almost escaped. It’s the swiftest of seasons. The landscape changes from green to orange to a drab, monochromatic scene as the trees surrender to the power of autumn. I feel a physical and emotional quickening as time churns in me as it drags me toward winter. I know something is ending. And something else begins.
I find myself once again standing alongside the road with no idea where to go. A drifter on a scooter with nothing pressing to do. A ride on the Vespa affords me an opportunity to bear witness to the rapid transformation of color, light, and fragrance. And like so many rides without plan or destination I find my only goal is pushing the scooter out of the garage. Where I go from there is anyone’s guess.
It’s the journey that attracts me. The mystery. The tapestry of unknowable experiences that may await. And these are the things I think about while riding my Vespa. It doesn’t happen in the car, or even very often on the motorcycle. Riding the scooter takes me to the heart of the ride.
Triggering Memories
I wish I could explain better why riding during the fall affects me so strongly. I’ve wondered if the yellow light fueled by billions of changing leaves triggers some change in my brain. Or if the endless fragrance of plant material drying, decaying, and being reabsorbed in the earth has fueled some kind of chemical intoxication. Or maybe autumn triggers memories that are far more precious than I realize. Walks in the woods with my dad. Playing in leaf piles with childhood friends. Or something so well hidden I may never know.
Intoxication and Ecstasy
I often decide to head into the mountains. Less traffic. Quiet. And the gravel roads will slow me down. While it may not be what scooter riders typically gravitate toward, there’s satisfaction in the loneliness of these places. Autumn is in full play. I can lose myself in the forest. Escape. Perhaps I’ll find intoxication, or ecstasy. Some sort of departure, if only for a few moments, from the thrum of ordinary life.
The Vespa is a fine partner for such adventure.
Steve,
I always thoroughly enjoy your posts. Thanks for sharing you thoughts and travels but most of all your poetic perspective.
~~Ken
Thank you Ken.
Best wishes for a fine and healthy holiday season!
Steve thanks again for the beautiful words and photographs.Today I found myself trying to decide which was more stunning the landscape or the Vespa…. I guess both are equal in order to transport us to that place in our mind.Hope the holidays are extra special for my friends in Pennsylvania .Peace.
I’m fortunate to live where I do and have a Vespa on which to explore. I’ve always felt the scooter was an inspired industrial design that has kept my attention as a subject for over 15 years. And the central Pennsylvania landscape is an endless source of wonder.
Best wishes to you as well for a great holiday!
Agree completely Steve. Fall is fleeting at best and its intensity uneven from year to year and yet my all time fave. I can usually find time the for chores through Winter, Spring and Summer but come Fall it’s “Let’s ride”. Knowing the season’s end is nigh, the days are getting shorter, that riding opportunities will soon become scarce and hibernation is just around the corner, heightens the anticipation, subsequent satisfaction and bittersweet reflection at rides end. Thanks for the post and as the snow falls gently outside I will muse over our Fall ride moments and pics and savour. Enjoy Eh!
Hibernation. Something I am slowly coming to understand will be a part of my future. I still think I can keep both the scooter and motorcycle alive and ready to roll through the winter, but the cold has become more difficult for me to manage physically. While anything above 20F used to be fine to ride, I’m pretty sure that may be a problem now. Time will tell.
And I can relate to the bittersweet reflections at the end of a ride. I used to engage them in a cafe or diner. The pandemic has wrecked that important aspect of riding. So I may be joining you in musing over fall rides when the snow starts to fall.
Steve,
Once again, I have to give thanks for stumbling across your site. Then again, maybe it wasn’t a stumble at all but a guided excursion by some Great Unknowable. And here I’m not referring to Charley Weaver.
I really don’t have a single idea where that came from, but regardless circle takes the square.
And even that has import, really. Circle takes the square like autumn seems to complete a cycle, at least for me.
Fall opens the door to shuffling through leaves, riding through light that seems fleeting and warm and cool and at the right speed, a taste of what looms ahead.
The winter. At a certain age, winter informs us of things that inevitably lie ahead.
Like getting the hell inside and having a hot cup of coffee or tea or some damn thing. No sense in being maudlin about the thing.
Anyway, thanks. You do a lot for people.
Fred G.
Thank you for your kind words Fred. I appreciate your thoughts on fall and the approach of winter, a reminder of why lies ahead.
I’ve been drinking a lot more cups of hot tea and cocoa already. I wish we had a big fireplace to doze in front of!
Snow is lightly falling here again today after several cold fall dry days. The bikes have been tucked away for winter and even our oak tree has dropped all it’s leaves. Covid has us limited by a ” stay home” recommendation, boredom lurks. I’m mentally preparing for winter’s challenge and rejuvenation. My mood lifts as I briefly return to the memories of heading out on a ride, ” a journey” into the “unknowable experiences awaiting”. This fall I returned to riding my XT225 as an escape into this space, into the magic and contentment in just being…now winter asks for a different route. Thank you Steve ! Enjoy the ride!
Boredom isn’t lurking here. It’s active and consuming. I fear winter will be a real challenge this year.
I’ve considered swapping the BMW for something like an XT225. A machine more at home on all these forest roads and without the mass of the BMW or the poor suspension of the Vespa.
Good wishes for your winter challenges. I hope you find some rejuvenation!
Another great article! Happy Holidays!
Thanks David!
Steve, I’ve been finding myself increasingly awake at night, too. It’s like my uneasy subconscious thoughts feel the need to have more input from my conscious. I’d rather a full night’s sleep!
Escape from the mundane…yes! I’ve noticed that too much routine usually results in my feeling like a gerbil on a wheel. In a cage. Wanting to break out. The Vespa helps relieve some of this tension.
Wonderful photos, as always!
I used to fall asleep instantly and sleep soundly all night. That experience seems to have abandoned me. Not sure why but I miss a full night’s sleep too.
Riding the Vespa sort of opens my eyes to the various ways I’ve enslaved myself — sometimes psychologically, other times through chores and “responsibilities.” It’s good to gain perspective and that always relieves some of the angst.
“ I know something is ending. And something else begins,” said Steve. I know what you mean. There it is before your eyes falling colorful leaves indicating impermanence. Objects and things changing their physical state. But what is not happening is the passing of time. I like the way nostalgia and the idea of the seasons changing feels but its a whole different ball game when the truth is revealed. There is no death and there is no time. We live in an eternal state in a oneness with the universe and you-know- who. Mahatma Ben Pablo Rubio.
I know I experience time differently depending on a variety of factors. Sometimes it is fast, and sometimes slow. All constructions in my head based on thought. It’s always a challenge to just be present in the moment where there is no time.
As I reflect on the season just passed I’m grateful for having such diverse two wheelers in the garage. My scooter is the go to for rides when I need milk or other necessities or to just enjoy the feeling of easy motoring. The two motorcycles are able to rekindle my feeling of one-ness with an engine and transmission as I do my best to let the bike sing its happiest anthem. This year, despite the plague I got in some incredible group rides along with satisfying solo trips. This part of the world has some dazzling roads allowing me to feel like my younger self when I wanted each curve to be done perfectly. The feeling of ground flight at its best.
Hopefully next year will be even better as there are more group rides and opportunities to discover new roads in the region.
Ground flight… I know that feeling. Something I seldom manage in cold weather because I’m mitigating speed so as to not be surprised by any slippery spots in curves. But when the weather is nice, I can feel the flight — on the Vespa or the BMW.
I’ve not ridden as much this year. The pandemic has played a role but so have other circumstances. I remain content though riding as I can.