Scooter in the Sticks

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

VIDEO: Ordinary Rides

by 28 Comments

Not everyone has the interest or opportunity to ride across a continent. Or any number of other adventures possible on a scooter or motorcycle for that matter. Time, expense, circumstance, or lack of interest can effectively remove such rides from the realm of the possible. Despite such limitations, you can have a great time on ordinary rides.

I’ve found that the experiences I once considered essential items on an ever lengthening bucket list were, for me, just a distorted version of consuming and buying in the belief that happiness and fulfillment lay that way.

A recent ride through familiar places reminded me of how little is necessary for me to have an adventure.

Just some of the thoughts and feelings that occur while riding.

This is my eighth VLOG posting of the ten I planned to do before evaluating if there is any reason to continue. They remain interesting puzzles to solve but I fear my lack of verbal tendencies may make them difficult to continue to produce.

Despite those concerns, I continue to experiment and explore what might be possible.

Riding in the New Normal World

by 12 Comments

Motorcycle and Vespa parked along a rural road.
My friend Paul and I riding in the new normal world.

Social Distancing with Motorcycles and Scooters


Every day I wake to what appears to be another regular, familiar, normal day. This morning the sun was shining in a dazzling clear blue sky. A runner passes in front of the house followed by a bicycle rider and then a man walking a dog. There are clues that something is different but unless I’m looking for them, nothing would hint to me that I’m living in a different world. A world that suggests I act a little differently too.

That brings me to riding. Two days after Pennsylvania’s “Stay at Home” order ended my friend Paul and I decided we would take a little ride together. That’s normal. But we did make a few changes. Like when stopping for photos we now park a little farther away from each other.

Continue Reading

Another Turned Page: Autumn Scooter Riding

by 20 Comments

Vespa scooter along a rural road in autumn.
Enthralled by the dazzling light and color of autumn.

Autumn, the magic hour of light and air of the year.

The dazzling power of autumn sunshine quickens the spirit. The helmet visor is often up to absorb the energy that temporarily dissolves care and concern to nothingness. Autumn scooter riding is magical. I’ve been riding and witnessing the world but giving voice to the experiences has eluded me.

I’ve been riding, consistently these past few months, but I’ve not given voice to experience nor story. Why? Because autumn is the season in which I notice the march of time, of the world, and of myself. Another turned page of my life. The world is crisp, golden and I’’m hypnotized by the leaves fluttering to earth. But something is different now. Friedrich Neitzsche wrote, ” Notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.”

My soul is restless. It happens this time of year.

Continue Reading

Winding Roads

by 27 Comments

Winding roads sign with gnarled treeAround the Next Bend

I’m attracted to winding roads, curves and the twisting challenges they present. While some riders strive to race through them, I find I travel slower while taking in as much detail I can. Central Pennsylvania is rich with bright yellow signs of winding roads. And it’s flush with metaphoric symbols like this tree that has toiled and endured insult and the advancement of years. I see myself at times in the gnarled growth of trees.

Sometimes. On winding roads.

Each ride, long or short, I try to look to what’s important. The messages that lay in wait.Continue Reading

The Quiet of the Road

by 28 Comments

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