Scooter in the Sticks

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

Why I Hate Riding

by 8 Comments

I hate riding into the driveway and putting the scooter away. I hate riding past a good place for breakfast. And I hate riding without enough time to stop for every picture I want to make. I have a lot of hate wrapped up in riding.

The ride to work this morning unfolded in a gentle rain with temperatures in the mid 40s. After so much cold winter riding this was heaven. Nothing to hate about a little rain.

I stopped once during a leisurely ride home from work to take this picture. I was thrilled to not find my hands numb from the cold while handling the camera. Spring can be measured by the amount of ungloved time that can be reasonably contributed to photography.

I found one more thing to hate after I got home. Not sure how many of you suffer from the 10 pounds of change syndrome, you know, all the change received from a hundred stops all piled together in one pocket of your riding pants, and when you take them off 5 out of 10 times that change exits a magically un-Velcroed pocket and falls to the floor in a frustratingly wide pattern. It happens at home. It happens at work.

I hate that.

Nourishing the Riding Fantasy

by 14 Comments

NOTE: The Bronson videos keep vanishing from youTube so this one is not the original that motivated this post. Since so many are removed I can only imagine someone who still owns the rights is prowling the Web looking for infringing uses.

In the dead, icy, cold of winter it’s hard to stay in touch with riding, even for someone who does ride through much of the cold weather. I found a dead link to a youTube video on one of my old posts and while searching for a replacement I found this exquisite piece made up of footage from Then Came Bronson. After watching it I remembered some things…

The Seduction of Riding Through Curves

by 7 Comments

If the reaper was standing at every curve perhaps fewer riders would find their way off the road or into the path of an oncoming vehicle. At least that’s what I was thinking when I saw this reaper around Halloween. On smooth, dry, pavement the tires feel stuck to the road and any maneuver seems possible, reasonable. More experience on two wheels seems to be followed by more throttle and all wrapped up in feelings of perfect skill and perfect lines. I wonder if it is during these moments of perfect thinking that riders find their way towards oblivion? Or maybe it’s something much simpler and direct, a patch of gravel or a distracting thought. Whatever it is curves sing a siren song to riders and there isn’t a mast to tie yourself to on a scooter or motorcycle.

Skill development works best when you practice. It is important though to have some basic understanding of the nature of the machine and how best to apply some fundamental techniques. I don’t know about you but I’m no expert and require ongoing thought and practice to keep my skills at the level necessary to manage risk on the road. And even the things I think I have learned I seem to forget or ignore at times so ongoing reminders are in order. With the Web it is pretty easy to find information and I have found a few pieces that I revisit from time to time. You may know of others.

For me, there is no better source of serious writing on skill development and application than through some of the thoughtful posts on Musings of an Intrepid Commuter by Dan Bateman. Dan is a motorcycle safety instructor with Team Oregon, a national leader in motorcycle safety training, and a fine writer and teacher via his blog. And if you follow for very long you’ll realize he is not your average rider.

As I looked at this picture for the past couple weeks I started thinking about riding in curves, training, practice, and all those things it is easy to overlook or check off as “done”. And then I thought about Dan’s posts that I reread and reread and thought I would share them here for anyone interested in keeping the learning curve moving upwards. If the weather is slowing your time on two wheels it may be the right time to pay Dan a visit!

Riding in Curves
Part One
Part Two

Keeping Your Head Up and Eyes Looking Out While Riding

How Good is Good Enough?
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

5 Reasons to Ride on Fall Mornings

by 10 Comments

The pools may be closed and the kids back in school but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep riding. In case you’re not convinced riding after Labor Day is a good idea I’ll share a few reasons why I keep riding through the fall and beyond.

1. The sharp air.

Walk outside early on a fall morning in Central Pennsylvania and the cool air goes right to your heart and brain. Metaphorically speaking anyway. The leaves were fringed with frost as I prepared to leave this past weekend. The temperature indicator on the Vespa displayed 31ยบ Fahrenheit. Lungs fill with the chilled air. All senses turn on. I’m awake, aware, alert, sharp and ready to go.

2. The light is magical.

For a brief time just before sunrise until an hour or so afterwards the world is painted in a unique way. The angle of illumination renders the landscape more dramatically. The color of light creates alternative versions of even the most mundane roads. Riding down the road I saw leaves falling into a pool of light and just had to stop to watch the Fall in action. Sleep in to wait for the warmer part of the day and you may miss all that.

3. Imagination runs free.

Perhaps it’s just me but venturing out in the early morning always fills me with a sense of adventure, of anticipation and the feeling that anything is possible. I want to know where every little road and path leads. What secrets may be revealed around the next turn in the road. My brain runs free with that fuel and anything seems possible.

4. A feeling of satisfaction.

Related to number four but more a sense of mental or spiritual satisfaction. For me it’s the knowledge that I have done something good for myself by having fun, detaching from any cares for a time, and allowing myself to live. Seeing things is important to me. It’s a feeling that comes when I know I pushed past a bit of discomfort or resistance by riding on a cool fall morning.

5. The joy of warming up.

You can’t ride forever and sooner or later you have to come home. Or stop at a destination. After riding near freezing, no matter how much fun I had on the ride, it’s just great to transition from the outdoor cold to indoor coziness. A physical satisfaction. Feeling my body warm is just nice not to mention the addition of caffeine, sugar, and chocolate.

Riding Through Sherwood Forest

by 11 Comments

I took the day off work. Too bad I couldn’t ride all day but I had to be home to meet a contractor to talk about replacement windows. Could be worse I suppose. I did have an hour to ride before that meeting so I just ventured off down one of the roads I ride regularly. And wouldn’t you know it I find a little track moving off into a wooded area between two farms. Like magic the little kid in me lights up, I look to see if anyone sees me, and off I go into the unknown.

This is the kind of place that as a kid we would have had forts and battles, hikes and camps. No evidence of kid activity here today — not sure parents let their kids out for stuff like that anymore. But damn, I felt like a kid exploring the wilderness. Here I am, 54 years old, riding a Vespa and having more fun that a person is entitled to.

The woods were dense and secretive, just as I imagined Sherwood Forest as a kid. The track ran for less than half a mile but that’s plenty for an imagination to soar. These little rides recharge my spirit by reconnecting me with that wonderment I had as a child. Seeing a grove of bamboo growing along the road, stopping to climb to the top of a big dirt pile, things like that.

Definitely not the kind of riding experience most riders are after but I won’t pass it up.