Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650
If I were adept at mathematics I might create an equation that describes the phenomenon of attraction between these metal machines. Newton, or Einstein might be able to illuminate it. I merely marvel at the scene of suggesting Vespa riders gather.
Like a soft force in the Universe.
Continue ReadingLife over the past year was complicated by a pandemic, the relentless march of aging, and the seemingly endless tasks of daily life. My Vespa scooter helped ease the pain.
I’ve become more willing to accept that my life is in a continual, endless cycle of change. There was a time, decades in fact, that I struggled to keep things “under control,” the same, predictable, and unchanging. I was facing upstream in the rushing current of life until I finally raised the white flag of surrender and allowed the river to sweep me away.
And with that surrender came victory. A life in the flow. I’ll still find myself standing up to fight, but my Vespa scooter helps me accept the inevitable march of change. It blazes a path toward balance.
I used to judge riding by measures of quantity — how often I was on the road, how many miles I gathered, the number of experiences collected, how many photographs were made. I would tell myself riding was a way of life, a manner of living, with the goal of always traversing the landscape on two wheels. I won’t lie, it was a seductive fantasy. But one I had to surrender like all the others in my life.
Standing in a farm field on my way to breakfast surveying the sweep of landscape that sums up the place I live, the mountains, fields, and forests of central Pennsylvania, I’m struck my the fact that I arrived with no plan or expectation other than a friend asked me if I wanted to ride to breakfast.
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Long Road of GratitudeIt’s not lost on me how lucky I am in so many ways. Riding the Vespa scooter through the central Pennsylvania landscape provides a quiet space for relaxation and reflection. And in that space I’m aware that life is good. For most of it my health has been excellent. I have a supportive family and friends. A long career has given way to a comfortable retirement.
Just another day in paradise.
There have been times I’ve tried to convince myself that it’s all a result of my own planning and hard work. Without a doubt I have planned and worked hard. But the many things to be grateful for are fragile gifts and could easily have evaporated if not for some large measure of good fortune.
I’ve been thinking about this since learning of fellow scooter rider and blogger Orin O’Neill’s struggle with unfortunate economic circumstances and a need to relocate to a more affordable part of the country. He’s looking to the wider world for support through a GoFundMe campaign.Continue Reading
People You Meet on the RoadRiders are unique individuals. They may ride the same scooter or motorcycle, or dress according to a code or style, but when you look closely, they’re different in small ways, and big. Thinking about riders I’ve known, I’ve not met two who are the same.
Recently I had the opportunity to ride again with my friend Paul Ruby, and with fellow blogger and Vespa rider, David Masse, who had ridden his scooter from Toronto, Canada to have a closer look at the sticks of Pennsylvania.
There’s a special magic in the mountains and forests of central Pennsylvania that can cause even the most even tempered riders to succomb to a sudden onset of riding madness — that temporary giddiness that results from flying through the world on two wheels. And when it happens, it’s hard to tell where it will lead.
It’s not often that you meet a Canadian lying in the road.Continue Reading
Richard Machida (motoblogger and rider) and his wife Bridget put aside -18F temperatures in Alaska to make there way to the sticks to say hello. I have to apologize to Bridget for not paying closer attention to the inherent wide angle distortion when making this photograph and trying to get them and the tower at Penn State’s Old Main building in the photo.
We strolled across campus and talked about riding, motorcycles with sidecars, traveling and work as I tried to point out a few highlights on the University Park campus of Penn State.
Dinner time found us in front of Duffy’s Tavern in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. This is turning into a pilgrimage location for URAL riders — Richard on this night and not long ago Dom Chang, author of “A Redleg’s Rides“, had dinner with me here.
The conversation took turns and traveled through many topics including Richard suggesting more than once the addition of a side car rig to my riding choices. I politely declined adding I’ve given close friends orders to shoot me if they see me wearing a white belt with white shoes, or if they see me towing a side car.
I’m certain Dom Chang put him up to the side car suggestions.
Day turned into night and Richard and his wife had to get on the road. One last picture which brought, “No flash?”. With the Canon G15 with its fast 1.8 lens and ISO 6400 you can shoot in low light without a flash.
This is the third time our paths have crossed — once at the BMW rally in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, once in the Denver airport, and now here in Boalsburg.
It’s a small world.
Before leaving Bridget reminded Richard that he had a present for me — a fine jar of Alaskan Moosetard. Their website suggests a person goes wild with this stuff. I hope I don’t wake up with a headache and discover I bought a URAL.
Seriously though, I want to thank Richard and Bridget for taking time from their trip to the East from Alaska to drive up to see me. I’ve met a lot of fine people through blogging.
Have a safe trip back to Alaska and I hope the temperature rises above 0F for you!