Scooter in the Sticks

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

Morning Meditations

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dog in garden
Dogs enforce habits and rituals for their owners.

You Shall Not Pass

Morning meditations have become a daily ritual. One that didn’t come easy.

I’ve learned life is easier when I begin the day slowly.  It’s not a simple task because my mind is most active in the morning and I can be swept into action before I really have an idea of what I should be doing.  Or worse, jump on the merry-go-round of obsessive thinking, often on a subject I’ve given far too much attention.  Fortunately,  I have dogs who stand ready to stop me as they demand their fair share of the American dream.

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Gripped by Sadness

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A lone tree in an open field with a mountain ridge in the background.
Does this picture represent hope and possibility? Or the terrible feeling of isolation and hopelessness that can leave me gripped with sadness.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Buddhist Proverb

Being gripped by sadness is an awful state, but one that fades with riding and writing.

There exists two possible options when I write a blog post. The first and most simple is when I write about the experience and feelings during the actual ride pictured. And the second is when I write about other feelings triggered while looking at the pictures.

My friend Paul and I were headed to Kissell Motorsports for my Vespa’s annual Pennsylvania safety inspection.

It’s funny how different a photograph can look between the moment I made it and when I am writing about it. The sun is shining, birds are singing, there is food at hand, and money in my pocket. In terms of what’s required to survive in this world I want for nothing.

Yet I’m gripped by sadness.

The sweep of an open landscape can generate a sense of hope and possibility. Often, perhaps always, when I stop to make these kinds of photographs I feel a thrill. And I did on that morning. But looking at them now, influenced by the rattling chaos of life, I see none of that.

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Finding Balance with my Vespa Scooter

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Life 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.

A view of a rural central Pennsylvania valley
I’m blessed to live in the hills, mountains, fields and forests of central Pennsylvania.

Surrendering the Fantasy

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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Scooter Minimalism

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Vespa GTS scooter in a farm landscape
Gazing at life.

Simple Riding Experience

It’s difficult to not be swept up in the idea of simplicity when riding a Vespa scooter.  Or think life will magically improve if it wasn’t so complicated.  When I’m riding, my cares and concerns seem to magically evaporate in the wind.  But however sturdy that illusion, I know it’s not true. The cares and concerns are there waiting when I return.  And the man I was when I departed returns as well.

Still, there may be something to that dream of simplicity, a sort of scooter minimalism.

Civilians don’t understand. Once they complete their admonishments of catastrophe and death when referring to scooters and motorcycles, I sometimes wonder if they’re envious on some level, harboring a secret yearning for the simplicity that they think two wheels represents.  Regardless of how insane or dangerous they might think riding is, they sense what seems to them like a life without care or concern.

As I stared down the valley, past my Vespa, it’s easy to embrace that dream.

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Motorcycle Enlightenment

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BMW K75 along a rural road.
Riding a motorcycle is, for me, a fundamentally different experience from riding a Vespa scooter.

Riding is a practice.

And with enough practice, I’ll run across motorcycle enlightenment. The motorcycle doesn’t see much use during the cold months. With little protection from the elements and the relative ease of using the Vespa, I have to re-acclimate myself to the heavier, bulkier, less maneuverable machine.

I confess riding the BMW K75 brings its own, unique excitement. Different than the scooter, but rewarding in a way that the Vespa can’t match. Power, speed, and the physical mechanics of operating it creates a physical experience that’s more visceral.

I left the house to exercise the motorcycle, churn the oil and further ease myself into the comfort zone with this larger machine. Everything operated as expected but I have concerns regarding this 29 year old K75. Regardless of how flawlessly it operates there’s a part of my brain unwilling to accept it’s fine.

I had experienced the beginnings of motorcycle enlightenment.

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