Scooter in the Sticks

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

VIDEO: Ordinary Rides

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Not 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.

Just some of the thoughts and feelings that occur while riding.

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.

The Terror of Change

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Vespa GTS scooter along a rural road
Riding has a way of generating thoughts and surfacing ideas that would otherwise remain hidden to me.

Change

Riding provides a landscape on which I can let my mind wander across thoughts and ideas the are either bothering me, or just spring to life as the scooter and I are running down the road. One of those ideas that has been bouncing around in my head — the ability to change.

It’s strange how often things occur to me while I’m standing alongside a road, alone, and relaxed.

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Why I Ride a Vespa Scooter

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Forest road
Quiet forest roads are one explanation of why I ride a Vespa scooter.

Exploration, Meditation, and Contemplation

Anyone who has spent much time reading my posts is aware that they touch on the mental and emotional experience of riding. I don’t often spend much time on the machine itself or the reasons why I ride a Vespa scooter.

A simple question. One that I can only answer for myself. And as I’ve shared before, what might make sense for me could have poor results for you. So with that caveat I’ll share my answer to “Why ride a Vespa scooter?”

The photograph of the gravel forest road I traveled recently hints as a reason. Depending on your goals and temperament, this same stretch of road can call on completely different machines. Some may see it as an opportunity to bomb forward as fast as possible, feeling the machine through turns and over bumps, and managing feelings of control over the environment. A perfectly fine approach if speed and control are your goals.

For me, this road presents an opportunity to slow down, explore, and release as much of the tension and noise from my body and mind as possible.

My scooter is perfectly matched for these intentions. Easy to ride, simple in operation, and as silent and invisible as I can get with something powered by an internal combustion engine.

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VIDEO: Moments of Wonder

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Riding has sharpened my ability to see and appreciate the world around me.

Appreciating What’s Right in Front of Me.

On foot with a camera, or just riding my Vespa scooter, my perception of the world around me grows. I see more. Appreciate more. And in the end, find contentment in even the most stressful situations.

I place few requirements on myself during these jaunts and journeys. Slowly traveling, loose plans, and a minimum of tools and technology.

Vespa GTS scooter parked along a rural road.
My Vespa GTS scooter as part of a painter’s landscape.

What happens when you ride?

Can you be content on short rides through familiar landscapes or do you require travel to distant places? I suppose what works for one may be a bore for another.

For me, I try to have few expectations of my rides and even fewer for the experience.

Riding in the New Normal World

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Motorcycle and Vespa parked along a rural road.
My friend Paul and I riding in the new normal world.

Social Distancing with Motorcycles and Scooters


Every day I wake to what appears to be another regular, familiar, normal day. This morning the sun was shining in a dazzling clear blue sky. A runner passes in front of the house followed by a bicycle rider and then a man walking a dog. There are clues that something is different but unless I’m looking for them, nothing would hint to me that I’m living in a different world. A world that suggests I act a little differently too.

That brings me to riding. Two days after Pennsylvania’s “Stay at Home” order ended my friend Paul and I decided we would take a little ride together. That’s normal. But we did make a few changes. Like when stopping for photos we now park a little farther away from each other.

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