Scooter in the Sticks

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

The Solitude of Snow

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Snow covered road in a forest
A quiet meditation in Rothrock State Forest. The kind of scene I strive to find while riding the scooter in the solitude of snow.

Quiet Times in Life

At times I wonder if it makes much sense to call what I do riding. I strain for a better, more accurate term to describe what I do but have found nothing. Riding. It’s what I do. Those first miles on the Vespa LX150 were so enthralling, my spirit which was long immersed in the thick, syrupy depths of adult life, was suddenly and unexpectedly hurled backwards into the unbridled ignorance and joy of childhood as I guided this new machine through a world suddenly alive with sights, sounds and fragrances that I would not understand how I had not experienced before.

Freedom, That word has been so thoroughly perverted by politics and commerce that I hesitate to invoke it now. But that is what I felt when I started to ride. A freedom from the weight of adulthood, from task and responsibility, from the slow drain of life that I was surely aware. The flight of the Vespa with me on its back was a new creature, free and thrilled to be alive on this earth.

Is it any wonder that I refused to surrender it to the cold and winter? What man or woman who experienced what I had would let it go, even for a few days let alone an entire season. And so I ventured forth and found the solitude of snow.

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Ramblings of a Riding Eccentric

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Vespa GTS scooter on rural road under a dramatic sky
A fine way to start a day — on a Vespa scooter under a dramatic sky.

Behold the Morning

There’s something thrilling to be on the road with the Vespa on a cold, crisp morning under a dramatic sky. Scanning the horizon the world seems strange, different than the one I normally inhabit. My old hearten quickens and I feel a crackle of energy through my body. For a moment I feel on fire, right there, right now. And that feeling follows me throughout the day.

Sitting here now, looking at this photograph of my Vespa GTS scooter, the memories of that morning feel melodramatic. Almost like a dream. And if it were not for the fact that I’ve experienced that same feeling dozens and dozens of times I might dismiss it as the odd ramblings of a riding eccentric.

Perhaps that’s what I am.

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Breathing in Spring on a Vespa Scooter

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Vespa scooter stopped on a rural road in early morning light.
Stopped along a road near Linden Hall, Pennsylvania.

Bathed in Wind and Light

The scooter is the lightest it will be all year. The first rides after removing the winter protection from the scooter. The machine feels as if it’s floating over the road, nimbly dodging patches of gravel and pavement holes and cracks from a too harsh winter. And with it all goes a lightness of being that’s nearly beyond description. How do you tell someone of a smile wrapped around a heartache fired by a sense of freedom felt while bathed in wind and light.

I no longer manufacture reasons to ride. More often than not I say to my wife, “I’m going for a scooter ride.” She understands that I get something from them even if she can’t experience the feelings first hand. The rides of early spring bring a new optimism and hope for better things ahead. Winter quickly burns from memory as the scooter travels through a complex mix of birdsong, fragrances of flowers and moist earth.

Astonishment rides along with me as I drink in the spring.

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The Quiet of the Road

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Vespa GTS scooter on an open rural landscapeRiding in the Quiet Landscape

The Vespa’s exhaust is louder than normal. The low hum through the earplugs has a sharper note with a noticeable rapping. The sound of a failing exhaust unit gasket. Hot gases escaping before they should and threatening damage to the scooter. It’s all getting in the way of the quiet of the road.

I make no thunder in the valley.

Riding, especially alone, is a perfect prescription for someone seeking solitude and space to think. Even if it is about mundane concerns like exhaust noise. A few days ago the morning offered the familiar fog that comes with melting snow — a fine backdrop for my simple rides of late. Standing in a field, looking at the scooter, peering at the horizon veiled in mist with my thoughts.

That’s why I ride. That’s how I meditate. In the quiet of the road.Continue Reading

Vespa Meditation

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Buddha statue in a treeStrange Reminder of a Vespa Meditation

I saw this Buddha statue in the hollow of a tree toward the end of a ride. It highlighted what I was experiencing on the scooter — a deliberate and ongoing rumination of thoughts and questions that cloud my mind along with a more and more focused recognition of the world as experienced as a scooter rider.

Sometimes it’s nice to let body and mind free for a few moments to seek some natural balance.

Vespa GTS scooter on Bald Eagle ridgeWinding Along the Road

It was still cool, low sixties, when I rode over Bald Eagle Mountain on a wonderfully twisting road complete with a hairpin turn.  The challenge was to let go of plan and expectation so I could be present for whatever presented itself rather than be completely locked in my head.

I saw a half dozen deer in the middle of the road during the ride included a couple of clumsy fawns.

Vespa GTS scooter in timber cutOff-road Vespa

Could pass up an opportunity to check out the view from a newly cut woodlot.  A short ride off-road on the scooter reminding me of how versatile the Vespa actually is.  While not a dirt bike the scooter can easily handle most of what a casual rider would encounter off-road.

Vespa GTS scooter at a lime plantMaking Photographs

I try and make photographs that reflect what I saw and felt on the road.  They serve as snippets of memory recording the stories made up by the details discovered during a ride.  That’s not dependent on riding a Vespa or connected to any particular camera.

When I first stopped at the limestone plant I lined up the scooter in the picture but something was missing — the old railroad tracks.  They were part of what I felt about the place.

Didn’t go far on the ride, less than 50 miles, but I’ve learned that I can get my head focused in a way to see and experience more.  It’s not just fun, it’s a Vespa meditation.