A Gray World
Eventually, reliably, the gray gloom of winter gets to me. Moving outdoors to walk or ride changes from a looked for dose of recreation and enjoyment to a heavy trudge of resignation. Keeping all five machines in the garage “winterized” through consistent riding becomes work. Why riders drain the fuel and pull the batteries from their scooters and motorcycles gets clearer every winter.
I hear the call of the road still. And I find myself torn between inspiration and desperation. Feeling thrilled to get out despite the cold and desperate for the weather to warm. Lately I’ve found myself spending entirely too much time in mental whining about the state of the weather and the challenges it poses for riding.
Standing on a familiar road I am trying to convince myself there is no salt.
Fun Comes in Small Packages
Rotating through the collection of two-wheeled machines the goal is to ride each at least 15 miles once every two weeks. You probably see the math problem immediately. Five rides every 14 days. Add snow, ice, and other weather conditions and the formula changes to perhaps five rides every three days.
Failure abounds now and I am now closer to five rides every 30 days in winter. But so what. Everything starts, runs, and seems to be fine. And I know people who ride less than that in warm weather. And others who park their bikes in October, hook up the Battery Tender, and ride again in May. No fuss, no fuel draining, no Stabil, nothing. Just the freedom that comes from not giving a shit about rules and regulations regarding winterizing machines.
I understand the peace that might provide. I’ve not found it though because of struggles with inspiration and desperation. Can’t turn off the desire to ride. And the cravings that come when I don’t ride.
So I ride when it’s cold and there’s salt on the road. Or worse.
But I smile a lot more…
Healthy Distractions
Paul, old man in the center, organized a bi-weekly gathering for Andy, the kid, and myself, the old coot embarrassed to show his face, where we share creative work. Andy is a graphic designer and illustrator and the most serious rider of the three of us, Paul is a life long artist and photographer, and I am, well, someone who likes cameras. Depicted here with my fancy new Fuji X100VI.
We get together at Boal City Brew and share recent work. I respond much better to external pressure than any internal pressure I can muster when it comes to photography. Unless I’m being paid. And thankfully I don’t live that life any longer. Paul and Andy keep me working. It is a lot like the 3 Prints Project from years ago that took place at Saint’s Cafe.
And that returns me to inspiration and desperation. I need no external pressure to ride. In fact what I usually get from others is that I shouldn’t ride. Should park things and wait until spring.
That’s just crazy talk though and all of you know it. But it is great to have some external motivation to pick up the camera from reasons other than riding and get to work.
Life is short. Ride. Make art. And hang out with friends.
Magic carpet. EXACTLY!!! have done several hundred 🌙 night jaunts ,to mood-elevate. 0ften only a few minutes. Works wonderfully. Keep posting sir!
It doesn’t take much. A little effort, a few miles, and the magic is in full swing.
In our northern climes, winter is one good reason for owning fewer two wheelers. Thankfully I have become one of those who has given up on draining the tanks or using lots of stabilizers. The battery chargers get used about once per month and the bikes don’t move for 3 or 5 months. Rarely have any problems in the spring with any of them. Desperation for a ride gets them back on the road.
My photography efforts have been in steep decline for several years. My Sony camera has almost a year of images in it that have yet to be downloaded for sharing with the family. Inspiration needed here.
Thanks for another thoughtful post.
I used to worry about winterization. A lot of things actually. As I get older I have begun to realize that a lot of the things I learned might not be as important, or as critical as I was led to believe.
In the world of digital photography things can quickly get out of control with the sheer number of images that can be made without concern for cost. I remember when people would have two Christmases on one roll of film. Careful shooters back then…
You guys have all the fun ! As I’ve told Paul on FB I wish I lived in your area. Spring is here now !
We do have some fun. Spring is here but the cold is not completely gone yet. And it is still possible to have snow. I’ll feel better when a cold morning is 50F.
My GT250 is lucky if it goes out 15 miles all winter. The 150 gets put on a battery tender, because it doesn’t have a windshield. They work fine in the spring. The one I worry about is the 1964 SS that’s in long term storage. It’s lucky if it gets run 4 miles a year – and that’ BAD.
All I can say is we do what we do and have to live with the consequences. Hopefully that SS will start and make you smile!
Hello Steve,
Fais ce que tu as envie de faire quand tu en as envie Aucune obligation ne doit venir altérer ton jugement surtout quand on est retraité.
Pour rouler sereinement l’hiver, le sidecar est idĂ©al !
Do what you want to do when you want to do it. No obligations should cloud your judgment, especially when you’re retired.
For a stress-free winter ride, a sidecar is ideal !
Laurent, France.
Je m’efforce de me libĂ©rer de mes attentes et de toute exigence liĂ©e aux scooters et aux motos. Comme vous le dites, je suis Ă la retraite !
I endeavor to let go of my expectations of myself and of any requirements related to scooters and motorcycles. Like you say, I’m retired!
Things were so much simpler when you just had the all-purpose Vespa. Only one bike to maintain and you didn’t have to choose which one to ride.
That’s true. Life was simpler with only one Vespa scooter in the garage. But man, I do love riding everything I have now. Life seems like it would be incomplete without them now.