I ride to work everyday. The direct route is 5.5 miles from garage to parking space. On days when I’m not in a hurry I take the 12 mile lollygagging meandering wanderer route—a morning meditation ride. The direct ride to work can be routine at times though there always seems to be something different to see, smell, or hear. I missed all that on the bus or in the car.
Once at work the scooter usually stays parked all day unless I have an errand to run at lunchtime. Any additional travel for work takes place in a four-wheeled vehicle of some sort. Dealing with the riding gear and such made me think twice about going to meetings on the scooter because I am usually in a hurry or someone else is coming along with me making the scooter an inappropriate choice. On Tuesday the opportunity to ride to more work presented itself because the fleet vehicle I normally would use was unavailable.
We had a video crew coming into town to work on a project that involved traveling to a variety of locations. The best was a 15 mile trip over Pine Grove Mountain to the Stone Valley Recreation Area. The Vespa managed the mountain at 45MPH going up and glided down the other side at 60MPH. The twisty road to the park was fun too and I basically could get there as fast as any of the crew.
At the end of the day everyone packed up to leave and I walked over to the Vespa to see two guys with V-Twin bikes giving it the once over. These guys were in their 60’s and in full leather biker attire, no helmet, big boots, and just out for a nice afternoon ride. We had the usual conversation that included shock that I needed a license to ride the Vespa on the road, shocked that I would drive it “this far”, amazed that it could go so fast, and enamored of its fuel economy. A bit more conversation revealed that one of them had ridden a Vespa years back in Vietnam and thought it was a hoot. They also confessed that their “other bikes” were Gold Wings. I think they could fit a Vespa into their lives. Black leather, a beret for the stop at a coffee shop—they have Vespa written all over them.
The ride home was different. Coming up the mountain I ran into traffic—some big logging trucks lumbering up the road at 20MPH, no place to pass, everyone waiting patiently for them to get to the top only to find them lumbering down at the same speed. So I didn’t feel so bad anymore waving cages around me when I could only go 45MPH. After getting down the other side there was more waiting for the road resurfacing crew but all in all it was a great ride and a great day.
I shot a picture of the scooter on the way home to show the smoke from the forest fire nearby. It took firefighters two days to get on top of it and the town I live it had a weird yellow glow at times when the wind brought the smoke our way.
I’ve been able to do at least 4 out of every 5 work commutes on my Yamaha Vino 125 every week. 6 miles each way but I drive a safer (hopefully) 7 miler instead. The only days I don’t ride is if it rains, the winds blow over 25 mph, or I need to be in the next town over right after work and need to take the freeway. I could actually do it, by going 6 miles west, 4 miles south, and 4 miles east to skip the freeway portion of the trip. Hey, that doesn’t sound all bad does it!
And I think it is soooooo wonderful that you are going to get your MFA. I wish I had stuck it out 30 years ago and got mine then (crap has it been that long ago all ready??)
Susan
BFA – Studio and Graphic Arts
University of Colorado Boulder
The fire on the mountain made me sad. 🙁 I took a picture of it too.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrw115/139395302/
hey steve i saw you heading west on whitehall this morning :). not towards work! i’m a big scooter fan for many years but still don’t own one.
My wife and I both want to get scooters but haven’t made the leap for safety reasons. Your blog is helping steer us towards the showroom!
thanks!!!
Steve: The kids pointed you out the other day on Atherton Street. We’ve been looking at scooters and found your blog. That yellow jacket really stands out!
Rick
Hey Steve,
I have to agree…
Riding FOR work is even better than riding TO work. I have a multi-plant audit trip planned for two weeks from now, and I will be riding my trusty Frogwing through Northern Minnesota, North, and South Dakota.
Last time I did this trip, we racked up 784 miles. Frogwing averages 50 mpg, and mileage allowance for using your personal vehicle is up to about 49 cents per mile. When you do the math, it sounds like a pretty good deal all around, no?
Motorbikes are so cool.
Ride well,
=gc=
Speaking of riding to work and firefighters, the comments remind me of 4 summers ago. There were some raging wildfires in Central Oregon. Smoke was visible for a long ways. I was scheduled to go over and teach a class. Katie and I left a few days early on the bike to make it kind of a working vacation.
We’re running around Bend on the bike and wearing our Aerostich Hi-Viz Roadcrafter jackets. As we’d go into places with our helmets and jackets people would ask us if we were over fighting the fires. I guess our jackets did kind of look like a fireman’s turn-out jacket.
I felt weird after a while like I was impersonating a firefighter. I’d have to tell folks that, no, nothing so noble. We were just over to teach a motorcycle safety class. Never saw so many disappointed looks before.
It was the classic thing from law enforcement days. Everybody loves the firefighters!
Gary,
784 miles? And you’re going to do this over how many days? Just a friendly jab from a long distance rider! 🙂
Wow, lots of new people commenting!
kitkatknit: sounds like you have already convinced yourself to ride to the next town. Seems like a good ride. Never too late for that MFA! I waited a long time…
kirsten: looks like you and others have found this blog somehow and seeing the author riding around. You should go to Kissel’s and check out a scooter!
Rick: Your kids would love to have a scooter in the family!
Gary: Do enough riding for work and you will be able to buy another bike. I really feel lucky that I can ride everyday. I keep thinking the novelty will wear off but so far I’m still a kid on Christmas morning!
irondad:
I’ve been looking at the Hi-Viz. Is it yellow or something more “electric”? I love yellow jackets… 784 miles is pretty hefty from my point of view. A guy I work with just did the IronButt thing. I sat for a bit thinking aobut how I could do it on the Vespa. 50 MPH for 20 straight hours would do it…. right. If I was out west on flat roads maybe there would be a chance. Right now three hours on the scooter has my butt cramping up!
The Hi-Viz is mostly yellow. There is a slight “glow” to it. The folks who make it say that it’s a color not normally found in nature. Interesting!
Dan
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