Scooter in the Sticks

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

Riding in the Dog Days of Summer

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Old church in Linden Hall, PennsylvaniaThoughts and Feelings of Summer

The crickets and katydids are deafening as I attempt to write. Even through the drone of tinnitus, a hearing affliction that robs me of some of the high frequency details of life. Night sounds whisper of the flush of summer, the fullness of living things just before they begin their decline. A decline toward the end, to autumn and on into winter. Or just the dog days of summer.

Riding, I feel the changes in my bones, as if genetically programmed, an evolutionary alarm to prepare for the coming cold weather. Strange as the temperature in the morning as I wander toward breakfast pushes past 80 degrees and humidity barely alleviated by the rush of air across my chest as the Vespa moves along the road. The old church in Linden Hall, Pennsylvania, stands silent in the thick air. Something is changing.

old, disfigured applesOld Apples and Summer Dreams

Across the road at the Rock Hill School is an old, abandoned apple tree heavy with disfigured fruit, victim of insects and weather. Exactly the sort of fruit that sustained childhood adventures as we perched in trees, pocket knives slicing and carving away the bad parts to provide sweet and sour flesh. Last acts of summer before the onset of fall and the return to school.Continue Reading

On Riding: Gravel, Fog and Heat

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Vespa scooter on gravel road in fogEscape from Heat, Escape from Everything

It’s obvious now why I post so little during the summer. I’ve grown intolerant of the heat.

Riding into town the other day with the temperature just above 90F, grumbling at the hot air pouring through my mesh riding jacket, visor up to let the wind blast away the hot air from heat-stressed lungs with little success, I was just miserable.

And as much as I love riding, there’s something sinister about midday heat that leaves me cold.

So imagine my thrill in the morning when I see the sun hidden by fog and a chance to escape the relentless heat with a little ride.

Standing at the end of the driveway it was apparent that any respite would require a gain in altitude if I wanted to get lost in a mysterious world.  And that would mean riding up into Rothrock State Forest and gravel roads. Vespa riding on gravel brings it’s own special challenges.Continue Reading