Scooter in the Sticks

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

A Scooter Video on a Cold Morning Ride

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Writing about riding a scooter or motorcycle in the winter is one thing. Showing it in video gives a more visceral experience. On this particular morning I planned to ride despite sub-zero temperatures. On a sunny day, despite the cold, it’s not so bad.  Have a look at this scooter video and imagine what a decision to ride the Vespa in the winter might look like…

Riding in cold weather isn’t for everyone and should be approached cautiously. When asked I always tell people don’t do it, especially if you’re impatient or if you don’t think you can radically change your riding style.

Often it’s best to just stay at home.

Vespa GTS scooter on a snowy winter ride

Generally speaking — I advise against riding in the snow.  It requires so many changes in behavior, technique and mindset that most riders I’ve met just aren’t willing to make.

Make Mistakes

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contemplating a handIf I’ve learned anything in life it’s that I make mistakes.  Albert Einstein counseled people to make them as part of a method which makes life richer, deeper, and opens doors otherwise invisible.  I was pondering this idea while trying to ease my frustration at line of little mistakes and misjudgments that are maddening.  Ordering the wrong parts, staying up half the night instead of sleeping, neglecting new ATM cards until the bank decides to cancel everything.

My own magical thinking leads me to believe that things will just work out.

Dog in a fairy ringJunior is oblivious to the fairy ring he’s laying in.  I asked him to pose for this picture, a momentary break from our repetitive exercise of hurling and retrieving tennis balls.  Come spring there fairy rings, elf rings to some, will burst forth as a line of mushrooms.  The biology is more complicated than I want to go into.  Being able to see them is a gift of my wife  Kim and her naturalist ways slowly rubbing off on me.

Junior reminds me of mistakes, especially in timing related to inadequate sleep.  The less sleep I have the less time there is for the two of us to run wild.

Dog displaying lazy behavior

Junior reflects my own laziness and sloth of late.  And I’m sure it’s fueled some of the mistakes I’ve been making, especially in regard to installing the heated grips on the Vespa.  It’s still in the garage in pieces and at the rate I’m going it will fall in line between printing my daughter’s prom pictures and finishing the darkroom sink.

I’ve been waiting for over a week for some Posi-Tap connectors only to discover I ordered the wrong size.  With my patience exhausted I just grabbed the quick splice connectors I had on hand and started the electrical work.  It wouldn’t be as “perfect” as I imagined but would likely work just fine.

KOSO heated grips controllerSuccess.  Switched power to the grips and all the lights are on.  So the power is wired correctly.  Was working a bit on the grips.  Have to do a bit more sanding before I can push them onto the bars.  Ran out of energy, heard the whisper of the easy chair.

One step at a time I’lll get the project finished and i’ll probably continue to make mistakes…

Triggering Curiosity

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Usually a ride on the Vespa cures any ill, the acceleration into flight strips away concerns and distractions and transforms darkness into light — at least with the normal noise and chaos of living. Riding can trigger curiosity and change my whole outlook on life.  Saturday morning found me on the road, dodging the raindrops, pushing the scooter onto he little narrow paths that crisscross the area, focusing on the challenges of dirt and gravel, mud and water.

Whenever my mind’s not right I slip off onto less traveled roads to explore and let my mind wander in new directions.  Rain threatened all morning as I passed across the valley towards a series of chores.  The drama of the landscape never fails to excite, even on these little rides.

Vespa scooter moving in darkness to light in an idyllic landscape near Penn State University
Mount Nittany looms in the middle of Happy Valley, a familiar icon for the Penn State faithful.  As a young geology student I learning it was an inverted, truncated geosyncline.  Or something like that.   It’s been 42 years since hearing those words so I could have mixed them up a bit.

Vespa scooter on small gravel lane

Everything is so lush right now with the consistent rain we’ve had this summer.  Little pathways wind through tunnels of foliage and provide endless opportunities to explore without needing to travel very far.  The only complaint I have is it only takes a few moments for the Black Flies to find you.  Those beasts get into your helmet and can drive you a little nuts.

Vespa scooter in a tunnel

A last stop in a wet, dank tunnel beneath Interstate 99 before surrendering to the necessities of the day.  Looking at this picture I’m reminded again at how little riding I actually get done because I’m in a constant search for things to look at which for me means stopping.  Some riders make 5o miles in an hour.  More often than not I’ll only accomplish 10.  Or less.  Someone once referred to me as a dawdler though I thought it more accurate to be identified as a curious toddler.

No wonder a motorcycle doesn’t make much sense.

The Only Journey is the One Within

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“The only journey is the one within.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

And so a new day begins, a short journey from home to work save for the meandering divergence from the precise, economical, predictable route.  Birds chuckle and the faint scent of grass lingers in the air; a few wandering steps following the camera’s eye.  Meetings today, one, two, three I think.  And then the thought is gone, wiped away by the sharp, crackling of boot on gravel.

And the journey continues, short, small, significant in mind and memory.

The world when observed with a Vespa…

Rain

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This morning I decided to ride in the rain to Saint’s Cafe in State College, Pennsylvania.  Watching the Weather.com radar map on my iPhone I postulated that I could make it into town before the orange and red blobs arrived.

I was wrong.

By the time I was on the road the rain started falling faster.  By the traffic light at the end of the street my gloves were soaked and water was pouring through my vented riding pants.

A half mile farther and I could see rivers of water pouring down the right side of the road with occasional tributaries crossing my path.  Another mile and the rain begins to slow slightly as I pull off the road to make this photograph.  The stream snaking through the pasture isn’t a stream.  It’ one of those ephemeral waterways only coming to life during particularly hard, fast, heavy downpours.

Probably not the best day to ride.

An hour later the sky was blue and the sun was shining.  I was mostly dry save for my gloves and I was thinking I really need to get a rainsuit for riding.  The foul weather sailing gear I use just isn’t designed to deal with a helmet.

It was a great ride though rain and all…