Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650

Selfishness and Sacrifice

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Vespa GTS scooter in the snow
The snow was coming down too fast and sticking to the ground. Time to go home.

Safe Snow

I fly out the door on the Vespa scooter when I see fog or snow.  Earlier in the week, I made it to the end of the street before I realized what I considered “safe” snow was anything but.  And that I best get home while I still could.  Those large, flying flakes were actually starting to ice up on the road.  It occurred to me that it was stupid to be riding in the snow, perhaps even riding at all, if a bump or fall could add me to the already nervous medical staff of the local Emergency Room.

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First VLOG Entry

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I thought about making videos for a long time. Blog or Vlog or both. People have asked me about it for a long time. And I’ve resisted making any for a long time. And then this morning I made this:

My first VLOG offering is about the zombie apocalypse.

Your thoughts would be appreciated. Not sure where I might go with such things as video. This one was a spur of the moment thing. No script. No planning. A non-stabilized camera on the end of a little tripod. Stabilization added in the editing process that cropped the heck out of my head.

Still, I wonder if it would allow me some creative vacation from writing all the time.

I’m not Steve McQueen and I’m hardly animated. So there’s no future in VLOGGING for me I suppose. Still, I have ideas.

A VLOG completed.

Riding in the Zombie Apocalypse

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BMW K75 motorcycle on rural road
A BMW K75 motorcycle in the zombie apocalypse.

Reality in the Bright Sun

Can I outrun the advancing zombies on my motorcycle? Those words echo in the darker chasms of my mind, a river of fear flows through the abyss and I’ve slowly overcome by a fever of fear and anxiety. Far above there’s panic in the world. And the only treatment, or at least the one I reach for first is to go for a ride.

Riding imparts a quiet solitidue in my head. It can wash away the darkness and leave me standing in the sunlight, upright, calm and with a renewed perspective on the day. Or at least that’s my hope as I push the BMW K75 out of the garage.

I’m attracted to stories containing threads of melancholy and loss; especially in literature and movies. Irresistible forces and frightening odds with a protaginest who emerges beaten and bruises, heavy with grief yet triumphant as a representative of all that’s good with humanity. It’s never been clear to me why I’m attracted to these stories. I’m neither a hero in life or in the fantasies that drift through dream and consciousness.

It’s early morning with dazzling sunlight, welcomed after so many days of a monotone grayness that whispers to crawl into bed and go to sleep. The motorcycle moves smoothly along the highway as I head south along the front ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. It’s colder than I thought it would be, a few degrees below freezing, and my feet producing a dull ache as they give way to the cold. Another stop, this time for fuel and some time indoors to allow my body to warm.

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Anatomy of a Vespa Rider

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Illustration of Andy Heckathorne
Heckadude Morning Coffee. By Andy Heckathorne.

Thoughts and Musings with Andy Heckathorne

Andy Heckathorne’s recent winter riding photographs on Instagram sparked the idea of interviewing him. Those images, along with the portrait with the coffee mug above visually encapsulate his easy and thoughtful manner. This is my first interview in 15 years of posting on Scooter in the Sticks. When I saw those scenes of his Vespa GTS300 scooter on those snow-covered roads I just had to know a little more about what made him tick.

Andy is an art director at Penn State, where he and a team of designers manage the branding and advertising needs for more than 50 revenue-generating auxiliary and business units. These include Housing and Food Services, The Nittany Lion Inn, and the Bryce Jordan Center.

After hours, Andy also runs his own illustration and design business. His artwork’s been featured on everything from albums, billboards, and beer trucks, to sports uniforms and on the American Eagle Building in Times Square.

Andy lives with his wife and three teenaged sons in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, a lovely Victorian town about 12 miles from Penn State. His favorite outdoor activities include hiking, kayaking, playing softball, exercising the family dog, and of course, riding his Vespa scooter.

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Portrait of a Portrait

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Andy Heckathorne holding up print of a portrait of Steve Williams
From one scooterist to another.

Andy Heckathorne, husband, father, artist, scooter rider.

My friend, artist and fellow Vespa scooter rider, Andy Heckathorne, surprised me with a portrait of me with my scooter. Aside from a stick figure I got for $10 from a scam artist at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, this is the first non-photographic representation of me I’ve ever seen.

It feels exactly right.

From the camera around my neck, the cross-armed pose, the details of the scooter, to the snowy landscape of the forest, it’s a perfect portrayal of the relationship I have with riding a Vespa. Andy even got the graying hair right.

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Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650

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