Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650
The 10th video I’ve produced for Scooter in the Sticks.
I’ve decided to continue experimenting with this media. And of course, continue to post photographs and text from riding experiences.
For this entry, I was interested in how short I could construct something that still had meaning.
The Vespa haiku text:
My silver machine
Morning fog softly whispers
I continue on
Mornings are the quiet landscape on which my mind wanders the concerns of the day. Looking into the tops of our 70-foot tall fir trees I can see more dying from a blight that slowly kills off the needles leaving stands of naked trees that must be removed. In the past two years, I’ve spent enough removing trees to buy two brand new Vespa GTS scooter. The next two years promise the same.
Sitting in the garden while the dogs play, before departing for a ride on the Vespa, I’m feeling the grip of the heat on body and spirit. That grip is more restrictive than the pandemic which is quite simple to manage in comparison through social distancing, wearing a mask, avoiding crowds, and washing my hands. But heat is different. It drains me physically which in turn drains my psychological energy which leads to doing nothing.
I’ve relied on Vespa riding to infuse me with energy. But I confess a growing reluctance to venture out when the forecast promises temperatures approaching 90F and beyond.
Still, the Vespa in the morning light is enough to get me moving. I’ve made this same picture dozens of times, a visual notation of the beginning of another adventure.
Continue Reading
Over and over I’m reminded of the effect riding a scooter or motorcycle has had in my life. They have a peculiar power to make it possible to shed dread and angst.
I don’t try to understand. I accept it as true.
This Vespa video is a feeble attempt to capture the experience.
A postcard scene; replete with a bright blue sky painted with billowing white clouds and a sweeping view across a rural landscape whispers to me that I should be riding my BMW K75 motorcycle. For many riders, this is an ideal day for riding. For me, the environment which finds my interest and time for riding a scooter or motorcycle plummeting. My interest in riding is inversely proportional to the temperature. Once the thermometer hits 80F my mind seems to erase the knowledge that there are two-wheeled machines in the garage. Add to that my belief (mistaken) that there is nothing more boring than the light of a sunny day and is it any wonder that from June to September I don’t ride much?
I remember a miserable ride home from the 2011 BMW International Rally in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania when the temperature was well over 100F. The link will give you an idea of the heat encountered that day.
You know, it’s much easier to stay warm while riding than it is to cool off.
Even so, the mental and emotional buildup of life eventually whispers in some deep recess in my mind, “You need to go for a ride.”
So I thought I would share a few thoughts on riding my BMW K75 motorcycle.
Continue ReadingNot everyone has the interest or opportunity to ride across a continent. Or any number of other adventures possible on a scooter or motorcycle for that matter. Time, expense, circumstance, or lack of interest can effectively remove such rides from the realm of the possible. Despite such limitations, you can have a great time on ordinary rides.
I’ve found that the experiences I once considered essential items on an ever lengthening bucket list were, for me, just a distorted version of consuming and buying in the belief that happiness and fulfillment lay that way.
A recent ride through familiar places reminded me of how little is necessary for me to have an adventure.
This is my eighth VLOG posting of the ten I planned to do before evaluating if there is any reason to continue. They remain interesting puzzles to solve but I fear my lack of verbal tendencies may make them difficult to continue to produce.
Despite those concerns, I continue to experiment and explore what might be possible.