Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa Scooter and Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle.

Is It Time to Stop Scooter Riding in Winter?

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Is riding a Vespa in winter only for the young? I wonder…

An April Snow Squall

It’s hard to figure that one day the temperature is 70F and a couple days later it’s snowing again. That’s the kind of April we’ve had.

I went for a ride during the last squall to run a few errands and I was left with the feeling that I’ve had enough winter riding. Perhaps it is age, or a particularly bad day mentally, but whatever was in play had me bemoaning the difficulties of riding in winter.

On this ride it was particularly cold — right around the freezing mark. And the snow wasn’t piling up on the road. But the temperature, moisture, and slush had an effect. The visor was difficult to keep clear and the slush was bad enough that I could feel a wheel slip now and then. I just was tired of the fight.

I made a video of my reactions and thoughts about winter riding. It may be my last. Or at least the last ride in snow I make. I say that now. Who knows what next winter will bring.

15 Years of Winter Riding

Winter Vespa Riding Video

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I just uploaded a new video to my YouTube channel filmed during the recent ride shared in the last post. I’m uncertain as to how, or if, to share the videos here. They seem so different that the essays I write about rides and riding. Perhaps I’ve not given enough time or thought to the making of videos. At this point in time, they are frustrating projects as I struggle with hardware, editing software, and finding a voice. Oh, and on top of that some sort of content that’s worth watching.

Still, it’s an interesting creative puzzle and I plan to continue for a while.

If you like the video or are interested in having me make more, please subscribe on YouTube.

That will give me some indication if anyone is interested in me further developing videos about riding scooters and motorcycles and all that entails.

So without any further conjecture, here’s the video on winter Vespa riding…

Winter Vespa Riding — my reflections of the madness.

Days of Snow

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Vespa scooter on snow-covered driveway
Rolling the Vespa out into the snow. (Back in February 2015)

Is This a Good Idea?

There was a time when days of snow would have led to some sort of riding attempt on my Vespa scooter. I was young. Fresh. And stupid perhaps. No longer do I roll out the scooter into the fresh snow to “see how it does.” I know the answer to that question. Now I make different choices.

Regarding the question, “Is this a good idea?” I’m leaning towards no.

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Reacquainted with Winter Riding

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Snow covered garden
The view in our garden the morning after the first big snow storm in two years.

Underestimating the Cold

A clear, sunny morning after fresh snow clouds my judgment. The cold and snow seem light and a mere trifle to deal with. It’s that thinking that leads me to underestimate the cold and wander out of the house unprepared for what nature has in store. Every year I step into the same trap after the first snow. And because I usually decide to take a ride on the Vespa scooter, I have to get reacquainted with winter riding.

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The Solitude of Snow

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Snow covered road in a forest
A quiet meditation in Rothrock State Forest. The kind of scene I strive to find while riding the scooter in the solitude of snow.

Quiet Times in Life

At times I wonder if it makes much sense to call what I do riding. I strain for a better, more accurate term to describe what I do but have found nothing. Riding. It’s what I do. Those first miles on the Vespa LX150 were so enthralling, my spirit which was long immersed in the thick, syrupy depths of adult life, was suddenly and unexpectedly hurled backwards into the unbridled ignorance and joy of childhood as I guided this new machine through a world suddenly alive with sights, sounds and fragrances that I would not understand how I had not experienced before.

Freedom, That word has been so thoroughly perverted by politics and commerce that I hesitate to invoke it now. But that is what I felt when I started to ride. A freedom from the weight of adulthood, from task and responsibility, from the slow drain of life that I was surely aware. The flight of the Vespa with me on its back was a new creature, free and thrilled to be alive on this earth.

Is it any wonder that I refused to surrender it to the cold and winter? What man or woman who experienced what I had would let it go, even for a few days let alone an entire season. And so I ventured forth and found the solitude of snow.

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