Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.
Soren Kierkegaard
With rain riding, the road is long and often dark.
Especially during the last week. Rain and heavy overcast has created what can be an oppressive environment for riding both physically and mentally. Rain riding often asks for a little extra from a rider to get on the road and stay safe while there.
Stopping along the road to make a photograph gives you a chance to examine the pavement you’re riding on. A few steps, a drag of the sole of a boot along the road surface provides a sense of traction and the limits to work within.
And I’m always looking at the landscape in which my life unfolds. On some days it can feel like a scene from a movie.
The universe provides reminders that it’s not a movie.
Like finding a new bicycle path as a hint that some of my motorized riding could be transitioned to body powered travel in recognition of a healthier way of living.
I looked at my pink mountain bike today and considered riding it for a fleeting moment.
The world is a big place with magic everywhere.
I feel that but know it hasn’t always been the case. Something changed that has allowed me to see the world differently. I like to ascribe that change to riding the Vespa but I could just as easily credit my camera which has forced a continual visual engagement.
If pushed I would probably say the advancement of years has made everything more precious. Looking around I realize how fleeting it all is. Riding provides a front row seat on the world. Getting older provides the patience to watch the show.
Reality is strange.
Riding across the valley south of State College brings a rider through some open, rolling agricultural areas. The round bales almost seemed like some new form of livestock as they sat in the corn stubble. The scene feels more like a painting than a photograph.
You can never see everything.
Fog and mist shroud the ridge tops obscuring the view. Imagination fills in the gaps and I’m always imagining Brigadoon. Funny how stories stick in your head and trigger a desire for something magic to happen. I have a long list of daydreams.
There is rest for the weary.
By the end of the ride, just shy of 50 miles, I was feeling the dampness and chill seep into my body. Not painful or uncomfortable but enough to allow genuine appreciation of a hot drink in a warm place. It’s easy to imagine travelers moving through the wilderness 200 years ago by wagon or horse and coming upon an inn at the end of a long day.
And so I sit with my hot tea staring out the window and imagining other lives and times, all because of a little rain riding.
Loved today’s blog,as I enter my 70th year it is so true that life should be experienced and forget living in the past and enjoy the here and now! I cannot believe this weather in southern Ontario allowing the riding of my scoot in late Dec. and soon to be January , a New Year.
The weather finally turned cold today with some snow on the ground in places for a short time. But still, for January, 31F isn’t bad.
Glad to hear you’re still riding at 70. My father-in-law is 79 and still riding but not as much due to some hip issues that he is weighing the pros and cons of surgery.
Best wishes for the new year and be safe on the road!
Steve,
1. For me, the camera came first, which really did open my eyes that much wider to the world around me (some would say ironically, given the camera’s limited “scope”, relative to the human eye). Then came the bicycle, a device that works quite harmoniously with the camera. My first motorized two-wheeler (dirt bike), wasn’t so harmonious, hence very little photographic evidence of its existence in my life. The Vespa, happily, is turning out quite differently. I might even start tossing one of my compact 35mm cameras in the glove box or pet carrier.
2. The longest ride I’ve taken in the rain via bicycle was somewhere between 35 and 40 miles. I really don’t go out of my way for that kind of experience, particularly at that distance, but if I get the sense that it won’t be a torrential downpour, I might go for it. So far, I’ve ridden in the wet exactly twice on the Vespa. The bigger deal here is the lack of wet-riding gear, although the cycling jacket I’m currently using in lieu of a “proper” moto version is billed as weather-resistant. Gotta get those rain chaps.
3. The Vespa, curiously, might be helping me map out some new cycling routes/destinations in my “new territory” (I’ve only been out of NYC less than a year). When I lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I spent many a weekend taking a 60-mile day trip to Nyack and back; when i moved to Brooklyn some 24 years back, it was a lot harder to do that ride, which was my signature long-distance ride, and I cut back quite a bit, limiting myself to inner-city (and, later, inner-boruough) riding. Hardly boring, but still a bit more limited in scope than I preferred, and a bit too stop-and-go for a truly exhilarating workout Now I’m gradually returning to that form of riding, with Melody as my navigational “wingman” of sorts. I had worried that once I got the Vespa, the bicycles would lay fallow, but I’m less concerned now – each brings its own delights and discoveries, and besides, I worked really hard to get the three bicycles I own “just right” for me, so that, in addition to being my favorite form of exercise by far (yes, I did join a gym here in Asbury recently), keeps me pedaling. You might want to dust off that mountain bike for the occasional ride.
3. As I mentioned in another thread, I actually dig foggy days for riding, under the right conditions, the chief one being the earlier, the better. Daydreams? Oh, golly, I have ’em. Being on two wheels embellishes them. Another reason why I don’t drive.
4. End of the ride: reverie in a fresh pot of tea, maybe with toast. Never tastes better.
Ride (and write) on.
The Vespa is a great photographic platform. I always have at least my Canon G15 in the pet carrier nestled safely in an extra pair of gloves or other soft stuff. Stopping for photos is quick and easy. When I’m using the DSLR it rides in the GIVI topcase and is slower to use. But still easier than a motorcycle in my opinion.
Rain isn’t bad in warm weather wet or dry and regardless of gear. But once the temperature drops below 75F it gets cold really fast so rain gear is essential. I bought a Rev-It rain suit 18 months ago and have not used it yet. My regular riding gear with weaptherproof enough that I’ve not needed it. But then I haven’t ridden in an all day soaking rain either.
New York City seems pretty daunting to me for riding. I used to visit friends in Manhattan and my daughter in Queens and driving a car was nuts let alone a scooter. The surface streets didn’t seem so bad but getting in and out of the city was no fun. I’m spoiled in central Pennsylvania.
Just finished a cup of hot tea. Cookies instead of toast but some toast would be nice. Thanks for the idea!
Riding in the rain….something I promised Martha I wouldn’t do when I bought my first motorcycle by in 2006….I may have not followed that agreement too closely.
Happy New Year to you and yours Steve!
If you promised Martha you wouldn’t ride in the rain you really, really dropped the ball on that one. I assume you’ve adjusted your promise. What is it now — I won’t ride in a tornado?
Well, it turns out that I apparently followed a small tornado back home one time….I remember thinking there was a lot of leaves and branches strewn about the neighborhood as I got home. Found out it was a small tornado, and all the houses near me and including mine had to have roof shingles replaced due to hail damage.
Dom, your riding is well beyond normal riding limits. Maybe there is a windspeed level you can operate within — no riding when the wind is over 90mph.
Where is the new bicycle path?
It’s along Circleville Road from Scotia to Circleville Park where it disappears into the woods.
PS; I really like your interpretation of hay bails in the corn stubble as animals in a field. I can see that.
Those round bales have always fascinated me. Like them naked though — not wrapped in white plastic like big marshmallows.
“If pushed I would probably say the advancement of years has made everything more precious. Looking around I realize how fleeting it all is.”
Seeing your loved one passed away was my stimulus. I bought two motorcycles. The need to ride something that connects to my cortex was powerful. As much as I like the scooter the bike fills a place I long left empty. Of course the scooter won’t stay idle and my riding season coming this Spring will be filled with both.
Rain riding is something I never could love. Even a good rain suit would allow some moisture somewhere. Also, having fallen on black ice, I mentally freeze up when I see black, shiny road. An emotional scar perhaps.
Loss would be a powerful reminder in many ways. I hope you find good memories of your time together fills your thoughts.
Rain isn’t for everyone. I don’t like being wet and cold so I will only ride if I can avoid both. Hard to accomplish sometimes. And freezing weather has all the problems you describe. I’ll probably ride in less of it this year. In part because I’m planning to get the scooter repainted and spruced up a bit which will take it out of service for awhile.
Happy New Year Steve … here’s hoping for a bit (lots) of sunshine ahead.
Thanks! And a Happy New Year to you as well!
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Riding in the rain is just part of the fun being outdoors. I’ve been on a lot of trips back packing, bicycle touring and motorcycle touring in the rain and I guess I rarely given it a second thought. On some trips, rain was a daily occurrence and if you decided to avoid the rain, you didn’t go anywhere. As long as you are prepared for it, no problem. If not prepared, it could be miserable.
Not being prepared makes most anything miserable. For me the physical preparation is far easier than the mental one. But the extra work often pays dividends in the form of joy and satisfaction.
Happy new year Steve,
Great post, wonderful read inspired by something a simple as the weather!
I see the image clear in my head of the olden horse and carriage days…..it’s trips on a vespa that can being these moments into your thoughts .
Good read , looking forward to enjoying what Scooter in the Sticks has to bring in 2016!
Kind regards
Len
Happy New Year to you too Len. I hope you have some good weather ahead that might give you a chance to ride.
I see lots of horse and carriages here that the Amish use as their basic transportation. It’s hard for me to imagine a lifestyle that can deal with that pace not to mention the care and feeding of the horses. Wow….
I like your vespa and i have a vespa gts too , your posts make me want to go to the highway now !!!! ?
That’s high praise. Thank you!