Scooter in the Sticks

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

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?

Riding Resistance

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The intrusion of work, life, age and weather conspire to build powerful physical and cerebral riding resistance.  As the interval between rides (or blog posts) grows, the energy required to regain motion increases as well.

Or so it is with me…

Snow covered drivewayEvaluating Snow

Our new snow blower, cardiologist recommended, cuts a fine path to push the Vespa scooter out of the garage and into the world.  I did the winter riding dance, testing the road surface, evaluated the quality of snow, traffic and forecast for more of the white stuff.

Riding a scooter or motorcycle in winter, especially in snow, demands a long checklist of considerations.  On this morning I stopped at “Snow tires mounted”.  My Heidenau snow tires are sitting in the garage waiting to be called to action.

It’s been a week since I went for a ride and already I’m feeling the resistance.

Vespa GTS scooter on wet rural roadFlights of Euphoria (or not)

Last weekend I abided the damp chill of a light rain and temperatures in the upper thirties as I wandered the countryside pondering thoughts trespassing my serenity.  Some rides are flights of euphoria while others chained to the noise of existence, the scooter, like a team of draft horses, part of a forced toil dragging my grey cloud spirit along in hopes of finding clearer skies.

View of snow from Pump Station Cafe windowRide Cancelled Due to Snow

The view from the Pump Station Cafe in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania as I write this post.  Part of me wishes the Vespa was in the picture.  Most of me is happy I drove the car.  What sort of Vespa adventurer does that make me?

I don’t care.  Contentment, serenity and attendant happiness arrived when I grew comfortable with my choices and actions.  Wish it hadn’t taken so long to get here.

Eight inches of snow are on the ground with more falling.  Deciding not to ride is a good choice.  Provides an opportunity to respond to a mountain of unanswered email, write a post, rub the dog’s bellies, make pancakes, and generally frolic in the little joys of being alive.

Except for that part about email.

Vespa GTS scooter in a farm field on a rainy dayCenter of the World

I know my photographs of the scooter in the center of an empty space are metaphors for my brooding on life — especially the pathway decorated with murals of aging.  I’m not sure what’s more thrilling; riding to these places, or thinking about them later.  It’s a gift finding joy in both.

Everyone observes their path differently.  A quote from the movie based on Larry McMurtry’s book Lonesome Dove that I’ve come to recognize:

“The older the violin, the sweeter the music.”
— spoken by Augustus McCrae

Steve Williams and his Vespa GTS scooterResistance is Futile

The scooter always takes me where I want to go.  I may not know the destination or the reason I’m on the road but there always seems to be a mysterious arrival at the right place at the right time despite the rocky mental roads along the way. Riding resistance has continued to melt as the call of the road becomes louder.

For now, the snow will keep the scooter in the garage while I attend to other matters.

All is well.

 

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.

Perpetual Journey

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“I tramp a perpetual journey.”
― Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

cup of tea at Saint's CafeIf I’m on a perpetual journey there’s always a cup of tea along the way.  My life is paved with simple pleasures.  As the road winds through field and forest the sounds, sights and smells spark joy and make the journey tolerable in foul weather and thrilling in good.  It’s true for riding a Vespa and in a metaphoric application to life in general.

Journeying into the new year has brought me through a new professional landscape as I puzzle through new work and responsibilities.  The trip has forced the Vespa scooter into a quiet nursing of electric on the little black wire to a Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger.  No riding this week as part of the perpetual journey.

But all is not lost…

View through the window at Saint's Cafe in State College, PennsylvaniaA familiar path to Saint’s Cafe has reopened a photographic door to a fallow creative field, one in which I’ve labored to plant with a renewed interest in photography beyond producing images for Scooter in the Sticks.  It’s been a long time since I’ve exhibited a project, or anything for that matter, and I’ve begun contemplating an exhibit of words and images involving life on a Vespa — a version of this blog which would live in a physical space.

Planning and building an exhibit is no small task considering the time involved to conceptualize a collective message, envision a visual experience and invest in the printing and presentation necessary for installation of a body of work.  On the blog it’s simple and inexpensive.  Not so much in the physical world.  And aside from framing, one of the biggest challenges is the printmaking process.

Paul Ruby at Saint's Cafe in State College, PennsylvaniaA journey can be made easier with a companion.  As I begin exploring a photographic project my friend, photographer and rider Paul Ruby has provided support and inspiration to keep moving when the road becomes steep and rocky.  Watching his ongoing photographic work along with others has led me to purchase an Epson SureColor P800 Inkjet Printer — a magnificent printer that produces amazing inkjet prints of archival quality that are worthy of hanging on a wall for others to see.  With the capacity to use 17 inch wide rolls of paper I’ll be able to make some large prints.  I’ve resisted this road for a long time and now that I’m on it I can kick myself for avoiding it for so long.

Blame my fascination for the fumes of a chemical darkroom.

Steve Williams with a Vespa photograph at Saint's Cafe in State College, PennsylvaniaJourneys start with a single step.  So it is with the Epson printer — some online training to avoid bad habits and get my head around a process that will allow me to transition an idea of a photograph onto photographic paper.  I’ve been exploring a workflow process using small prints to confirm the limitations of the digital files and hone the craft of the printer — me.

Making images to post online is seductively easy.  Not so with ink on paper where you lack the dazzling electrons blasting from a screen.  Reflective images on paper are more challenging and require forethought on everything from size to type of illumination.  I’ve stored that expertise in a box somewhere in my head and am still sorting through the mess to find it.  And almost every print until now that I’ve exhibited in public has been black and white.

Color is a different beast.

That’s where my recent journeys have taken me.  I confess to an aching desire to ride along with rejection of single digit temperature rides as my body screams “no way!”.  The days ahead promise some rain and moderating temperatures so perhaps the Vespa will wake to the road.

I can’t go long without a ride.

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.