Scooter in the Sticks

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

VIDEO: Moments of Wonder

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Riding has sharpened my ability to see and appreciate the world around me.

Appreciating What’s Right in Front of Me.

On foot with a camera, or just riding my Vespa scooter, my perception of the world around me grows. I see more. Appreciate more. And in the end, find contentment in even the most stressful situations.

I place few requirements on myself during these jaunts and journeys. Slowly traveling, loose plans, and a minimum of tools and technology.

Vespa GTS scooter parked along a rural road.
My Vespa GTS scooter as part of a painter’s landscape.

What happens when you ride?

Can you be content on short rides through familiar landscapes or do you require travel to distant places? I suppose what works for one may be a bore for another.

For me, I try to have few expectations of my rides and even fewer for the experience.

VIDEO: The Thrill of Riding a Vespa Scooter

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I’ve struggled to share with people the experience I feel while riding a Vespa scooter. The video below is an attempt at presenting the emotional energy of riding as I do.

I fully realize that different riders will have different experiences. Speed and following the perfect line along a winding road may be the pinnacle of experience for one while a leisurely wandering rings the bell for another.

This video reflects my experience. The thrill of riding a Vespa.

A statement on what riding a Vespa scooter means to me.

I have to confess a level of reluctance in posting this video. All of them in fact. I’ve become comfortable over the years writing about my experiences, how I feel, and what I think. But putting my voice to the writing has changed things. It feels more exposed and open. More personal perhaps. Maybe revealing more than I intend.

So bear with me as I experiment technically and emotionally.

I hope each of you is surviving whatever unique demands the COVID-19 pandemic has placed upon you. Be safe. Be smart. So you can ride another day.

Video: The Brevity of Life and Other Thoughts While Riding a Vespa Scooter

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Lessons on the Road

I don’t often write about how to ride a scooter. So I won’t start now. Rather I share some of what I experience while riding a Vespa. The thoughts that swirl in my head, concerns for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

That sort of thing.

This VLOG entry is a reflection and re-creation of the sort of things that rattle around in this old man’s head — at home and on the road. It’s almost a video about riding a Vespa.

I’m halfway to my goal of ten video entries before I decide if there’s reason to continue.

Let me know what you think. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you want to see more.

I’ll be riding a Vespa scooter more and more as I determine it’s safe to do so. I hope each of you finds the right decisions for you and the specific part of the pandemic you find yourself in.

Video: Maintenance, Helmets and Riding A Vespa Scooter in the Pandemic

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Riding the Vespa scooter around the neighborhood after changing the engine and transmission oil to make sure there were no leaks. Any excuse to ride.

Another VLOG Entry

Only four entries into my ten video target to determine if making videos has any utility in my blogging life and I’m behind schedule. My plan was to post every other Monday.

This entry is a quick update on the status of things in my world and a continuing experiment with cameras and microphones as I search for the idea blogging setup for me.

If you like these entries let me know and subscribe in YouTube. I’m not sure why at this point though someone told me it’s important. As I understand it, if I get a million subscribers I can make some money. I think I have to take some of my clothes off though to achieve that number.

Stay safe on the road and in your dealings with the strange new world we’re traveling through now.

A quick update on the moto and pandemic happenings in my little world.

Video: Dreaming of Riding a Vespa Scooter

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Vespa GTS 250ie in the woods.
Robbed of riding by the COVID-19 pandemic, I reach for dreams of riding.

Riding a Vespa Scooter

It’s been almost a month since I’ve been riding — either the Vespa scooter or the motorcycle. I stopped for sound reasons but I have to admit the world feels a lot smaller right now. And despite the rosy rhetoric about opening up the country again, I have little faith that it will make much sense for someone like me for months to come.

I hope I’m wrong.

In the meantime I’ve been remembering and imagining rides gone by. And dreaming of rides to come. It’s a strange place to be when something so common and familiar is suddenly gone.

I’ve made another VLOG entry exploring the feelings surrounding riding a Vespa scooter. For me at least. It may be meaningless for someone else.

Video production remains an awkward dance between the equipment on hand to capture pictures and sound, the ancient computer on which I attempt to edit the video, and the ideas in my head that I struggle to give life to in the digital realm.

Here is VLOG #3.

My third attempt at a video entry. I’m struggling technically, especially with audio. But I hope I have some small measure of success in sharing a little of the thoughts, feelings and dreams of riding a Vespa scooter.

Thank You to Poet Susan Mitchell

The opening line of the video, “In my dreams, the ride goes on forever” was inspired by a poem by Susan Mitchell titled, “The Road.” In that work, she writes, “In the car’s dream, the road goes on forever”. From the moment I first read that poem that line has echoed in my mind. It was before I started to ride and has only grown more intense with each passing mile.

Thank you, Susan Mitchell. And to my wife Kim for sharing that poem with me. That gesture and others have helped move me away from being an educated barbarian…