Scooter in the Sticks

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

Thoughts at Midnight

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Steve Williams reflected in window at midnightReflections in the Dark

Seems I’ve been having as many adventures on foot as I do the Vespa scooter.  Night and day.  Same with writing which more and more seems to happen after sundown.  Thoughts at midnight and beyond.  Circumstance and the ebb and flow of life are too blame.  My job is to follow along as necessary.  I believe in ritual.  Have always been attracted to schedules and natural rhythms but am mature enough now to seem them for the necessarily selfish actions they require to maintain.  Three meals a day, in bed by ten, up at 5:30.  If riding the Vespa has taught me anything it’s that I’m not a machine.

If I were, I’d be broken.Continue Reading

Can’t Ride? Then Drive.

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Steve Williams self-portraitKeep on Looking

It’s almost midnight as I begin to write.  Snow falling.  The deck is covered but the driveway and roads are merely wet.  If it weren’t for a nagging respiratory infection and cough I might entertain a midnight ride.  But I’m tired and my stomach is signaling its displeasure with the antibiotics I’ve been taking.  So the Vespa scooter sits in the darkened garage.  For days now. I can’t ride.

I get stir crazy.  Especially when I’m sick.  And just have to get out of the house to see something. Anything.  With car keys and camera in tow I left the house this morning to meet a friend and wander a bit.Continue Reading

Two Vespa Scooters

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gray day and rural landscapeGrayness and the Landscape

It was one of those days when the light and atmosphere changed minute by minute. And to make things even more unpredictable I was riding for the first time with fellow Vespa rider, Andy Heckathorne.

Two Vespa scooters on the road.

Riding with another person, especially for the first time, is a bit unsettling. You’re letting someone into your personal space. And you have a choice of being yourself or to put on a facade.

For me, the biggest concerns I have when riding with someone else are my slow speeds due to rubbernecking and my desire to stop and take pictures.

Andy experienced a little of both.Continue Reading

Outlaw Riders

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scooter and motorcycle along a rural roadLong Shadows of Morning

Dazzling light and crisp mornings are a perfect way to start a ride. With the air temperature hovering in the low 40s (Fahrenheit), my friend Paul and I set out to find breakfast. Him on his 2016 BMW R1200 RT and me on the Vespa — an odd pairing only if you’re concerned with the optics or the BMW rider wants to greatly exceed the speed limit. I suspect there are other things that would suggest a problem.

We departed Boalsburg, Pennsylvania with a goal in mind — breakfast at the Spruce Creek Bakery in Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania. Downhill a dizzying 344 feet in elevation. I made a note to be on the lookout for altitude sickness on the way home. And for Marine One in case President Trump, like Jimmy Carter before him, decided to visit Spruce Creek to fish for trout.

It’s a serious ride.Continue Reading

Thoughts on Gravel and Paved Roads

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Vespa GTS on gravel roadDirt and Gravel

Maps sate the desire to wander.

Almost.

Do you fantasize with maps?

Pouring over roads and potential places to ride generates ideas and excuses to make trips without need or purpose. As is often the case, routes are weighed against possible places to eat.

A few days ago I found myself puzzling over a road across Stone Mountain leading into Big Valley in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. A road I had not traveled before and wondered if it was paved. And if not, what condition it was in.

I’ve ridden enough dirt and gravel roads now on the Vespa to discern the differences that present themselves. Packed dirt like encountered by this powerline provides a smooth, easy ride. But that’s not always the case.Continue Reading