After moaning and wallowing in cold driven self pity I forced myself onto the road this morning since the temperature was hovering at a balmy 25F.  During the ride a couple things came to mind as reasons to stay off the road in the winter.  Not the cheap, obvious ones like “It’s too cold” or “It’s too dangerous to ride whenever it’s cold enough for ice to form on the road”.  Everyone knows those.  There are more specific, frustrating and teeth grinding reasons to store your scooter or motorcycle in the winter and just stay home and get fat. I guess you can get fat riding too…

Wandering up into the woods the roads become a bit more clogged with snow and ice but with almost no traffic it’s easy to navigate this sort of thing on a Vespa.

When asked why I ride in the winter my responses fall into two categories depending on how I’m feeling.  One has to do with the magical appearance of winter.  I can’t get enough of the visual splendor that seems to be consumable only by riding.  Can’t access it in the car and am too exhausted riding a bike.  I’m probably rationalizing here.

The second reason is the challenge.  There’s a satisfaction in pushing through winter on a Vespa.  It’s probably as close as I’ll ever get to high adventure.  K2 is not in my future.

Lot’s of snow still blowing around especially on the smaller secondary roads or private lanes like this one.  The Vespa really floats trying to plow through this deep stuff.  Still, doesn’t fall into my reasons why one might not want to ride in the winter.

Rust.  Just like on a car, riding in winter can eat away at the scooter.  And since almost every rider I know baby’s their machine whether a scooter or motorcycle, winter pretty much takes them out of the game.

I just noticed the main body seam turning brown.  I read somewhere that it’s just the Italian roast coffee leaking through but something tells me it’s more of a problem than that.  Not sure how I’ll proceed.

And the other reason is things just don’t work as well in cold weather leading to all sorts of potential frustrations.  Like this morning.  Had a nice, winter ride through the countryside and into town to return an overdue library book.  By the time I perused the books and made a few choices the fuel line froze again on the scooter.  Nothing more frustrating in my book than a scooter that won’t start.

The frustration worsens as it begins to snow.  Called a towing company since all my truck and trailer friends are away and they arrive in about 20 minutes only to tell me they can’t “lift” a Vespa.

Off they go and I retreat to the library to call a company that has hauled the scooter before.  They can be there in an hour.  I walk outside to determine my next move and realize if “feels” warmer. A quick check of the temperature shows it has risen to near the freezing mark and I wonder if the scooter will start now.

Indeed it does.  A quick call to cancel the tow and off I go.  Ride in the winter and stuff like this will happen.  Some say it’s a wonderful opportunity for personal growth.  To me it’s a pain.

So, from where I sit, winter riding is cold, frustrating, dangerous, hard on the machinery, and hard on the body and soul.  Other than that it’s pretty fun and satisfying.

So, what other reasons am I missing to pack it in for the winter?

Plan So You Don’t Need to Get Fuel in Sub Zero Weather

There are days when the universe conspires to make sure you understand how little you know. Today was one of those days.

Once upon a time there was a boy who had a Vespa.  The boy loved his Vespa and would go to great lengths to ride it.  He would carefully identify opportunities to undertake errands or commute to work on days best left to life behind the wheel of an automobile.  Like this morning, one of the coldest mornings in years.

I knew it would be cold today and wasn’t surprised to see the Weather.com app on my phone display -8F.  The first arrogant thought — I’ve ridden in colder weather.  And that’s true though I was younger and healthier at the time, one of many little facts I would choose to overlook.

Walking up the street with the dog was pleasant.  Walking back with my face to the wind I was muttering about the cold but realized it wouldn’t be so bad on the Vespa at 50mph.

The scooter started right up but my riding gear was frozen having spent the night in the unheated garage.  But I was only going 8 miles, I can stand a little cold.

Don’t let anyone tell you that riding in the cold is simply a matter of the right clothes and the right state of mind.  That’s only part of it which I somehow forgot though was reminded of not far from home and throughout the day.

Sub Zero Riding Fashion

My friend Pete Kauffman, the Art Editor where I work and also an intrepid Yamaha Vino rider, made this picture when I arrived at the office.  He arrived in a Chrysler product.

Pete will appear again later in this story.

So let’s do a bit of deconstruction on this picture so I can share a few lessons I learned again on the way to work.

1.  Don’t forget that a Vespa sitting inside an unheated garage all night connected to a Battery Tender is not the same as a Vespa sitting outdoors for 8 hours not connected to a Battery Tender.

2.  The multiple layers necessary to ride at -8F make you look fat.

3.  When the temperature drops below zero you really should choose your Olympia one-piece winter riding suit instead of the jacket and pants you wear when it’s 60F.

4.  A lot of moisture drips out of car mufflers and freezes instantly on the road.  With all the cars going to work there is a lot of slippery stuff around.

5.  When you walk your dog through the snow at -8F the snow that’s collected in the cleats of your riding boots freezes solid producing a sole of ice that you discover at the first stop sign.

6.  You can’t hold your breath all the way to work, you can’t ride far with the visor open, and you can’t get the frost off the visor.

7.  You shouldn’t let your fuel supply get so low that you have to stop for gas when it’s -8F outside.

8.  You should really pay attention when putting your gear on so all the little openings are sealed.

When I finally got to my desk I was grateful the heat was on and that I didn’t learn any of the lessons the hard way.  At least not until the end of the day.

Fast forward to the end of the day.  Vespa cranks but will not start.  Continued cranking drains the battery.  I’m not riding home.

I call Pete and ask if he has jumper cables.  A few minutes later the starter is cranking but no fire.  We both suspect a fuel supply problem.  Something has frozen up.  Pete takes me home and I leave the scooter.

I return later and move the Vespa into a small workspace and attach it to a Battery Tender and hope the warm temperature will perform some kind of magic.  One hour later the Vespa starts and I ride home in the dark.

I learned a few things today, got the subzero riding out of my system, and am now thinking about food.

Does it get any better than that?

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