The past month many days the roads were a mess. Even for four-wheeled vehicles. No fear here though for the Vespa is fine in the garage connected to a Battery Tender, slowly slurping juice from the Allegheny Power grid. I’m relaxed.

Content.

There were days when the roads were mostly free of slippery stuff. Certainly in the range of routine riding in previous winters. The scooter is on the Battery Tender though. The battery will be fine if I wait for a better day to ride. It’s still cold outside, well below freezing, and I do have a Battery Tender…

I realize now how much of my winter riding was, in part, motivated by a desire to keep the battery charged. By not wanting to winterize the Vespa. I never liked the idea of taking it out of commission for months at a time. Now a Battery Tender has come into my riding life. Like indoor plumbing and hot showers. Once you have them you can’t easily go back. You get soft. Complacent. You start having wussy thoughts — GPS, chrome accessories, and worse.

I left this morning at 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrr, cold. Water on the road, My Vespa might get dirty. It’s windy. Now it’s 50 degrees and I think I should go home. The sun is out but I believe 50 degrees is chilly. I need to stop somewhere and get warm. Get my head on straight. Damn Battery Tender. I’ve turned into a riding wimp.

It turned me into a riding wimp.

I just sat with a cup of tea and jotted down some notes so I would not forget my wimpdomization. Make sure I recorded what was happening to me in case I needed to call a cab home. Crazy.

And then, on the way home, it happened. I sensed a shift. Any concerns about cold, weather, water, it all evaporated. I was a rider again. Maybe it wasn’t the Battery Tender. Maybe it was the weather, the desert of riding experiences of late all piling up in my head like it was my fault. Good old brain is always plotting.

I rode into town tonight. Temperature dropping near freezing but I had a few errands to conduct. And I was set on riding. That’s the way it should be. It’s good to be on the road again.

And the Battery Tender isn’t plugged in, just in case.