Scooter in the Sticks

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

Two Vespa Scooters

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gray day and rural landscapeGrayness and the Landscape

It was one of those days when the light and atmosphere changed minute by minute. And to make things even more unpredictable I was riding for the first time with fellow Vespa rider, Andy Heckathorne.

Two Vespa scooters on the road.

Riding with another person, especially for the first time, is a bit unsettling. You’re letting someone into your personal space. And you have a choice of being yourself or to put on a facade.

For me, the biggest concerns I have when riding with someone else are my slow speeds due to rubbernecking and my desire to stop and take pictures.

Andy experienced a little of both.Continue Reading

Thinking About Riders

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David Masse lying on the road in Sproul State ForestPeople You Meet on the Road

Riders are unique individuals. They may ride the same scooter or motorcycle, or dress according to a code or style, but when you look closely, they’re different in small ways, and big. Thinking about riders I’ve known, I’ve not met two who are the same.

Recently I had the opportunity to ride again with my friend Paul Ruby, and with fellow blogger and Vespa rider, David Masse, who had ridden his scooter from Toronto, Canada to have a closer look at the sticks of Pennsylvania.

There’s a special magic in the mountains and forests of central Pennsylvania that can cause even the most even tempered riders to succomb to a sudden onset of riding madness — that temporary giddiness that results from flying through the world on two wheels. And when it happens, it’s hard to tell where it will lead.

It’s not often that you meet a Canadian lying in the road.Continue Reading

Take a Ride

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Paul Ruby with his Piaggio Fly 150 scooterThe Secret Garage

I can’t be sure if my friend Paul refers to this place as his garage, or his secret garage.  Either way, there’s always a bit of mystery here each time I visit.  We were going to take a ride a couple weeks ago to breakfast somewhere, the usual dubious plan that’s driven by hunger and an associated desire to ride.

Past visits to the secret garage have seen the place flooded from hard rains, full of cars and motorcycles, or piled high with pallets of old electronic equipment destined for eBay. His Ferrari, a 1975 308 GT4, lives under a blue car cover. I’m never quite sure what goes on here. With his Fuji X100F camera in tow, he dusted off the Piaggio Fly 150 scooter and we got on the road.Continue Reading

No Schedule

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still life of an empty cup and a tea potSimplicity

This past Friday at 5pm my intent to retire from Penn State became irrevocable.  At the end of June I’ll step on to a path for the next adventure.  One of the siren songs of this new life is possibility of having no schedule to live by.  I can’t comprehend what that might be like.

Last weekend I rode into town to meet my friend Paul at Saint’s Cafe and look at some new photographs he made in Nova Scotia.  The simplicity of a cup of tea reminds me of what retirement could be — an opportunity to focus on one thing at a time without a chorus of mental heralds shrieking a list of times and places I have to be.

Vespa GTS scooter in State College, PennsylvaniaVespa Riding

The ride from home to town is familiar.  So much so that I have to heed that I don’t become complacent on the road.  My back still hasn’t recovered sufficiently to entertain long rides.  Four posts in September attest to the physical limitations I’m working with.

I’ve been looking at motorcycles again with an eye to adding one to the garage when I retire.  While partial to the Vespa scooter it surprises me how little excitement I can generate for any particular motorcycle.  The scooter has wrecked me for them perhaps.

Saint's Cafe in State College, PennsylvaniaSaint’s Cafe, State College, Pennsylvania

Even though the physical space remains the same, and often times I see familiar faces, Saint’s Cafe is like an ongoing story with twists and turns you can’t predict.  I never know what I’ll see or experience.  Can’t imaging growing tired of the place.

Retirement will test that theory.  And I’ll test it again in the morning.

I have a schedule to keep tomorrow.  Ugh…

Alaskan Rider in the Sticks

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Richard and Bridget Machida at Penn StateRichard Machida (motoblogger and rider) and his wife Bridget put aside -18F temperatures in Alaska to make there way to the sticks to say hello.  I have to apologize to Bridget for not paying closer attention to the inherent wide angle distortion when making this photograph  and trying to get them and the tower at Penn State’s Old Main building in the photo.

We strolled across campus and talked about riding, motorcycles with sidecars, traveling and work as I tried to point out a few highlights on the University Park campus of Penn State.

Richard and Bridget Machida in BoalsburgDinner time found us in front of Duffy’s Tavern in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.  This is turning into a pilgrimage location for URAL riders — Richard on this night and not long ago Dom Chang, author of “A Redleg’s Rides“, had dinner with me here.

The conversation took turns and traveled through many topics including Richard suggesting more than once the addition of a side car rig to my riding choices.  I politely declined adding I’ve given close friends orders to shoot me if they see me wearing a white belt with white shoes, or if they see me towing a side car.

I’m certain Dom Chang put him up to the side car suggestions.

Richard MachidaDay turned into night and Richard and his wife had to get on the road.  One last picture which brought, “No flash?”.  With the Canon G15 with its fast 1.8 lens and ISO 6400 you can shoot in low light without a flash.

This is the third time our paths have crossed — once at the BMW rally in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, once in the Denver airport, and now here in Boalsburg.

It’s a small world.

MoosetardBefore leaving Bridget reminded Richard that he had a present for me — a fine jar of Alaskan Moosetard.   Their website suggests a person goes wild with this stuff.  I hope I don’t wake up with a headache and discover I bought a URAL.

Seriously though, I want to thank Richard and Bridget for taking time from their trip to the East from Alaska to drive up to see me.  I’ve met a lot of fine people through blogging.

Have a safe trip back to Alaska and I hope the temperature rises above 0F for you!