Meet Robert Echard, a regular at the Piston and Pints festivities, serious rider, PoppaWheelie on AdventureRider.com, and now on his way around the world on a motorcycle.  He departed from London a few days ago and about 200 days from now will be riding back into town.  At age 67 it’s a trip of a lifetime.

After three days of riding Robert arrived in Budapest, Hungary today and has a few days to hang out before heading east.  You can follow his trip on AdventureRider on the thread Round the World the Easy Way.

He’s also using a SpotTracker to follow him around the globe.

The local online newspaper has a good story about the trip — Adventure of a Lifetime.

This past Thursday evening the Piston and Pints gang go together and Ken Hull suggested a group photo toasting Robert on his journey.  From all of us, a safe, exceptional adventure!

After a day of non-stop meetings I was looking forward to meeting with the Piston & Pints group only to have the dream dashed by crappy weather.  Instead of 30 or 40 motorcycles I was greeted by a closed door.  Crappy weather; no such thing for Vespa riders…

The event moved to tomorrow evening, 5pm, as long as the weather isn’t crappy.  So if you’re within riding distance think about a ride to Boalsburg, Pennsylvania to join the rider festivities.

Ken Hull developed another great poster for the group.  I have one at home.  I want it in the garage with the scooter.  Kim says it’s too nice for that stinking place.

Just look for the little barn along the alley with all the motorcycles.  This is what it looks like when the weather is crappy.

A warm morning provided a perfect backdrop to begin roughing the pristine surface of the Vespa’s new Kenda K413 tires.  Never an aggressive rider myself I feel it prudent to go easy on cornering and braking for the first 50 to 100 miles to make sure I don’t have any unfortunate relationships with the ground.  The tire pictured above has less than one mile of wear.  Not a problem normally considering how I ride (three speeds; slow, slower, stop) but there are times when I circumstance dictates a friskier approach and broken in tires really become important.

So off I went.

Many riders would probably find my pace and routes boring.  Passing through the agricultural landscapes I couldn’t help but think how different riding styles are.  Not long ago I saw the moto-documentary “Why We Ride” and how bored I was getting with the racing sequences.  Racing, speed, and power are important and exciting to lots of riders.  And a good bit of attention was focused on the social aspects of riding (or not riding) characterized by clubs, group rides, and events both small and large.  Looking at the scenes from Daytona Beach and Sturgis I could see the attraction as a kind of carnival but the riding part was a bit more difficult to comprehend.  The film focused only briefly on another kind of riding, one I find myself more attracted to, that focused on being in the world on two wheels, alone, no schedule or destination, just moving through space and time. It doesn’t make for good cinema since most of the thrill occurs between your ears.

I’m wandering now.

So I’m riding alone, thinking about tires, taking in the spring air (an pollen) and enjoying having nowhere to go or be, stopping when I please to root through roadside debris for treasure or just appreciate the Podophyllum peltatum (May Apples for URAL riders), little biological umbrellas gracing the landscape that are sure signs of spring.

Dandelions are in full bloom and add a swath of color to the world that would make me grin save for the guilt I feel from childhood as my father conscripted me into manual destruction of thousands of these little creatures, wandering the lawn every Saturday morning with weed tool and bucket, a youthful endeavor displaced by the advent of ChemLawn and video games.

I learned something about my childhood yesterday related to my parents letting me roam the neighborhood on weekends and summer vacation.  Today their parenting style would be referred to as “free range parenting”.  I must be the mature incarnation of a free range child…

The Vespa runs flawlessly.  Hate typing that for fear it will cause some untimely failure, but it really is running great.  Smooth, quiet, powerful, just like it was when I bought it.  Parked along Spring Creek with the sun in my eyes I could almost pretend it was physically pristine as well.  Alas, it does show some wear and tear on the body.  Just like a well used camera or hand tool.

The road never ends but rides always do.  This one after only 50 miles of tire scrubbing but with the promise of food, family and the chance to rub a dog’s belly.  Maybe later I’ll work on those tires some more…

The Vespa is perched in the garage sans front tire.  Hope the motorcycle jack doesn’t fail.  Cleaned, balanced and mounted the rear wheel and tomorrow will retrieve the front from the service station.

Spent an hour troubleshooting the non-locking seat latch.  The latch appears to function properly but a tiny little spring that pulls the latch closed when the seat is down may have lost its ability to do its job.  Or the cable it has to pull has started to hang up somewhere.  Either way the repair is tedious. It may have to wait for a new part.

Tomorrow I’ll clean up the muffler and start applying high temperature enamel.  It will look good from the road.

Have a few days vacation ahead so I can approach these mechanical activities with the proper sense of nefarious laziness.  At some point tomorrow morning I’ll be at Kissell Motorsports buying a new battery.

The garage is a mess, almost something that location scouts from Hoarders might be interested in.  When I think of organizational strategies fire and theft always seem to be at the top of the list.  Fortunately the warm weather motivates and bit of action and I anticipate more organization and function in the workspace.

I just wish this stuff was finished and tomorrow was a prelude to a ride.