Every ride to and from work opens the door to a little adventure.
I’m fortunate my direct commute to my office is just 6 miles. And now when I arrive there are often two other Vespa scooters, sometimes three others plus a Yamaha Vino. But I digress…
Several variations in route can easily extend the commute to 10 or 15 minutes and even then it is not much of a hardship in time or miles. I chalk it up as a fringe benefit of living in the sticks.
But even in this situation complacency can set in and the rider becomes routine. With that thought in mind last week I made an abrupt turn away from by planned route to see what the unknown would bring.
It brought my first water crossing.
The Vespa GTS isn’t in many people’s mind (anyone’s actually?) an off-road vehicle and I will be the first to stand up and testify to it’s less that comfortable feel on loose surfaces like gravel, sand, or just loose dirt. But that doesn’t mean it won’t navigate those surfaces, it just means going a lot slower than I remember being able to travel on a dirt bike.
I turned off the road onto a farm lane I had seen before but hadn’t really paid much attention to where it went. There are a lot of them around and many have various passive or active warnings to stay away. This one was just a gravel and dirt lane disappearing through a line of trees in the distance.
When I arrived at the small pool of water and stream passing in front of me I decided to get off the scooter and look before dropping the GTS into water deeper than it might want to handle. Didn’t want to be sucking water into the drive belt case. The water was about 6 inches deep but the bottom appeared to be muddy. I crossed on the right side of the picture in about 4 inches of water with a solid bottom. Nothing for a dirt bike but a first for the GTS.
In celebration I speeded away along the tree line and field but almost tanked as the ruts in the road deepened and the scooter started to lurch around. I stood up on the floorboards and let off the throttle a bit until things were a bit more comfortable.
The road sort of transformed into two tracks in high weeds. Pushing on up a hill through denser grass I passed a big groundhog hole that easily would have swallowed the front tire of the Vespa causing who knows what. That’s when I figured I met my limit on this particular road and turned around to head for home.
This last picture was taken a few mornings ago while scouting for pictures for work on the way to work. I wandered through a sheep farm and then across a bridge into a field of even higher grass that a tractor recently traveled through to cut hay. The grass was up to the bars and I started thinking groundhogs again.
Little variations in route wake me up. They freshen the ride. And they don’t cost much. I keep thinking about riders who navigate urban landscapes and wonder what the comparable variations might be. With more roads I am certain there are alternatives, if even for a few miles. I suppose it is a matter of willingness to accept there may be alternatives, time, and patience.
We’ve seen that cows were much interested in your silver steed, but what, if any, reactions did the sheep and ground hogs have? It just somehow seems important. BTW have you thought of fitting a cultivator to the Vespa and hiring out?
P’taker
I don’t like to get my Vespa dirty lol.
I have a bit further to go on my way to work…..55 miles. This time of year it’s too likely to have thunderstorms down here so I don’t ride to work often.
Michelle and I love to explore those “side roads”. It’s amazing how much more you see on a scooter.
This Summers trip is going to be awesome!!
Love this blog. I just became interested in owning an LX150 and spent hours reading your blog so far, Steve. Thanks for this.
Nice to see that the work stable has a few more ponies in it. It makes me happy to watch co-workers walk in to work with helmets under their arms.
We have endless sideroad opportunities for me to explore in our area. I am now making time for tooling slowly on my scooter, so the old dirt roads are on my list.
Have fun,
Bill
You got me to thinking… again. Just a few miles east of san diego is a national forest, a coastal mountain range, desert, and old Mexico. And I’ve not seen much of them. School is out next week, and this is the first summer I won’t be teaching summer school… ideal time to explore the backcountry on the Et4. Steve, thanks for being such an inspiration.
vince
pitchertaker: I will have to watch closely to see how the other critters react. Stay tuned for those images.
cody: The scooter platform affords an excellent view!
matt: Thank you for your kind words. I hope you find a path to your own riding experiences.
bill: I bet you have great side roads out your way. I look forward to reading about your adventures.
The interest in scooters here is growing. I think another rider will be added shortly. Already we are talking about needing more parking space.
vince: I am glad that I could help inspire some new rides. There is a lot of cool stuff to see not far from home!
I love it. I’ve used mine on the gravel roads not far from here but haven’t really gone exporing with mine as you have. Although I have taken the Sportster in the past, the LX150 seems the better choice. Thanks for the inspiration Steve.
Roadbum
Roadbum: The Vespa is a great exploring vehicle, even off-road, if you don’t expect to blast down the road like it was a dirtbike. When I think of how I rode as a kid on the dirtbike I didn’t see much of anything. It was a battle to stay upright and negotiate the path in front of me. No time to smell the roses so to speak.
Off-road riding has a different appeal now — slow and deliberate.