Scooter in the Sticks

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

A Winter Ride

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The following words and pictures were written and created by my friend and fellow Vespa rider, Andy Heckathorne. His winter ride experiences offer vicarious adventure as I sit at home with a hot cup of tea.

Steve Williams
Vespa GTS scooter on snowy road
Vespa GTS300 on a winter ride near Madisonburg, Pennsylvania.

In Trying Times, I Need to Ride.

I need the thrill of exploration and the shock of freezing temperatures. I need the healing sounds of a mountain stream. I need to face the winter sun and see the hot pink behind closed eyes. And I need to feel the sun on my face. I need a winter ride.

Passing unknown friends during a winter ride with a wave of unity, embracing my tribe of “Fellow Travelers,” I feel at home. My senses sharpen as I scan the monochromatic landscape craving color and gratitude, and finally finding both. I need the hours of solitude a ride can provide where I can reflect on the gifts I’ve been given in life and ponder the who I want to be in this world.

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Reacquainted with Winter Riding

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Snow covered garden
The view in our garden the morning after the first big snow storm in two years.

Underestimating the Cold

A clear, sunny morning after fresh snow clouds my judgment. The cold and snow seem light and a mere trifle to deal with. It’s that thinking that leads me to underestimate the cold and wander out of the house unprepared for what nature has in store. Every year I step into the same trap after the first snow. And because I usually decide to take a ride on the Vespa scooter, I have to get reacquainted with winter riding.

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Scooter Porn and Other Tales

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Vespa scooter porn picture at sunrise
Scooter porn or documentary evidence of a cold morning ride. Perhaps both.

Scooter Porn at Sunrise

A strong beam of sunlight sweeps across the landscape. The Vespa is paused along the road, engine running, heated grips growing warmer in the sub-freezing chill. Frost crunches underfoot as I walk across a pasture searching for the right composition for another portrait of my Vespa GTS scooter. Pulling off leather gloves to use the camera puts bare flesh to the cold metal body of my Canon G15 camera. Hands chill quickly until the composition and exposure are right and I make a photograph that feels like that morning on the road.

Scooter porn. I’ve become what my mother pleaded with me not to do when I told her when I dropped out of college that I was going to be a photographer — someone who shoots porn. And now it seems I’ve become a producer and purveyor of scooter porn.

I’d decided the previous evening that I was going for a ride in the morning because the weather forecast promised a high of 40 degrees. A fine day for a winter ride. But just a few miles from home I was already wondering when the bright sunshine would drive away the sub-freezing air.

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Too Cold to Ride

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Boalsburg street during a snow flurry
Blue sky one minute, snow the next. It’s been that kind of winter.

Winter Has Become a Bore

While there hasn’t really been much heavy snow this year I’ve probably ridden fewer miles this winter than any since I started riding a Vespa scooter. There’s no reason I couldn’t ride in the sort of weather we had a couple weeks ago reflected in the picture above, but I’m just not interested.

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Riding Through the Murk of Spring

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Vespa GTS scooter along a foggy highwayLight and Fog

The earth here is surrendering the moisture gathered during winter.  This is the time of year for heavy fog and murky light.  Morning walks with the dogs provide ample opportunity to look toward the fog shrouded mountains and ponder routes for the Vespa.  I’m drawn to the mystery yet hold some rides at arms length while considering the risk.  Usually I’ll find myself on the road in fog but sometimes I’ll be muttering that I should have stayed home.

Crossing the summit of Tussey Mountain vision was a problem; the fog itself shrouded the road, and the moisture gathered quickly on the helmet visor, both working to make me squirm a bit in the seat.Continue Reading