Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650

Winter Riding and Camping in the Arctic

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Any winter riding I’ve done pales in comparison to British rider Ed March.  He’s ridden his C90 Honda all over the world, by himself, without backup.  That’s adventure.  The video is definitely worth watching.

You have to consider March’s riding extreme by any measure.  The fact that he rides a small machine earns him some dismissive reactions from those that think adventure is the realm of bigger bikes.  I suspect it led to his production of “Hitler Finds Out Ed March is Riding to the Arctic Circle”, one of dozens of parodies of all types built around clips from the film “Downfall“, a chilling portrait of the last days of Adolf Hitler played masterfully by Bruno Ganz.  Be warned if you are a big adventure bike rider, especially of the BMW variety, you are in for some not so subtle ribbing.  The description of BMW’s wiring and electronics crack me up.

Again, worth a look.

A Ride on Father’s Day

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Vespa scooter at the Jo Hays Overlook of the Nittany Valley in central Pennsylvania

Last weekend I took a ride to deliver a Father’s Day card, an excuse to ride 125 miles on a fine Sunday morning, leaving behind Happy Valley as my friend Paul and I took a wandering route to Altoona, Pennsylvania. It’s not often the air is this clear or the view this good from Jo Hays Overlook.Continue Reading

Learning to Ride, Choosing to Eat — The Unionville Cafe

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My youngest daughter recently acquired her motorcycle license and the rights and privileges attendant to it — like having to invest in the global petrochemical cartel. Her Yamaha Vino sips fuel but the tank eventually wants more.

On the bright side, Aleta is experiencing the freedom a scooter can offer.  And the food.

Aleta joined Paul Ruby and I on a Saturday morning ritual — riding and eating.  Part of the lesson is becoming comfortable on the road whether by yourself, with a big motorcycle, or with other riders.  In this case Paul and I were probably the biggest challenge for her.

For a beginning rider one can’t ask for more than what’s available here.  Light traffic, reasonable road surfaces, and plenty of twists and turns to practice what you learn in and MSF course.

I suspect Aleta will attain character status on Scooter in the Sticks if she continues to ride.  I’ll have to think about a name.  Flash doesn’t seem quite right.  Neither does Twisty.  I suppose Aleta will suffice for now.

Upon arrival in Unionville, Pennsylvania — a 20 mile jaunt from home; just enough time to feel like you had a ride, eat, and get home to take on a day of chores.  Pretty good deal in my mind.

Paul and I have eaten breakfast here a few times but it was the first for Aleta.  Once she gets the hang of things I expect she’ll be choosing the routes and eateries.  There are a lot of vegetarian cookbooks in her house.

Fearful about the future of my bacon and eggs lifestyle…

Adventures on a BMW K75 Motorcycle

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Young couple and their BMW K75 motorcycle

Meet Natalie and Gary.  Two students on their way back to Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  — just 90 miles to the west.  They were on the last leg of a one week adventure that took them from Indiana to Niagra Falls, across New England to Acadia National Park in Maine and back home.  Over 1500 miles of two-up riding, camping and constructing memories.  I couldn’t help but think they were experiencing something that would gently haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Our paths crossed at the motorcycle parking spaces across from Schlow Library in State College, Pennsylvania as they secured their gear and made sure everything was ready for departure.  Normally I wouldn’t say anything to strangers, riders or otherwise, but in this case, as I watched them while I was locking up the Vespa, their adventure mystic moved me to say hello and ask a few questions.

“After such a long trip are you ready for your own motorcycle?” I asked Natalie.  Gary said he’s suggested that very thing but Natalie expressed her contentment as the pillion passenger.  As they checked straps and cords it was obvious they had developed a working routine forged through miles and miles on the road together.  And they were both still smiling.

The journey was made more impressive by their choice to sleep on the ground.  Camping sounds romantic but my body’s incessant reminders of how hard the earth can be and the lack of hot showers would soon wear me out.

Still, I couldn’t help admire their pluck at undertaking such a trip.

A final inquiry about the motorcycle and it’s performance — a 1987 BMW K75 performing flawlessly — and they were ready to roll after I made a quick portrait and offered them my email address should they want to share a picture or two of their trip.
Young couple riding on a BMW K75 motorcycleAnd off they went.

I can only assume they arrived home safe and their motorcycle adventure is shifting to memory.  How many travelers do this same thing, traverse the world on two wheels, one behind the other, living, experiencing, squeezing the marrow from their time on the earth?

Here are two.

Ride safe…

Searching for the Christmas Spirit

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A week ago I borrowed a motorcycle from the selection of pre-owned machines of Kissell Motorsports –a 2005 BMW F650 GS. I’ll often find myself looking at their web site listings or trolling eBay for the quintessential deal. For a lot of riders a used motorcycle is the best route into the world of riding.  And during those rides I found myself thinking about Christmas.

Junior and I walked in the park this morning to the tolling of bells from a nearby church, announcing Christmas Day. Blue sky, bright sun and the temperature pushing forty degrees doesn’t feel like Christmas.

I’ve been thinking about Christmas all week, trying to bring to life those feelings I had as a kid when Santa Claus was real. Memories of candle light services on Christmas Eve singing Silent Night, the anticipation of presents under a tree seem to fade away a bit more every year. Charles Dickens wrote that Christmas can, “…win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home.”. Maybe that’s what I was looking for.

Roaming the countryside on a motorcycle often fuels a flood of thinking. I found my thoughts leaning towards the past, to things that would not come again. Each stop along the road seemed to trigger a memory of Christmas time. Each memory bringing another, and another.

Looking at motorcycles (when you tend to obsess about them) isn’t a lot different than coveting a BB gun or some other must have item of childhood.  The evening I picked up the BMW was like that — the proverbial kid in the candy store — so many things to desire.

A festive red Ducati should feel like Christmas shouldn’t it?

Or certainly a pink Vespa would conjure some sort of magic if only given a chance.  But maybe what the Grinch said is true: “Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.”

The pink Vespa will have to wait for another day along with the Triumph Tiger 800 XC and the flat screen TV I was thinking about.

The BMW F650 GS in its 2005 incarnation is a marvelously nimble motorcycle on the gravel roads that crisscross the central Pennsylvania forests. Aggressive knobby tires provide a surefooted ride at speeds I don’t normally attempt in these environs. The bike is completely comfortable from the start.

I felt like Charlie Brown. Christmas time is coming and I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel. Or at least that was what I was thinking. Riding through beautiful landscapes I can’t quite appreciate because I’m searching for the Christmas spirit. The little red-haired girl is waiting at home for me, my black dog too, and here I was along a creek, watching the cold, clear water sweep by and nothing. I’m blessed but don’t quite appreciate it.

The F650 GS leads me to the Pump Station Cafe in Boalsburg where I can appreciate a cup of tea and a scone, and the blessings of the motorcycle’s heated grips when I take out my journal to write.  BMW has great heated grips.  They feel hot even through thick winter riding gloves.

I suppose there is no connection between riding and Christmas save for the incidental juxtaposition of machine and iconography.  But I did find that missing Christmas spirit.
Last night family and friends gathered on Christmas Eve, for fellowship and food, to spend time together and acknowledge what’s special this time of year.  Maybe it just becomes more difficult to see past all the wrappings and tinsel to the meaning of Christmas, a time of transformation and forgiveness where, for a time, the world is a more gentle place.
Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for the holidays.