Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650
Foggy, Rural MorningMany mornings of late start with just wandering through the countryside near home. More to help brain and body greet the day than any sort of riding adventure. There’s a slow, reflective state that I can enter as the scooter quietly rolls along, and I just soak in the view.Continue Reading
Lured by Baked GoodsI have no idea what to write. Only a handful of photos from a recent ride. A ride fueled by a desire to be on the road and in the world. No goals. No destination. Just the need to recharge my spiritual batteries. To take a long Vespa ride.
At this point in my life you wouldn’t think I would need to justify or rationalize why I’m getting on the Vespa. Oddly though, I find myself at times struggling for a reason. Perhaps desire is enough.
I sat at the end of the driveway for a few minutes wondering which way to go. I was reduced to left or right. Growing impatient I muttered to myself, “F*ck it” and turned left.
All I was doing was keeping the Vespa in motion, confident that some plan or idea would surface. As the scooter rolled along familiar pavement I remembered a conversation with a friend about an Amish bakery. A plan emerged and 40 minutes later found myself surveying boxes of Bear Claws and cream filled donuts in a self-serve bakery along Smulton Road in Smulton, Pennsylvania.
No one was around. A can with cash sat on a table to accept payments. All the regular donuts were gone — the telltale chocolate rings evidence of the prize I was after. I left without sampling the more complex cream filled offerings.Continue Reading
Vespa Scooter at LaunchJust down the road from my home, I sometimes stop at the Boalsburg Military Museum to make a photograph of the scooter. I’m not sure why but suspect it’s often a time where I contemplate where I might be going that day. A kind of riding ritual connected that lets me consider options that factor in time, weather and how I’m feeling.
On this morning last weekend I was thinking about the fog I could see in the distance and the appointment I had with my friend Paul Ruby at Saint’s Cafe in State College, Pennsylvania. Conflicting assignments. The desire to ride through fog is always strong, but so are the get together’s at Saint’s to look at and talk about photography. Some quick calculations suggested I may be able to touch both.Continue Reading
The Secret GarageI can’t be sure if my friend Paul refers to this place as his garage, or his secret garage. Either way, there’s always a bit of mystery here each time I visit. We were going to take a ride a couple weeks ago to breakfast somewhere, the usual dubious plan that’s driven by hunger and an associated desire to ride.
Past visits to the secret garage have seen the place flooded from hard rains, full of cars and motorcycles, or piled high with pallets of old electronic equipment destined for eBay. His Ferrari, a 1975 308 GT4, lives under a blue car cover. I’m never quite sure what goes on here. With his Fuji X100F camera in tow, he dusted off the Piaggio Fly 150 scooter and we got on the road.Continue Reading
How often do you discover things when you ride?
Vespa and Piaggio Scooters on the RoadIn my dreams I’m riding somewhere far away. The destination unknown, the road moves through the woods and then rises into mountains, I’m curious what will be over the next rise. During every ride there are moments, some quiet, others thrilling, when a door opens a chance to investigate and explore. Driven by curiosity, riding and exploring is one of the most satisfying activities of my existence. I’ve mistaken it for freedom. But it’s something more tangible and direct. It’s an experience from childhood that was stolen away by adult life; found and retrieved thanks to riding a two-wheeled machine.Continue Reading