Scooter in the Sticks

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

Riding in Pennsylvania’s Magnificent Forests

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Looking up into the forest canopy.
Peering up into a canopy of hemlock and fir trees.

Surrounded by Trees

Every rider finds themselves blessed (or cursed) by where they live. Long ago I knew living in the middle of the vast forest lands of central Pennsylvania was a gift.

In 1681, when King Charles II gave a nearly 29-million-acre expanse of old-growth trees to William Penn, clearing a Royal debt and ridding the Crown of a troublesome Quaker religious movement by sending them across the Atlantic, I’m enjoying the benefits of that deal today.

Nearly 60 percent of Pennsylvania is still forested and provides a seemingly endless supply of dirt and gravel roads to explore. And for me, they begin just two miles from my front door. For my friend Paul and I, those roads are always beckoning.

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Riding-Based Winterization

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Vespa GTS scooter parked along a rural road on a foggy morning.
A pause to admire the fog and the scooter.

Accepting Colder Weather

It’s no secret that I ride in cold weather. There may be a growing element of secrecy regarding my feelings about doing it. While the 2006 Vespa GTS 250 scooter is still ready and willing to head out in the coldest weather I cannot make the same claim. Each year as winter approaches I feel a greater resistance to abandoning the warmth and comfort of home so I can continue with my annual riding-based winterization program.

The idea of parking the machine for five or six months did not sit well. Too many warm days during the winter that I would want to ride. And plenty of freezing days where the roads were dry. Twenty years ago I swear I never felt cold. Now I am chilled lingering too long in front of an open refrigerator. But if I am going to avoid draining fuels, pulling batteries, or adding Stabil to tanks, I need to keep riding.

The best method for me now is to start early, ride often, and ease into the cold.

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Remembering Summer Rides

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Motorcycle rider taking in the view in the Appalachian Mountains.
A view in Pennsylvania’s Rothrock State Forest of the Appalachian Mountains during one of my summer rides.

The weather has turned markedly colder and the shortened daylight triggers some biological reaction that doesn’t feel great. Looked back to brighter, warmer, days and rides enters my thoughts more frequently now. Rather than gird and prepare myself for riding in colder weather I’m spending more time remembering summer rides. Like this one with my friend Dave that was merely a ride to breakfast. Just not the closest place or the most direct route.

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Royal Enfield Himalayan on Dirt and Gravel

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2022 Royal Enfield Himalayan on a gravel forest road.
Is this the preferred environment for my Himalayan?

Dirt and Gravel

There was a week of unseasonably warm weather that I watched slip by due to things more important than riding. Finally, on a sunny, warm afternoon, a few hours before sunset, I decided to take the Royal Enfield Himalayan on dirt and gravel in nearby Rothrock State Forest.

The motorcycle has proved to be everything I hoped it would be — comfortable, capable, and a joy to ride. It is the right machine for me to finally explore all the dirt and gravel roads that crisscross the forests and mountains from the Maryland border north to the New York border.

I’m going to ride on all of them.

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From Gray into the Light

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Almost two months have passed since my last post to Scooter in the Sticks. Finally, I’ve emerged from gray into the light.

Vespa GTS scooter on foggy forest road.
Riding through a foggy morning in Rothrock State Forest.

From time to time, I find myself wandering in a world of doubt, fear, and uncertainty, and everything becomes gray.  At first, I blamed the nagging pandemic and how it affected my life yet a close inspection revealed little change in my daily life.  I’ve been riding my Vespa scooter and BMW motorcycle throughout the summer and into the fall with little concern for what’s happening in the world, pandemic or otherwise.  Still, there is the familiar, comforting rush being on two wheels, my spirit vibrating with excitement and a stupid smile across my face that surely speaks of lunacy.

Yet when I sit down to write about those experiences I quickly descend into a gray abyss where ideas, thoughts, feelings, and memory evaporate.  I face a blank wall. It’s an unsettling landscape without a roadmap or destination.  After a while, I’m left wondering if I will ever emerge from gray into the light.

Without explanation, I wake to find myself standing in the light with something to write.

And there it is, my Vespa GTS scooter on a narrow road leading through Rothrock State Forest on a foggy morning.  The small tires moved smoothly along the gravel, the air full of moisture with the fragrance of leaves, and the feeling of being alive life filled me as I moved through nowhere to nowhere.  I remember that morning now and how it felt to be in the world.

For a while, I wondered if the desire to write had left me.  Numerous rides during the past four months along with many photographs had not triggered a need to write.  My mind was wandering elsewhere.  My body was engaged elsewhere.  Perhaps it was the end.

And then I emerged from gray into the light.

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