Scooter in the Sticks

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

Lane-Splitting with Mr. Fish

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Mr. Fish is a British scooter rider (Piaggio BV250), and YouTube video blogger.  He recently added the capability to narrate while riding and his droll sense of humor is engaging.  This recent addition to his collection is a bit unnerving for me as he scoots his way through traffic.  It’s easy to see the commuting advantages of lane splitting.  I know the wide angle makes things appear to move faster but even so, it’s not something I’d be comfortable doing so I’ll choose to lane split vicariously through Mr. Fish.

For those unfamiliar with the term — lane-splitting is the act of riding your scooter or motorcycle in the space between lanes of cars and trucks.  They may be stopped, they may be moving.  It gives a rider the chance to keep moving when everyone else is at a standstill.

Have a look and see what you think.

Riding Naked

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For any readers expecting skin — let me dissuade you now — no skin in this post. Naked has connotations beyond the body stripped bare of clothes, it points to times of vulnerability and being leaving the mind exposed to the world. It’s in this vain that I was riding naked.

iPhone 4Gs on a Vespa rideI spent two days without my iPhone; unplugged, disconnected, cut off from the world and I have to admit I felt uncomfortable, a bit anxious, and sensed the obsessive nature of my relationship with the thing.

It wasn’t until Friday night until I realized I had left the phone on my desk at work when in a moment of boredom I attempted to fill the void with headlines from Google News.  Without the phone my easy access to time, weather and calendar was gone.  No quick glimpse of email to make sure there was nothing to attend to for work.  As the evening progressed I found myself feeling as if I was missing something, that life was going on without me.  All because the little device was not with me.

While doing errands on Saturday I was like a stranger in a strange land as I noticed how many people were walking through the grocery store looking at their phones, tapping into an unseen flow of energy that kept them safe and content.

Like a drug.

I would find out later that my wife tried to reach me by phone and text.  The assumed reliable access is gone when you don’t have a cellphone with you.  I found myself wondering when I surrendered my independence for the safe enslavement of a smartphone?  I remember not having one and feeling just as safe on a trip as I do now even though a breakdown would require reaching out to fellow travelers for help.  Seems frightening today.

Vespa GTS scooter with front rackI have no illusions when it comes to riding adventure.  I don’t believe it exists anymore, at least not the idea in my head of the rugged individual facing the world alone.  Today every rider I know has the convenient smartphone lifeline that provides access to support, maps, directions, weather and more.

But wouldn’t the real adventure be to leave the phone, the GPS, the tablet and whatever other network connection you have at home?  Certainly would force a person to consider the road differently.  I suspect the ride would be more challenging and the experience more intimate. Looking at a map is different that following a dot of a digital screen.

I would like to say I am going to leave my iPhone at home but I know I won’t.  I can’t.  I need it.  But I also know that having one and using it daily leaves a person with an addiction to the thing, especially if you take a lot of hits from it.  That I can do something about.

Right now I’m powerless over my iPhone so I can’t ride naked.

Autumn in the Air

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Vespa scooter and autumn leavesEverything is moving quickly now — the days, the color change in the leaves, my perception of the passing of time.  I feel autumn in the air but it’s passing fast like clouds in a storm. This morning on the way to work I could not account for the time.  Seems like just yesterday I was sweltering in summer heat and today the leaves are jumping off the trees.  I swear time would slow down if I just rode more often.

Vespa scooter at the Pennsylvania Military MuseumMornings of late have had a strange yellow-orange glow which gives the world a pumpkin colored feeling.  The fragrance of crisp, dead leaves fills the air and stirs memories of family outings and picnics with my parents. Autumn triggers heavy melancholy feelings as my body must know that things are dying, that the process with the leaves is the same for every living thing.

Must be careful not to dwell long in that place.

Vespa scooter and Mt. Nittany

I love the mornings when I get out of bed early enough to ride a lazy course to work, one that allows many stops for thought and pictures.  Mount Nittany hasn’t changed but I have.  Change isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Ag Administration Building at Penn State

The trees outside my office windows (the two on the ground floor-left) are almost finished.  The leaves have moved from verdant green to yellow, orange and red and soon they’ll all succumb to gravity and leaf blowers. The crane lifting new heating and ventilation units onto the roof will be gone soon as well allowing all the scooter and motorcycle riders back to the now cordoned off parking spaces.

Man, I hope this dismal feeling goes away soon.  If I weren’t so tired right now I’d get on the Vespa and try to sweat it out.

 

 

Sunlight and Shadows

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Vespa scooter in early morning sun

On the road at the right time of say and the sun has a powerful influence on visibility.  I hate it when I’m blinded by a direct beam from the sun or when it’s suddenly reflected from shiny bumpers, windshields or mirrors, and love it when it sweeps low across the world with a hot power that makes me feel everything is as it should be.  Sunlight and shadows provide details and clues about the world.

The sun also helps mitigate the feeling of cold at this time of year.  Fifty degrees in the sun feels balmy compared to how it works on you under a heavy sky.  And as much as I love the look of the light brought on by harsher weather a bit of sunlight is always welcome.

Vespa scooter at a limestone quarry

Autumn is rushing past and I’ve not attended to any winter riding preparations either for the machine or myself.  A good cleaning and waxing is in order for the Vespa and I need to replace the zipper on my riding jacket if I hope to keep Jack Frost at bay.  Shadows have life in the fall; in the summer there’s just shade but now as the leaves drop the form and structure appear.  Visual cues that the days are growing shorter and winter is approaching.

Vespa scooter and fall leaves

This morning I had decided to make a stop at the local coffee house and get home to take care of a growing list of chores but not before I made a little meandering ride through the valley to watch the greenery give way to the falling of leaves.

Vespa scooter in rural landscape

Standing in this field I found myself wishing I had the view camera with me.  I’ve been feeling the tug to expose sheets of film again, perhaps because I was going through boxes of gelatin silver prints.  I wonder if I always get confused in the fall?

Early morning view of Saint's Cafe in State College, PAEventually I get to Saint’s Cafe in State College, Pennsylvania where a cup of tea will take the chill from by fingers. The same long, articulated shadows are everywhere in the morning, whispering of the decline in sunlight and cold days ahead.  Right now I don’t care at all but the older I get the rougher the winter is to take.  I wonder how long it will be before I don’t want to venture out on two wheels to experience the world first hand…

Into the Night

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Getting fuel for the Vespa at Sheetz

Saturday night and at home cooking dinner utilizing my limited culinary skills when I realize I need a can of mushroom soup.  For non-riders I imagine a nighttime trip to the grocery store a nuisance at best and more likely a major frustration.  For a rider like me a trip into the night is a welcome chance to ride.

I feel comfortable riding the Vespa for 125 miles before worrying about fuel.  At each fill-up I reset the trip odometer and refuel when the counter shows 70 miles.  The added trip to the gas station provided a little more riding.

Vespa scooter at Weis Market grocery store at night

Riding to pick up mushroom soup is about as mundane a ride as you can get in the United States.  I’ve spoken to three riders in the past week — one rode across country again, another had just returned from a trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway and the third from Colorado.  I rode to the grocery store for a can of mushroom soup.  But it was at night…

Vespa scooter and Mt. Nittany at night

On the way home I stopped for a picture of Mt. Nittany.  It was black and I could barely see so I decided to try a high ISO setting on my little Canon G15 — ISO 12800.  I was able to make a hand held exposure at 1/4 sec. at F2.8 of the Vespa idling in a field with the mountain in the distance. Definitely a lot of luminance noise in the picture but it does a decent job of depicting the night time world of a Vespa ride.

Home now, dinner finished, dishes done and ready to move on towards dreamland.  Glad I had an opportunity for a little ride, if only to fetch a can of soup.