Scooter in the Sticks

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

First Snow Vespa

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Vespa GTS scooter on a cold, gray dayCold Morning Ride

Gray skies, high winds and the temperature hovering near the freezing point provides the first real opportunity to beginning the winter riding tempering process — the slow introduction of body and outlook to the cold.  Do it wrong or too fast and you risk joining the riding masses who put their machines away when the temperature descends below 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

There’s nothing wrong with that decision either.

Riding into town via a slight detour allowed a little more time to face the cold weather music.  Flecks of snow and ice drifted in the air.  It’s time to begin scanning the road differently — identifying potential for ice and other winter hazards.

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

Eventually, the Vespa scooter and I make our way to Saint’s Cafe.  Electric gloves, layers and winter riding gear, balaclava, and chemical heating pads in my boots.  Hands were still cold — I held the pot of hot tea longer than normal to restore the blood flow to my fingers.

I’ll have to put the grip muffs on the scooter to keep the wind off my hands.  They’re magic in that regard.

View of Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.

Photo by Paul Ruby

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

Paul and I get together on Sunday mornings to share photographs and talk about photography.  The intent that the conversation will keep us working.  He just returned from a trip to Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico where he made a photograph at the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  The print he made was stunning and echoed the paintings by Mark Rothko.

Unfortunately, the clear blue sky in the photo was not available today.

snow on a Vespa GTS scooterSnow Begins

The weather forecast promised snow.  Not long after departing from the cozy warmth of Saint’s Cafe the wind started to blow harder and snow arrived — the sticky stuff that requires constant removal from the faceshield on the helmet.

Vespa GTS scooter on a rural road during a snow flurrySnow on the Road

Despite being cold, windy, and having to clear snow off the helmet, the roads stayed only wet without any slippery accumulation of snow.  As I made my way home the snow began to fall harder.  The Vespa GTS 250 has an ambient temperature indicator on the instrument cluster that’s helpful in monitoring when I need to be concerned with water turning into something more dangerous — especially when there’s no salt on the road.

Snow VespaSnow Vespa

I’m not sure if I’m ready for winter.  As pretty as the world looks in the snow there’s a lot of baggage that comes along with it.  I remember how grateful I am to feel warm days in March and dream of putting winter behind me.  But it’s only starting now.

This is the first snow.  I have no idea what the next few months will bring.  I’ll have to go up into the attic over the garage and retrieve my Heidenau snow tires and hope the squirrels haven’t decided to snack on them.

For now, I’ve taken the first step in preparing for winter riding — braving the cold.  For me, it’s a mental challenge.  A snow flurry and temperatures around the freezing mark will give way to temperatures ten degrees lower and so forth.

Will I make it into the sub-zero realm again?

Let It Snow

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black dogs in the snowPlay With Us Daddy

Except for the dogs nothing was going to stand between me and a ride on the Vespa.  Each day begins with a moment of revelation as I push the blind aside to see what the world is offering.  Some mornings find a faint, hot glow from the sun yet to breech the horizon.  This morning it was a blanket of white, dragging me into a cold place where body and spirit contested with a strong, serious desire to ride.

Like helpless children, the dogs need me for food, water and a serious amount of action.  I can pace across the garden in myriad pathways collecting steps on my iPhone that easily consume a mile or more as I throw tennis balls for the dogs, wearing them out, draining the energy gathered through the night.

I swear they know my plans to leave them behind, looking at me with imploring eyes, “Play with us daddy”.  Watching the the sky and thinking about a ride on the Vespa I could hear the rider in me chanting, “Let it snow…”.

Vespa GTS scooter along snowy roadSnow on the Road

In minutes, my riding world moved from wet with incidental snow to snow and the road is getting slippery.  For a moment as I stood along the road trying to keep the camera dry and considering the road surface I started to grumble about winter.

I have had enough.

The evaluation of weather and road was inconclusive but without any striking warning signs.  So on I went.

Snow covered farm field with treesSnow Covered Rural Landscape

Riding has its own rewards with a chance to witness the world just being one.  The snow covered landscape presents a world of quiet solitude that I find energizing.  When I see scenes like this I wish I could paint because a photograph just doesn’t adequately reflect the magic of a place — the energy and thrill of being alive — wind and cold and snow striking skin, firing neurons and bringing the brain into communion with the world.

I knew I would enjoy the ride.  Let it snow.

Vespa GTS scooter in a winter wonderlandVespa in a Winter Wonderland

There are times when I look at the scooter along the road and I feel as if I’m in a fantasy — a sudden beautiful moment that I can only describe as a gift.  It’s an experience born of moving slowly, stillness, and generally an incompatible experience from what I read in motorcycle magazines where speed and breathtaking performance are the focus.

But how many horsepower do I really need to ride?

 

Vespa GTS scooter and Mount NittanyA View of Mount Nittany

The weather moved quickly through the valley and after an hour or so the roads and paths were wet with the temperature hovering in the mid-30s.  The biggest challenge was keeping the visor clear of fog.  At some point during a ride the “adult” in me steps up to spoil the fun and guides the Vespa toward errands and chores.  I’ve not yet found a reliable way to ditch that guy.

He does have his advantages including always having enough cash for a stop at a cafe on a cold morning for tea and a biscuit.  And with one last, long look toward Mount Nittany I started toward home, satisfied with a small ride on a snowy morning. Thirty miles of road time can be some fine medicine.

Is this the last snowy ride of the season?

Cold Morning Vespa Ride

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Vespa GTS scooter in snow on frigid morningFooled by Sunshine

After carefully checking the road in front of the house this morning I decided it was safe to ride — even without the snow tires on the Vespa scooter.  That approach is a decidedly small sampling of the roads in central Pennsylvania so I have to engage a bit of imagination for evaluation of roads not seen along with a look at the weather forecast on my iPhone.  It is, at best, a guess.

The temperature was hovering at 9F with a light wind.  Sunshine has a way of making everything seem ok.  Must be why the eye of a hurricane is so deceptively dangerous.  With sun in my eyes and joy in my heart off I went for a Saturday morning Vespa ride.

Vespa GTS scooter along winter roadCold Hands

My hands have always been the weak link in my winter riding dreams.  They chill quickly despite neoprene guards on the heated grips.  If I was just riding and not always stopping to make photographs the problem would be reduced significantly.  But I’m driven by the camera, or my eyes, or both and hands be damned.  It only takes a few minutes of handling a cold camera for my fingers to start to scream, “Hey Bozo, remember, we all had frostbite!”.

And my cardiologist warned I would not tolerate cold as well.  He’s right.  Seems my old limit somewhere below zero has moved up to around 20F.  Just five miles from home I could sense the cold creeping through my body.  More layers may have helped — I wasn’t at my full gear level — but I think the really cold riding might be in danger.

Vespa GTS scooter on snowy roadVespa Winter Performance

Even without the winter tires the scooter performed well on the constantly changing road surface from bare to snow covered to something in between.  Speed is reduced to allow extra time and space to negotiate the unexpected but this morning the extreme cold provided more traction than there would have been twenty degrees warmer.

The engine has always purred like a kitten in the cold and despite my irrational fear that it won’t start when I’m miles from home it jumped to life each time I pressed the starter.

After less than an hour on the road I pushed the scooter back into the garage and moved on to plan B.  The dogs were happy to see me home so soon.  They’re far more cold tolerant than I am.  You won’t find me lying on the deck licking my bare feet or rolling around in the snow just because it’s there.

I’m a reserved Vespa scooter rider.

Altoona Trek

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Vespa LX 150 in winter at Seven Stars, PennsylvaniaThe weather forecast predicted temperatures in the 40s today so I thought I would take the scooter out for a nice long ride. Thermometer read 35 degrees when I left and the roads were clear. As the sun started to appear it got even a bit warmer though water began appearing on the roads as snow and ice melted. I managed to miss most of the spray from other vehicles but the Vespa will get a bath shortly.

MapQuest says its 48 miles to Altoona from my house but that is the more direct freeway route. I spent two hours and 58 miles on the scooter. That included one stop for hot chocolate, two stops to take pictures, and one last stop for tea. My only complaint was that my hands would get cold and I needed some heavier gloves. Altoona obliged me with a nice heavy pair of TourMaster gloves. They were perfect at $38.00. A necessity for winter riding.

This picture was made near Seven Stars, Pennsylvania on the morning route to Altoona.