Living (and riding) with Less

I left this morning with only a direction in mind. No plan or destination just a quiet connection between myself, the Vespa, and the landscape. I headed East on Route 192 which I found had recently been repaved and was clean and smooth. The road was virtually empty and I cruised along at 50MPH enjoying the varied fragrances off fresh cut hay, Dames Rocket blooms, and the occasional drift of cow manure, a smell I always associate with my grandfather’s home in Bavaria.

At Madisonburg I turned north to cross Nittany Mountain. Streams of cool air mixed with warmer areas as the Vespa and I climbed through the oak and hemlock forest. The range of temperature changes are just lost to you in a car.

At the top of the mountain you can look out across the ridges. Down the other side the road winds along Roaring Run Creek and through a narrow gap until I arrive in Lamar. I stop at the Flying J Truckstop for $2 worth of gas. The only other motorcycle in the lot if a shining burgundy Honda Goldwing. It is loaded with gear for a trip but I never see the rider.

I head north to Mill Hall and ride along some small township roads that head into the Allegheny Plateau region. Traffic doesn’t exist and the day is calm. I’ve been thinking about the Vespa and what I give up riding it instead of a larger motorcycle. The idea of “giving something up” has been bouncing around my head for a few weeks now. Reading Thoreau’s “Walden” I came across this passage:

“The nation itself, with all its so-called internal improvements, which, by the way are all external and superficial, is just an unwieldy and overgrown establishment, cluttered with furniture and tripped up by its own traps, ruined by luxury and heedless expense, by want of calculation and a worthy aim, as the million households in the land; and the only cure for it as for them is a rigid economy, a stern and more than Spartan simplicity of life and elevation of purpose.”

As I rode I thought not that I was giving something up as much as I was turning the consumption drive upside down. Things were simple this morning while riding. The scooter is simple. The demands it makes of me are clear and with purpose.

I found this little church far from the main highway. It was built in 1894 and still serves a congregation though I was left wondering where they came from. I rode along the hilltops and took in a variety of fine views.

I had traveled about 60 miles or so by this time and decided to ride to Bald Eagle State Park to eat my lunch. The last leg of my trip was a run down Interstate 99. I wasn’t sure if I should but traffic was so light that I thought what the hell…. The Vespa managed well and only a few cars passed me. At one point I passed a State Trooper with a radar gun and I was at the head of the line. Luckily I was only going about 60 MPH but the posted speed was 55. Pulled into the driveway and the odometer said I went 85 miles. A nice Sunday morning ride.