Scooter in the Sticks

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

Riding Daydreams

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Vespa GTS scooter on a winding roadMeandering Roads

It’s startling at times to realize how slow I can ride on the scooter.  As speeds of 15 or 20 miles per hour you see things — like the “S” curve that reminded me of the Scooter in the Sticks logo.  It’s this kind of trail that I’m drawn to; little meandering paths through forests and fields where, like an archeologist, I might see evidence of hidden stories.  And it’s on these rides that the riding daydreams come.

Vespa GTS parked at an abandoned railroad grade of the Lewisburg and Tyrone RailroadLewisburg and Tyrone Railroad

It was a chilly ride yesterday morning as the temperature climbed toward the freezing mark.  The road was bone dry but still demands respect and attention where there’s a possibility, however remote, of ice.  As I ride I find myself daydreaming about what a place might have looked like in the past — what would a native American crossing this area see, did a Tyrannosaurus walk this way 68 million years ago.  Or what would I find 68 million years in the future.

That’s the sort of daydreams I have when I’m riding. Quiet, in the background, and kept in a space that doesn’t rob critical attention from the road.

Not exactly dinosaur material but still a look to the past is this abandon railroad grade that was once part of the Lewisburg and Tyrone Railroad.  It’s grown over now after being abandoned in the 1960s but you can still make out the line just to the left of center of the photo.  I worked with an art director for a long time, Jim McClure, who was on the State College, Pennsylvania Borough Council when the railroad company was going to abandon most of the lines in Centre County.  Jim was excited because the borough had the opportunity to take ownership of those lines and stations.  He had a vision of a commuter line or walking and biking trails.

Unfortunately he was decades ahead of his time because the council saw no value in such an idea.

Vespa GTS scooter and iceFrozen Landscape

Evidence of the cold was still present, here in the form of icicles hanging from a rock outcrop, reminders to watch the throttle despite the road giving every indication of being ice free.

Daydreaming in the cold isn’t easy if you’re cold.  I’m pleased to report all my gear is doing a bang up job keeping me toasty.  The First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket has been fantastically warm, a new pair of insulated riding pants the same, and the Tucano Urbano hand grip muffs along with the KOSO heated grips have kept my hands hot at the freezing mark.

So I’m engaging a lot of riding daydreams even in the frozen landscape.

Vespa GTS scooter on rural roadThrough the Countryside

There are times when I feel I have the whole world to myself.  Riding alone takes you to those places and provides an opportunity to let go of a lot of the baggage that makes living tedious if you let it.  Standing in this plain, ordinary rural landscape, I imagine myself the master of my universe.  At least for a moment.  It’s as if a daydream becomes tangible for a one short moment.

Vespa GTS scooter on a farm roadVespa GTS 250ie — Utility Vehicle

I can kid myself that the scooter can go anywhere.  Anyone who’s ridden one knows that’s not true.  They’re more capable that you might expect but they will frustrate an experienced rider in lots of situations.  With a morning glow still in the air I was already wandering and watching, daydreaming of nothing and everything, imaging a journey across the wilderness.   One with a coffee shop just miles away.

It’s a fine way to ride.

American Bison on a pastureRemnants of Destruction

Not all daydreams are pleasant.  I was surprised to see a small herd of American Bison quietly grazing in a pasture just a short ride from my home.  The story of the bison still makes my blood boil and reminds me why we sometimes need a government to protect us from ourselves.

Look at this timeline. I could cry.

For more information check out the Library of Congress’s The Extermination of the American Bison article.

Vespa GTS scooter on a forest roadRiding Daydreams

Thoughts and images flow easily when the ride is easy and uncluttered by concerns of traffic.  The myriad forest roads in central Pennsylvania support a simple ride and can absorb almost any conflict — the enchanted forest that haunts the pages of children’s stories and I carry along now.

Metal sculpture at the Pleasant Gap American LegionMetal Men

A man constructed of an automobile transmission, exhaust pipes and brake parts stands guard outside the American Legion Post 867.  There’s no indication of the significance or artist but it is firmly attached to the pavement.  This fellow is here for the long haul.

Vespa with the Honda GROMBoxes of Hondas

Toward the end of the ride, before turning toward home to brave the Super Bowl shoppers at the grocery story, I came across a stash of Honda motorcycles neatly stacked in their boxes.  There were about a dozen motorcycles being stored outside along a small road.  No indication of who they belonged to or where they were headed.

An example of the relative safety of things in central Pennsylvania.  And when you feel safe, maybe there are a few more riding daydreams…

Introduction to Vespa Riding: Coffee Shops

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Vespa scooter along a rural roadSolitary Experience

Riding a scooter or motorcycle, by nature, leans toward a solitary experience.  A passenger can be included or machines can congregate in groups and technology can be added to provide communication but rider and machine make up the critical whole.  People, and riders, like many forms of animal life, tend to congregate in flocks, herds, swarms and packs.  My riding tilts toward the loner. Any introduction to Vespa riding should point out those two schools of travel.

There is ample information available in print and online regarding the technical skills and requirements for safe operation of scooters and motorcycles so I won’t attempt to add anything here.  But their are unique, though certainly not universal, riding experiences that perhaps warrant attention.

Like the coffee shop experience.

Street scene in State College, PennsylvaniaCoffee Shops in Cities and Towns Across America

I can only speak for Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland and West Virginia.  Others might weigh in on the rest of the country as I illuminate the non-moving part of a ride, the coffee shop experience.  What I refer to is that moment during a ride when you say to yourself, “I’m taking a rest”, and you find yourself sitting in a small establishment dedicated to serving hot, brown liquid along with a small array of food.

Whether one of the nearly 13 thousand Starbucks establishments in the United States or the countless other local shops I’ve found these stops holding more than just a place to eat and drink.  These places can be an adventure in themselves for the observant rider.

Making coffee at Saint's Cafe in State College, PennsylvaniaMaking Coffee

Confession — I don’t drink coffee. Ever.  But they aroma is intoxicating and the myriad processes of refinement and concoction are fascinating and at times border on magical.  I’ve watched mesmerized as a barista creates art amidst a steaming cup of coffee with a flourish of hand and liquid.  It’s a far cry from a waitress showing up with a glass pot of black coffee from a BUNN coffee system.  It’s not better, just different.

And worth noticing as all sorts of traditions and rituals are swept aside as modernized processes take their place.  Maybe coffee shops, the small ones, are a last bastion of human endeavor.

I’m probably exaggerating the point.

Man sitting in coffee shop looking out windowWatching the World

I’ve found coffee shops good places to relax and think.  Unlike the hustling energy in a restaurant a coffee shop allows a person to fade into the background.  Watching this person at Saint’s Cafe I’m reminded of my own need to collect my thoughts.

Frequently.

Riding a Vespa scooter, or a motorcycle demands a heightened level of attention to the road in order to stay safe.  Bringing those skills indoors, especially if you’re making photographs, helps you see what’s going on around you.  I’m always amazed at how much I neglect to notice.

People in a coffee shopConsuming Information

It’s increasingly rare to see someone reading a newspaper in the places I haunt. Information consumption by mobile devices has already and will continue to change the face of the information world.  There’s a price though and as I watched these people I could not help but think the newspaper reader seemed more relaxed.

Probably a bias on my part. If I’m not already addicted to my iPhone I can see it from here.

Who am I kidding.  I feel naked without it.

Carl Ector in Saint's Cafe

Friends and Acquaintances

Like the bar family in the TV show Cheers, the same thing can happen in a coffee shop.  Carl is one of the regulars I’ve come to know from my frequent visits to Saint’s Cafe and appears periodically in photographs I make.

Riding a Vespa scooter or a motorcycle transports a rider through the world.  I often hear it’s all about the ride or the journey but I’ve come to realize the destination can also play an exceptional part of the ride.  For me, a coffee shop is one of those exceptional places.

What places are you and your ride drawn to?

Dream Within a Dream

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Cloud covered landscape in central Pennsylvania with solitary tree

At that moment today when the sun pierced the heavy gray sky and the world dazzled for a moment, I thought I might be in a dream.  And after daydreaming of life as the winner of a mega-lottery prize then surely it’s a dream within a dream.

Riding has always sparked my imagination and I attempt no restraint or restriction and let it run wild through whatever conception it might create.  I’ve been young and old, rich and poor, surrounded by wealth as a king or traveling through life as an amiable vagabond.  Or perhaps just the good husband and father I try to be.

On this day I’m pleased my body and spirit has adjusted to the cold and finds 39F a comfortable condition for a ride on the Vespa scooter.

Vespa GTS scooter with heavy vines along a road

Dreams allow for an escape from the chaos of existence.  For a moment things can proceed smoothly and easily and there’s time to actually appreciate the power chaos has igniting action.  Kim read to me earlier this even of artists and creators finding inspiration amidst chaos and disorganization and how they often strive to create it.

I’m still wondering…

vine wrapped tree in winter

There’s a quiet mystery and beauty in the chaos created by wandering vines.  If those lines are a reflection of my thoughts on a crazy day then perhaps I need step back more often to appreciate rather than resist where my mind is taking me.  Step back, watch, be bored, and see what happens.

Like a researcher of life.

Vespa GTS at a convenience store

After adding one gallon of premium gasoline to the Vespa I had to go inside to invest four dollars in the Powerball drawing.  I had a pretty good idea of how I would divide the winnings through family and friends, what foundations I would create and how I would quietly announce my retirement.

All part of a dream within a dream.

Vespa GTS scooter on Calder Alley in State College, Pennsylvania

Daydreams fade when more people and vehicles draw near.  The realities of scooting to Gemelli’s Bakery for bread or the pharmacy to face sticker shock are not fodder for dreams — rather a reminder of what world I inhabit.

Despite the bubble dissolving the Vespa remains a quiet servant of pleasure and discovery.  It’s hard to describe, especially to non-riders, how a little, two-wheeled machine can perform magic.

And not the kind of magic involving juggling or guessing ages and weights…

Vespa GTS scooter on a country road

The chill, the dampness, the gloomy sky conspire to create a physical challenge to surmount — the framework for a Vespa mini-adventure.  After 30 thousand miles with the scooter I’m still smiling, still exploring, still appreciating the secrets a ride reveals, especially when I find myself in a dream within a dream.

Rain Riding

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Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.
Soren Kierkegaard

Vespa GTS scooter on winding wet roadWith rain riding, the road is long and often dark.

Especially during the last week.  Rain and heavy overcast has created what can be an oppressive environment for riding both physically and mentally.  Rain riding often asks for a little extra from a rider to get on the road and stay safe while there.

Stopping along the road to make a photograph gives you a chance to examine the pavement you’re riding on.  A few steps, a drag of the sole of a boot along the road surface provides a sense of traction and the limits to work within.

And I’m always looking at the landscape in which my life unfolds.  On some days it can feel like a scene from a movie.

Vespa scooter alongside bicycle pathThe universe provides reminders that it’s not a movie.

Like finding a new bicycle path as a hint that some of my motorized riding could be transitioned to body powered travel in recognition of a healthier way of living.

I looked at my pink mountain bike today and considered riding it for a fleeting moment.

Vespa GTS scooter and farm landscapeThe world is a big place with magic everywhere.

I feel that but know it hasn’t always been the case.  Something changed that has allowed me to see the world differently.  I like to ascribe that change to riding the Vespa but I could just as easily credit my camera which has forced a continual visual engagement.

If pushed I would probably say the advancement of years has made everything more precious.  Looking around I realize how fleeting it all is.  Riding provides a front row seat on the world.  Getting older provides the patience to watch the show.

Round bales in a farm fieldReality is strange.

Riding across the valley south of State College brings a rider through some open, rolling agricultural areas.  The round bales almost seemed like some new form of livestock as they sat in the corn stubble.  The scene feels more like a painting than a photograph.

Vespa scooter and a foggy apple orchardYou can never see everything.

Fog and mist shroud the ridge tops obscuring the view. Imagination fills in the gaps and I’m always imagining Brigadoon.  Funny how stories stick in your head and trigger a desire for something magic to happen.  I have a long list of daydreams.

Vespa GTS scooter at the Pump Station Cafe in Boalsburg, PAThere is rest for the weary.

By the end of the ride, just shy of 50 miles, I was feeling the dampness and chill seep into my body.  Not painful or uncomfortable but enough to allow genuine appreciation of a hot drink in a warm place.  It’s easy to imagine travelers moving through the wilderness 200 years ago by wagon or horse and coming upon an inn at the end of a long day.

And so I sit with my hot tea staring out the window and imagining other lives and times, all because of a little rain riding.

Riding and Writing

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Whether you’re keeping a journal or writing as a meditation, it’s the same thing. What’s important is you’re having a relationship with your mind.
— Natalie Goldberg

Vespa GTS scooter and Mount Nittany on Christmas morningChristmas morning, a short ride through the valley, alone on the road with my thoughts, an experience I’ve come to call meditation.  Lest the word become off-putting I have to say those meditative experiences range from quiet reflection to exhilarating thrill with great measures of fun stirred into the mix.  I find both riding and writing play an important role in how I wrestle with the sights and sounds of the road I travel — literally and figuratively.

I keep three journals.  One, a small Moleskine journal which travels with me almost everywhere to dump noise and fear, frolic and joy as needed.  Another larger plain, black Moleskine classic notebook that I sketch ideas for blog posts and riding dreams and nightmares.  And the third is Scooter in the Sticks where many posts take shape from a blank screen as I push my fingers over the keyboard with undefined need.

In each case, riding and writing often play a role in sorting out what’s moving through my head.

Standing alone in a field and gazing across the valley I call home is common.  Sometimes it lasts only a moment while I make a photograph. Others are a more extended visit while I engage a larger conversation with the universe or as someone recently suggested a conversation with God.

Vespa scooter on a winding forest roadEveryone has limits — real and imagined.  For riders it might be weather, location or time of day.  Riding through a little gravel track in the woods on a Vespa scooter may work for me but rise toward the top of the stupid list for another.  Regardless, for every rider the important part is to ride and for many that act is a challenge with so many competing demands for time and attention.  Sometimes it’s just hard to make the choice to go for a ride.

The same applies to writing. Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within is perhaps the finest book on writing I have read and helps move from a few scribbled notes on through doubt on to something called writing.

For me writing has been a faithful friend through joyous and troubled times alike.  It requires little more than a willingness to invest myself with time.  Most of what I write is never seen by anyone and I seldom look back at what I’ve written.  The act itself is the end much like riding — the movement through space, physical or mental, is its own reward.

Vespa scooter on a misty morningIf pressured to describe myself I’ll say I’m alone in the world.  Many of my photographs are probably a reflection of that feeling.  Perhaps I see myself as the Vespa.  That idea isn’t important.  What is important is how I’ve come to know myself.

Riding and writing open doorways to access what otherwise may remain hidden — thoughts and feelings bubbling below the surface yet animating actions and behaviors.  Finding those tools along with others has been a gift.  When asked about Scooter in the Sticks I tell people it’s a blog about riding a Vespa scooter.  And while that’s true it’s more than that for me — it’s an opportunity to sift through experience and hold onto the little lessons that are easy to miss.

Standing in a field on looking out at the world I see my long dead parents and the Christmas mornings we had.  I see my heart attack and physical life beyond.  I see my family and their hopes and dreams.  I see myself as an old man riding a Vespa.  And without writing I would be blind to those lessons.

Riding and writing — the gift to myself on Christmas.