weather Archives - Page 4 of 17 - Scooter in the Sticks

An Even Keel

April 10, 2015 by Scooter in the Sticks 8 Comments

After a couple weeks of riding silence I found myself again floating over the road with the familiar, remarkable feeling that nothing mattered except the pavement unrolling ahead. Later in town I was presented with an iconic symbol of quietness. For an instant I thought I could understand. Riding through the world I felt as if the Vespa was part of some heavy existential keel stabilizing mind, body and spirit.

An even keel, another unlooked for result of a simple ride.

At dusk after a short ride I felt in the center of the world. Strange to feel as if nothing but this moment matters. Fleeting, but instructive as I rushed off on foot to meet friends.

An hour later I’m pounded by rain under the wet glare of night. The earlier feeling of connection surrendered to the more immediate concern of navigating safely home. Several times the dazzling light of oncoming traffic made it seem impossible to see the road and I found myself accepting with faith that no holes or concrete blocks were in my path.

Beware the Snow

January 26, 2015 by Scooter in the Sticks 18 Comments

Beware the snow the rider thinks, too fraught with danger and despair. Fresh snow falling, light and dry in the darkness, experience reflects this snow is now the one to fear, for in fact, in great need, this snow is navigable by Vespa, it’s soft depth yields both traction and stability allowing passage, albeit slow, to two-wheeled travel under duress. I’ve made small journeys in such a mess.

Gratefully, no need presents itself and the only journey is to the end of the driveway to make a photo. A few mornings earlier I had the opportunity to explore a far more challenging winter surface.

Sunday morning, the temperature just about freezing, frozen ice and snow beginning to mix with liquid water creating an wintry plasma that defies friction or traction. The driveway was untreated but the roadways were dry with wet patches but clear of ice. Roadway assessments and predictions fall to any rider venturing out with snow on the ground, even if only at the fringes of pavement.

I take opportunities to practice in snow from time to time, usually off the road, in parking lots or farm lanes. Having snow tires helps but only for specific types of snow and ice. If there is traction to be had, the Heidenau K66 LT Snow Tex tires will bite into snow or snow pack and provide stability for forward motion. Obviously leaning is out so turns must be negotiated at a snail’s pace, literally, and a rider must be aware of the changing character of the snow.

Snow pack that offers a chance of traction can instantly become a hardened mass of snow bordering on ice which offers almost no traction. It gets worse when the temperature rises about 32F and a thin film of liquid water enters the equation.

This snow is hard with little traction. The scooter isn’t heavy enough for the tires to chew threw the surface. Still, it’s navigable though I road with my feet down just in case a tire started to give way to gravity. I feel comfortable handling a scooter of this size. I would not want to try a larger one, or a motorcycle.

At the other end of the lot I encountered wet ice pushing through hard snow, frightening in it’s lack of traction giving the feeling that the wheels could break loose of the ground at any moment. My feet offered no help at all. Riding on ice. I has it’s own lessons.

I experiment only to expand the data in my head which helps manage riding on the road — especially when and if I should be out.

The ride into State College for breakfast was uneventful — the roads clear with some moisture and salt, but nothing exciting. Saw a Piaggio Fly 150, have seen it around for awhile, but haven’t seen its rider yet. Another year round rider in town.

The darkroom was pressed into service again and I finally arrived at our Sunday morning photo meeting at Saint’s Cafe with some new gelatin silver prints. I had forgotten how satisfying it is to work in the dark.

It started to snow again while at Saint’s but the temperature held about the freezing mark meaning the ride home might be wet but not dangerous. The biggest challenge faced was transporting my 11×14 prints — too big for the topcase, they had to hang from the purse hook in a plastic back.

Safely home, the scooter in the garage on the Battery Tender, a forecast for more snow, I was happy to be warm and safe. While URALs and other sidecar rigs can play in more serious white stuff, for those on two wheels, the watch words remain, “Beware the snow.”.

First Gear Kilimanjaro Jacket Review

November 14, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 23 Comments

As the Excalibur Grey Vespa moves through central Pennsylvania its rider is now clad in Hi-Viz yellow. I feared it would be the yellow green color, and it is, but I was surprised how cool it looks. I may be quiet in person but my jacket is loud and obnoxious!

The new First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket is great. Compared to my old one it’s better built, better fitting, warmer, and more functional. So far it seems a near perfect solution for my cold weather riding. I’ll share more as time and cold marches on.

The first ride with the jacket was to work on Thursday morning with the temperature hovering at 35F. I was toasty with a t-shirt, sweater, old pile liner, and the new jacket with thermal liner. I suspect that combination will get me to 20F. Below that point I’ll replace the t-shirty with polypropylene long underwear, a warmer sweater, and perhaps another layer of some sort. All those layers really mess with a company’s sizing scheme. When I was looking at sizes based on my body measurements I fell squarely between LARGE and X-LARGE. But you always need to remember they are thinking you’ll be wearing a shirt under the jacket and nothing more. Experience has guided me to bigger sizes.

In this case, considering the temperatures I would be riding in, I chose XX-LARGE TALL, or 2XT. Good thing I did. The coat has plenty of room to layer and with no layers the cinching systems allow a person to snug it up nicely so it doesn’t look like you’re wearing a tent.

The best feature so far is the collar. Much more comfortable and better fitting at the neck and high enough to cut out more of the cold air that normally would knife into tender flesh and blood.

The polar vortex is hear I suppose. The ride home was as cold as the ride to work and autumn seems like nothing more than a doormat to winter. Like the squirrels in our garden madly preparing for winter I’m doing the same with the Vespa. Yesterday a pair of Tucano Urbano handlebar muffs arrived — spacious neoprene covers to keep the cold winter from my hands. After years of electric gloves I’m surrendering and moving to the next level of warmth with the muffs. To complete the upgrade I’ll be installing Koso heated grips. Protection from the wind and head beneath fingers and thumb equals contentment in the cold. At least that’s my hope.

The difference in outlook and well-being between cold and warm is striking when I ride. If I’m just a bit chilled, or worse, a ride is something to endure and wish to end. But warm, well, it can go on forever. I’ve complained for years of cold, numb, painful hands. With great hope I feel they will soon be vanquished. The jury is out on whether I have the proper electrical skills to make grips hot or whether I’ll be posting a picture of the GTS in flames.

For a closer look at the First Gear jacket check out this Revzilla.com review:

Morning Rain

November 6, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 8 Comments

I’ve sat here staring at this picture for half an hour, wondering how I decided to leave the house on the scooter this morning when the weather was already cold and dreary with a forecast promising even more. Morning rain holds a power over me that defies logic and shuttles conventional judgement into a mental box shielded from common sense. Who departs on two wheels in the rain when they have a choice to travel otherwise?

Walking the dog before breakfast I was already categorizing the rain as mist, a minor variation of atmosphere that’s more decorative than substantive. With eyes on the sky, a mottled mix of greys and whites with an occasional glow of light where the sun threatened to show itself, I had decided I was going to ride to work just to see how the light painted the world.

Riding down our road I couldn’t help but notice the low clouds laying across the mountainside or wonder how mysterious the forest roads would be. The clock had not yet reached 7am when I turned away from work and on towards Rothrock State Forest.

Boy Scouts, biology students and characters in post-apocalypse movies all know the significance of a lichen on a tree — an indicator of north. All rugged scooter and motorcycle adventure riders should store this away for the day they’re stranded, alone, in the woods with wolves, bears and zombies about.

What’s not apparent in the picture is the cold. In my excitement to ride in the rain I neglected to fully evaluate the 42F air mixed with what would become a steady rain. Factor that with only a black t-shirt under my riding jacket which now has no zipper, only snaps to hold it closed but allowing copious quantities of frigid air to attack not to mention no ability at all to repel moisture anymore.

Still, it was a great day to ride.

At some point while riding in the rain a part of my brain asks, “How miserable do you want to be?”. It’s one thing to ride in soaking we clothes on the outside, but once the water starts to penetrate towards tender flesh it’s a different ballgame. I ride a lot in the cold but I do not like being cold. Lack of attention leads to some painful miles.

There was a moment, very brief, where I considered stopping and putting on the Rev’It rainsuit that lives in the topcase, unopened and unused. But that would make too much sense. It’s not raining hard enough yet.

Duty calls and I need to ride to work — for real. It’s 7:30am, I’m wet, cold, and trying to rationalize taking the day off to get wetter and colder. That’s how my brain works in the morning. I’m glad I don’t live in a wilderness or I would probably have died along an empty road somewhere long ago.

On the 10 mile ride to the office I can’t stop thinking about how cold my hands are. The dampness and air seeping through my gloves have reduced my fingers to thick, painful nubs of near numb meat sticks. There must be a dozen traffic lights between this last photo stop and the office. At each light I plan to warm my fingers a bit on the headlight, a brief respite from the all to familiar hand torture I go through every season. And my luck, every light was green save one which provided a mere 15 second tease of head on my left hand as it pushed itself against the headlight.

And so it goes, a ride in morning rain.

Managing Risk While Riding in Fog

September 30, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 8 Comments

Morning rides to work of late have been made in fog. As much as I love the visual and emotional appeal of the mist, I never lose sight of the risk associated with poor visibility. Riding in fog, like riding in snow requires thought and practice to understand and manage that risk. My advice to anyone considering a trek in pea soup? Don’t.

Much depends on where you ride — how much traffic, the nature of the traffic, the road surface and likelihood of unexpected holes or debris, that sort of stuff. Riding in central Pennsylvania on a scale of 1 to 10 with the Nevada desert being 1 and the DC Beltway at rush hour being 10, I give our in town roads a 4 and the rural ones a 2. If there were no deer they would be a 1.

I wouldn’t ride in heavy fog anywhere beyond a 5. Each rider has to gauge their own skill and risk acceptance. It’s the key to managing risk while riding in fog.

Thinking about special skills or abilities related to riding in fog the following come to mind:

Choose time and route carefully — look for ways to minimize interaction with traffic.
Adjust speed to account for acceptable stopping distances while not becoming an obstacle to be run down from behind — not always an easy calculation but one worth working on.
Don’t tailgate — what is it about motorcycle and scooter riders that makes them want to follow a tail light on a car?
Learn how to pull over — there are times and situations you should not be on the road and you need to pull over and let the noise and chaos pass. If your ego or stubbornness won’t allow this then leave the scooter or motorcycle at home.
Know how to keep your visor clear while riding — this is harder than it sounds, especially in heavy fog.
Keep in mind the road surface might be slippery — especially fog when the temperature drops towards freezing. Maybe just stay at home and if not, slow down. Really slow down.
Just take the bus — don’t ride. This is the best choice.

Riding provides more than fun, it offers an opportunity to engage a personal puzzle that involves personality, common sense and problem solving abilities. In a world bent on reducing risk to zero riding in general is an act of rebellion to that part of our culture. Pushing into fog, rain, snow and dark of night, that creates a completely different character of rebellion. Make sure you know what you’re getting into.

Ride safe.

« Previous Page

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: