Let me be the first to raise the alarm. Winter is coming. The air, the light, the chill that cut through me brought the horizon into view and it was winter. The Big Dipper was as bright and clear in the night sky as I can remember and I knew it would be cold in the morning. Sleeping in the cold air is great and to just make the night perfect Kim and I were awakened in the middle of the night by a Screech Owl’s whinny.
At 50° I have to protect myself, especially my hands so out came the windproof jacket worn underneath my First Gear Kilimanjaro IV riding jacket. And the heavy winter gloves, just one stop away from the mittens. I hate being cold but I love to ride so I bundle up.
The light was intense as I stopped to look at the play of shadow, light and color in a group of pine trees. It is the kind of light that appears with the onset of fall and signals winter. I’m grinning as I write this. I love the challenge of colder weather.
Apples. I’m really wandering away from riding now. A Honeycrisp apple to be precise. I was at the Cellar Market at Penn State, a small fruit, flower and vegetable market that sells produce grown on the many Penn State Research Farms.
This Honeycrisp is fresh and its good. A student was running a taste test with five apple varieties. I recognized four of them but had never heard of the Honeycrisp apple. One bite and I was transported back to 1965 sitting in a neighbor’s apple tree with three or four of my friends. Every self-respecting 11 year old carried a pocket knife so we were all busy slicing and eating apples, two-legged locusts moving from tree to tree. But I digress.
A bite of that Honeycrisp was EXACTLY the apple taste I remembered. It was incredible. The label for those apples read “explosively crisp”. Sweet-tart, juicy, and they were explosively crisp. I bought the last two they had. The other crates still had lots of apples. And I sort of turned into a Honeycrisp evangelist. The day was exceptional because I had an exceptional apple. And we are entering apple season in Pennsylvania so there will be a lot of fresh apples.
Living in the sticks isn’t all bad I suppose. Ag reseaerch that is looking to put lost varieties back into production- eccellent! Pull the cold close and hold it tight,don’t let it roll south!
Dried honeycrisp is one of my favorites! I am jealous of all your beautiful riding venues. sigh
Enjoy the crisp cool apple and winder. In SoCal we hope we will have a winter and lots of rain. I have Scooted in the cold before and much prefer the Fall and Spring. Summer here is a bit warm I mean “Hot” and uncomfortable. Ride warm and keep the beautiful fall and winter pictures rolling.
Steve: Knowing that your Vespa doesn’t have a DC power outlet, I thought to send you this URL http://www.jett.us.com This is a battery-operated heated vest. It might expand your riding options in cold weather … as would a scooter skirt. I’m pretty fortunate that my Burgman 650 has 130 spare watts for heated garments and such.
conchscooter: Cold makes you a complete person. Otherwise you might dream your life away in that balmy weather….
susan: They are good apples!
phil: It’s already getting dramatically colder. Last night the temperature dropped to 39 degrees. I jsut have to remember that it could be 80 in November. The weather seems so unpredictable anymore…
eldercattus: I’ve looked at those battery powered options but all I really need is heated gloves which they don’t seem to sell. I think the GTS has enough extra juice to power a pair of Gerber gloves. I think I will pursue that this season. My hands are my Achilles Heel….
In case you change your mind, I chased down a reference to a homemade heated vest kit:
/www.harrisonspecialties.com
for a whole lot less $$.
*Nothing* beats fruit right off the tree. I’ve never had a honeycrisp apple; I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
A question on your Vespa: Is the headlight beam wide enough for you to see the sides of the road for animals as you’re riding along? Mine on the Buddy isn’t, really. Now that I have it aimed properly, it throws out far enough, but it isn’t wide enough. It’s a long, narrow beam. I’ve heard that the halogen upgrade helps out with this, but I’m thinking it is an optical thing, not a bulb thing.
The headlight on the Vespa GTS 250ie is bright and wide. On the high beam setting it really reaches out and does a good job illuminating to the side. It is something I really like about the scooter.
The low beam is wide as well but doesn’t reach too far. I wouldn’t want to be going much beyond 35 or 40 mph when the headlight was the only illumination.
man, you made me wish for an apple! I suddenly remembered my father who ate an apple after every meal, and I couldn’t understand this habit. Now that I recall, I remember I expecially like Fuji apples, like the ones you find here…
oh, sweet September… and in a week it will be my birthday! what sweeter month than September?
Thanks. Now I have this vision of a pack of two legged locusts armed with pocket knives arriving on scooters and proceeding to devestate the orchard!
How do you fend them off? Put a large “Hummer Scarecrow” in the middle of the trees?
GOrgeous photo of the trees with shadows adorning your vespa. Makes me homesick for the midwest. I miss autumn.
Gorgeous photo of the trees with shadows adorning your vespa. I miss the autumn.
Just found your blog. I’m a horsewoman in NM who’s awaiting the Piaggio MP3 400, so won’t be doing my cool weather riding until probably next year! Was searching the internet for some info on cold-weather gear because my idea is to save money and stay warm on my commute. I like that coat of yours. Saw a fellow on a motorcycle this a.m. wearing one.
Those Honeycrisp apples are the very best. I have been buying bags of them at Whole Foods. Awaiting the day when my honeycrisp apple tree actually starts producing. Very nice article.
Kimberly