Scooter in the Sticks

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

Rider Indifference

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While I can’t recommend it, an Emergency Room visit does break up the monotony of daily life. No heart attack this time, instead a foot injured by an overly exuberant dog. As my father always said, “It’s hell to get old.”

Shaking Rider Indifference

*NOTE* This post has been pressured by rider and hair stylist Billy Blades. I avoid him. He’ll tell me my hairstyle is something out of the 1980s. He rides a Goldwing. Can I really trust him? 😃 *NOTE*

One morning my dog Lily knocked me down some steps in the garden while we were playing with the tennis ball. It hurt but I thought I would walk it off. By dinner time I told my wife I was going to the Emergency Room. X-Rays showed no breaks. The doctor said “severe contusion” and sent me home.

Aside from that sort of diversion, my days begin and end with a sameness that is hard to understand. This must be what prison is like, an interminable counting of days where one day is the same as the next. It’s easy to understand how life could descend into a comfortable indifference fueled by streaming video, music, and books. Despite blue skies and sunshine the world feels empty and alone.

I’ve struggled to find balance between the reality of my day-to-day life and the mental construction of it. The gulf between the two is great. And rather than work toward some construction of a bridge, I’ve fallen into inactivity and indifference. As if I’ve been condemned to live on an island with no prospects or resources. This must be why I’ve been stricken with rider indifference.

Of course this is utter bullshit. A result I can only point to because of the hypervigiliance caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are reasonable actions to take. But there is also the false apocalypse built from too much time and too little activity — physical, mental, or spiritual.

So I think it’s time to make an inventory of reality and imagination in hopes that I’ll emerge from the endeavor moving into life again.

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Relishing Slowness

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Reflection of Steve Williams in car window
The camera asks me to slow down, look, watch and experience the world.

Long, Slow Look in the Mirror

How do I square a motorcycle with 74 horsepower and a top speed of 124 mph with slowness? Or even my 21 horsepower Vespa scooter. The truth is, slowness has little to do with the machine and a lot to do with the rider. It’s a matter of temperament and self-discipline.

More and more I realize I relish slowness — while riding, driving, eating, walking and pretty much every aspect of life. The holiday cold virus I endured did a good job of slowing me down. During the time I was in bed, reading, writing or just thinking, I was thinking about slowing down. A natural progression in life as I enter old age.

In a world seeming obsessed with remaining forever young, my thoughts were moving in a different direction.

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Modest Riding

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Vespa GTS scooter on a snowy dayOn the Road — Often and Always

When I started riding, it was all about the exhilaration of flight over the road. The pure physical stimulation of piloting the scooter was intoxicating to the point that nothing much else matter. Over time, riding infected thought and deed. My brain was always scheming and looking for an excuse to ride. Didn’t matter if it was hot outside or if there was snow on the ground. The Vespa scooter and I found our way into the world. In that obsession an appreciation of modest riding developed.Continue Reading

On the Road Again

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Reflection of Vespa GTS scooter in a glass doorReflections on Life

Sometimes I lie.

Last time I posted I mentioned snow was for Vespa riding and not for transporting post-surgical patients home. Turns out only half that statement is true. Riding the Vespa in the snow part — not so much. During the past two weeks there has been plenty of opportunities to demonstrate the validity of my claim. But the Vespa has remained in the garage next to the snow blower on each of the wonderfully snowy days.

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Embracing Life as a Vespa Rider

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Embracing life with a Vespa scooter in the driveway, ready to ride.Ready to Ride

There’s nothing magical about a Vespa scooter sitting in the driveway.  It could easily be another scooter or a motorcycle.  The magic comes with riding. And over the years I’ve discovered that the quality of the ride has more to do with what’s going on between my ears than it does with the route or landscape through which I ride.

The act of riding itself pays dividends. I find myself embracing life as a Vespa rider.

One would think that now that I’m retired I would be chalking up hundreds and thousands of miles on the scooter — filling my time with riding.  This hasn’t been the case.  That time has been filled not only with riding the Vespa scooter, but with myriad other explorations and tasks.  The absence of work has beckoned to be filled with something else.  What that is has yet to be determined.

Morning is my favorite time to ride.  There’s an energizing quality to the light and air, regardless of weather, that sparks the spirit in a positive way.  Dark thoughts or anxieties are often swept away as the tires spin over the pavement.

On this morning I was heading nowhere.  The goal, the desire was to fly through for a little while and see what was happening in the world.  As the Vespa stood in the driveway in the morning sun I could feel that familiar excitement that comes as I near the scooter.  I still can’t believe how I feel after all these years and so many miles.Continue Reading