Scooter in the Sticks

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

Anatomy of a Vespa Rider

by 24 Comments

Illustration of Andy Heckathorne
Heckadude Morning Coffee. By Andy Heckathorne.

Thoughts and Musings with Andy Heckathorne

Andy Heckathorne’s recent winter riding photographs on Instagram sparked the idea of interviewing him. Those images, along with the portrait with the coffee mug above visually encapsulate his easy and thoughtful manner. This is my first interview in 15 years of posting on Scooter in the Sticks. When I saw those scenes of his Vespa GTS300 scooter on those snow-covered roads I just had to know a little more about what made him tick.

Andy is an art director at Penn State, where he and a team of designers manage the branding and advertising needs for more than 50 revenue-generating auxiliary and business units. These include Housing and Food Services, The Nittany Lion Inn, and the Bryce Jordan Center.

After hours, Andy also runs his own illustration and design business. His artwork’s been featured on everything from albums, billboards, and beer trucks, to sports uniforms and on the American Eagle Building in Times Square.

Andy lives with his wife and three teenaged sons in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, a lovely Victorian town about 12 miles from Penn State. His favorite outdoor activities include hiking, kayaking, playing softball, exercising the family dog, and of course, riding his Vespa scooter.

Continue Reading

Portrait of a Portrait

by 23 Comments

Andy Heckathorne holding up print of a portrait of Steve Williams
From one scooterist to another.

Andy Heckathorne, husband, father, artist, scooter rider.

My friend, artist and fellow Vespa scooter rider, Andy Heckathorne, surprised me with a portrait of me with my scooter. Aside from a stick figure I got for $10 from a scam artist at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, this is the first non-photographic representation of me I’ve ever seen.

It feels exactly right.

From the camera around my neck, the cross-armed pose, the details of the scooter, to the snowy landscape of the forest, it’s a perfect portrayal of the relationship I have with riding a Vespa. Andy even got the graying hair right.

Continue Reading

Scooter Porn and Other Tales

by 16 Comments

Vespa scooter porn picture at sunrise
Scooter porn or documentary evidence of a cold morning ride. Perhaps both.

Scooter Porn at Sunrise

A strong beam of sunlight sweeps across the landscape. The Vespa is paused along the road, engine running, heated grips growing warmer in the sub-freezing chill. Frost crunches underfoot as I walk across a pasture searching for the right composition for another portrait of my Vespa GTS scooter. Pulling off leather gloves to use the camera puts bare flesh to the cold metal body of my Canon G15 camera. Hands chill quickly until the composition and exposure are right and I make a photograph that feels like that morning on the road.

Scooter porn. I’ve become what my mother pleaded with me not to do when I told her when I dropped out of college that I was going to be a photographer — someone who shoots porn. And now it seems I’ve become a producer and purveyor of scooter porn.

I’d decided the previous evening that I was going for a ride in the morning because the weather forecast promised a high of 40 degrees. A fine day for a winter ride. But just a few miles from home I was already wondering when the bright sunshine would drive away the sub-freezing air.

Continue Reading

Ramblings of a Riding Eccentric

by 16 Comments

Vespa GTS scooter on rural road under a dramatic sky
A fine way to start a day — on a Vespa scooter under a dramatic sky.

Behold the Morning

There’s something thrilling to be on the road with the Vespa on a cold, crisp morning under a dramatic sky. Scanning the horizon the world seems strange, different than the one I normally inhabit. My old hearten quickens and I feel a crackle of energy through my body. For a moment I feel on fire, right there, right now. And that feeling follows me throughout the day.

Sitting here now, looking at this photograph of my Vespa GTS scooter, the memories of that morning feel melodramatic. Almost like a dream. And if it were not for the fact that I’ve experienced that same feeling dozens and dozens of times I might dismiss it as the odd ramblings of a riding eccentric.

Perhaps that’s what I am.

Continue Reading

Ghosts, Passion and Podcasts

by 26 Comments

Chasing Ghosts logo
The best podcast on the internet that combines scooter riding, ghosts and bars!

I knew nothing of passion growing up. It was a word, and if I thought about it at all, that was associated with romance and sex. In my working-class upbringing I didn’t meet people who passionately pursued dreams or vocations. Just men and women who woke up, went to work, came home and then did the same thing the next day. At least that was the limit of my thinking about passion.

A recent interview by the guys who produce the Chasing Ghosts. On Scooters. In Bars. got me thinking about passion. First as I asked myself why these guys dedicate so much time and energy to producing a podcast. But then asking myself the same questions as I thought about how much life I’ve been pouring into Scooter in the Sticks.

If you’ve never listened to podcasts, I can’t describe how lovely a gift they can be to anyone who’s curious about ideas, people, places or information on just about any topic you might imagine. Like Chasing Ghosts. On Scooters. In Bars.

I got a message a few weeks ago from podcast host, Mark Helgen, asking if I would be willing to do an interview to talk about my blog, winter riding and any sort of experiences I might have had with spirits and the paranormal. Always excited to talk about riding, and curious about the rest, I agreed. You can listen to my ramblings along with other scooter stories and experiences in Episode 32 “Spring Scoot (er) in the Sticks”. My bit comes up during the last 15 minutes of the program. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple as well as other platforms.

Back to passion. My understanding of passion grew slowly. For a great part of my life it focused on the committment people made to their jobs, to that immense investment of time made to earn money to pay bills. No other understanding of passion existed. The absurdist philosopher Albert Camus once said, “The real passion of the twentieth century is servitude.” That’s it. It’s what I understood.

So here are these guys investing time and energy in a podcast which, as far as I know, doesn’t earn them any money. I have a good idea of how much planning, coordination, production and post-production is involved in making a podcast of the quality of Chasing Ghosts. On Scooters. In Bars. I have a brand new microphone on my desk that I purchased expressly with the idea of producing a podcast. Or narrating videos. And it took only a little research to realize there was no way I was willing to dedicate myself to such a daunting task.

Passion. It can be the only explanation for the existence of the Chasing Ghosts podcast. I wish I would have asked them a few questions. The interview not only gave me a chance to talk about riding and some of my ghostly experiences, but afterwards, it had me thinking about my own passionate embrace of blogging about my own scooter experiences. For after over 1200 posts, a half-million words, and thousands and thousands of original photographs, how else can I explain such an investment in time and energy that doesn’t yield a cent other than passion, that strong emotional state that sustains an almost boundless enthusiasm for work after 15 years.

Yeah. Passion.

Anyways, check out the podcast. Cool to listen to other riders who have their own, unique passion for life on two wheels, ghosts, bars and a fellowship that’s crystal clear in their broadcasts. They do a great job giving voice to their experiences. I really appreciate the opportunity they afforded me to share a little of my passion.

Can’t say more. The temperature is rising toward 34F and the BMW K75 needs to go for a ride. I hear it calling and complaining all I ever ride in the winter is the Vespa…