I had mixed feelings about the weather looking out my office window late Tuesday. Dark skies and a steady rain on top of a throbbing headache just didn’t create the feeling of joy the anticipation of a ride home usually engenders regardless of conditions. Throughout the day people stopped by to comment on the weather and how wet I will be on the ride home. It’s difficult to explain to someone who is not a rider why I ride on days like this. From the point of view of comfort, protection from the elements, and others on the road it seems a little crazy. I won’t convince anyone that I am comfortable and dry on the way home and actually feel good even in the rain. So I don’t try too hard but just smile and agree that yes it is wet outside and I’ll be careful.

On Tuesday I decided to detour through some farm roads rather than sit in traffic. It was a muddy mess at times but even with the headache I had to stop and just look at the sky. I love those oppressive skies. A quick picture and off I went. I really wish I had some of those Kenda tires that Gary Charpentier of Rush Hour Rambling recently posted about.

I eased my way through things and out onto a smooth secondary road and wandered home. Just a nice way to wrap up the workday and compared to my cage commutes of the past it is fantastic even on the worst days.

Last night on the way home it was gray but no rain. This time a stop at Meyer’s Dairy Store for a bottle, that’s right a glass bottle, of milk.

I can carry two gallons under the seat but I worry about the bottles clanging together and breaking so usually it’s just one. Chores like this, stopping at the post office, the bank, and other routine business are actually fun on the scooter because it is easy to navigate, park, and I get to ride more. I’m still kicking myself for waiting so many years before riding again.

Not every ride delivers happy satisfaction. That’s not to say the ride is not good, but not always something I would describe as fun. Right now it is in the mid forties, raining, and dark. I have to leave for work in a few minutes and I can honestly say I don’t think the ride will be fun. But I am looking forward to it.

This past weekend I did an early morning ride on Sunday and it was not a ride I would categorize as fun. The temperature was in the high 20’s when I left and a heavy frost covered the ground. I wasn’t cold but aware that the temperature was something to manage. I paused for a long minute at the end of the driveway wondering where I was going and finally turned down the hill with absolutely no destination in mind. It wasn’t until about 50 miles later that I had a destination in mind —- home.

The ride was compelling though not fun. I found myself looking carefully at the landscape, the road, and just absorbing it. I didn’t know where I was going, not that I was lost in the sense of not knowing where I was but lost in the sense that the ride was without expectation. It was movement and experience. Everything seemed to fall away except for that. I stopped often to look around at rocks and plants and just smell the fall air. Color and light was center stage and I was there to witness it. And it was cold. I stopped near a lake to eat a sandwich and the wind was so harsh that I ate with my riding gloves on and wishing for a hat.

I returned home 76 miles after leaving the driveway. It was a good ride and was good to be lost and without a plan. And it was good to recognize that I don’t have to come home thinking “Wow, that was fun!”.

Time to pull on the gear, ride to work and get wet. My dog doesn’t even want to be outside.

It never seems to end – more power, bigger, more expensive, faster, shinier, more devices, more features, more, more, and more. And it’s not just with motorcycles (and scooters). It’s cars, it’s trucks, “I need four-wheel drive and power to pass…” Homes, TVs, stereos, cameras, our entire culture. Growth. Big. Grow or die. I don’t want to spend any time on the economics, culture, or politics of consumption now but I did see a picture on Ben Armstrong’s Honky-Tonk Dragon blog that had a picture of John Wayne and a Vespa. Doesn’t get much more macho than that. Maybe Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood….

I posted this mostly out of an ongoing curiosity as to why so many men have such a problem with a Vespa. I have met many who seem actively annoyed by its very existence. They seemed threatened at a deep level as if to look too long at one might irreparably harm them. The Vespa is small. It doesn’t have a lot of power. Or chrome. And it is quiet. Sitting on it doesn’t make you bigger, stronger or more powerful. Riding it can make you at times an object or derision or the butt of jokes. You better feel confident in yourself before starting one up. No compensation available astride a Vespa LX150.

So I smiled when I saw the Duke on the Vespa. And wearing a beret. Damn. I don’t think men need more power, they need more guts.

I know in a couple months I’ll think 35° F is positively balmy. But tonight riding home from a meeting I felt cold. Granted that I did not have my ski mask on so the cold air cut into my neck in the gap between the helmet and jacket causing a strong ache at 50 MPH. Stopped at the grocery store for a few things and a welcome chance to let my flesh thaw. Tomorrow morning the weather forecast calls for 30° so I will definitely cover my tender neck meat as Napoleon Dynamite refers to it.

The ride to work this morning was fantastic. Windy, cold, leaves blowing everywhere under an ominous grey sky. Halloween weather. I expected a witch to fly overhead. Or something out of the Exorcist to happen. I love this weather.

Not much else to report and I want to go sit with Kim and eat popcorn. The new tire is worn in and performs like a champ. The Vespa seems ready for winter. And I have all the motorcycle spaces to myself at work.

I washed the scooter yesterday in part because it was dirty, but mostly because I was taking it into the shop for its annual Pennsylvania Safety Inspection and to have a new rear tire put on. I felt embarrassed at how dirty the thing had gotten from the past month of riding in rain, mud and dirt. The Excalibur Gray Vespa paint really does a good job hiding the dirt but when you get up close or look underneath at the engine……

Here is a shot of the underneath of engine that I posted on the Modern Vespa forum to indicate where the oil drain plug is. That dirty thing to the right is a week old oil filter.

So I hosed it down and washed it up and cleaned most of the underside, at least as much as I could stand before getting bored. All of this is leading to a question of those of you who read and ride. Am I nuts not washing and shining this scooter more often? I definitely have a long history of slim attendance to cleaning. Don’t get me wrong, I do attend to maintenance and mechanical issues, but keeping something shining bright and new just bores the hell out of me. I would rather be riding.

All of this applies equally to my cameras, home, garage, garden, computer hard drive, basement, toolbox and dog. With the Vespa I’ve really tried to be different but if I wash it once a month that’s a lot. I wash my truck maybe three times a year. The last time a friend who borrowed it washed it because it was too dirty for him. It is a truck. It was made to haul wet concrete right?

Anyways, back to the Vespa. I know lots of riders of motorcycles treat their machines with extreme care and patience. My eyes glaze over as they describe some new cleaning product that does a fantastic job but be careful you don’t let it linger too long on this or that. I’ve never seen them with their bike when it didn’t look like it came right off the showroom floor. Not a single scratch from riding down a too narrow path in the woods. No mud spray from the last rain. Just shiny. It’s like those people I see in the neighborhood who are always dressed up. Never once do they appear dirty or unkempt. They have lawn services….

So, advise me readers. What am I missing here? Am I sending my scooter to an early death by not keeping it sparkling? Isn’t it enough to spray the salt off in the winter? Or am I just a lazy man and don’t realize it….