Scooter in the Sticks

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

Heated Gloves or Grips?

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For a long time I’ve struggled with this winter riding question — heated gloves or grips?

journal entry about heated gloves and gripsHandwritten Notes

Heated gloves and grips were on my mind while sitting in a waiting room writing.    I often start posts with notes, ideas corralled and collected for use later when I’m at a keyboard.  On Sunday morning I conducted some research on heated gear.

Gerbing electric glovesGerbing’s Electric Gloves

I’ve not tried my Gerbing electric gloves in over a year — dismissing them in favor of heated grips and Tucano Urbano muffs which keep the wind off my hands.  The question of heated gloves or grips didn’t surface until my hands started freezing at 10F.  Frustrated, I began looking at options and after some input from members of the ModernVespa.com site I decided to try the gloves again.

Vespa and Ducati on the roadOff to Breakfast

A Sunday morning ride to Lock Haven for breakfast and a 37F temperature presented the opportunity to try the gloves despite being convinced they wouldn’t keep my hands warm. I was also convinced the generator on the Vespa couldn’t power the grips and the gloves simultaneously but some experts on the Modern Vespa forum informed me otherwise.

So I plugged them in and was pleasantly surprised that they were hot.  Wired directly to the battery without a thermostat I had full power at my fingertips.  Poor Paul, despite heavy gloves and heated grips on his Ducati was suffering loss of feeling in his thumb and fingertips.

Market House restaurant in Lock Haven, PennsylvaniaMarket House Restaurant, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania

By the time we finished the 45 mile breakfast leg of the ride Paul was frozen and I was sporting hot hands.  So much so that I had a burn on my right hand — a small round burn that looked like someone put a cigarette out on me.

Still — hot hands!  That was reason to celebrate despite the burn.  I’ll track down that problem — perhaps a thermostat is in order.  But I’m convinced now I can ride in some pretty cold temperatures again.  Concern now has migrated from my hands to my feet.  If I can get them warm I’m set.

Onward!

Cold Morning Vespa Ride

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Vespa GTS scooter in snow on frigid morningFooled by Sunshine

After carefully checking the road in front of the house this morning I decided it was safe to ride — even without the snow tires on the Vespa scooter.  That approach is a decidedly small sampling of the roads in central Pennsylvania so I have to engage a bit of imagination for evaluation of roads not seen along with a look at the weather forecast on my iPhone.  It is, at best, a guess.

The temperature was hovering at 9F with a light wind.  Sunshine has a way of making everything seem ok.  Must be why the eye of a hurricane is so deceptively dangerous.  With sun in my eyes and joy in my heart off I went for a Saturday morning Vespa ride.

Vespa GTS scooter along winter roadCold Hands

My hands have always been the weak link in my winter riding dreams.  They chill quickly despite neoprene guards on the heated grips.  If I was just riding and not always stopping to make photographs the problem would be reduced significantly.  But I’m driven by the camera, or my eyes, or both and hands be damned.  It only takes a few minutes of handling a cold camera for my fingers to start to scream, “Hey Bozo, remember, we all had frostbite!”.

And my cardiologist warned I would not tolerate cold as well.  He’s right.  Seems my old limit somewhere below zero has moved up to around 20F.  Just five miles from home I could sense the cold creeping through my body.  More layers may have helped — I wasn’t at my full gear level — but I think the really cold riding might be in danger.

Vespa GTS scooter on snowy roadVespa Winter Performance

Even without the winter tires the scooter performed well on the constantly changing road surface from bare to snow covered to something in between.  Speed is reduced to allow extra time and space to negotiate the unexpected but this morning the extreme cold provided more traction than there would have been twenty degrees warmer.

The engine has always purred like a kitten in the cold and despite my irrational fear that it won’t start when I’m miles from home it jumped to life each time I pressed the starter.

After less than an hour on the road I pushed the scooter back into the garage and moved on to plan B.  The dogs were happy to see me home so soon.  They’re far more cold tolerant than I am.  You won’t find me lying on the deck licking my bare feet or rolling around in the snow just because it’s there.

I’m a reserved Vespa scooter rider.

Winter Riding Story: First Drop

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The story I’m asked about most often regards winter riding. More specifically snow.

Steve Williams and his Vespa LX150 scooterMan and His Vespa Scooter

This is the story of my first drop of the scooter, one which occurred while riding in a March snow back in 2006 — just seven months after purchasing the Vespa LX150.  The picture above was made just a few minutes after the unfortunate collision with the pavement.

Looking back that was a rapid transition from beginning rider to year round rider.  Some may question the effectiveness of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation classroom training .  Perhaps I wasn’t paying attention. (seriously — I highly recommend their training)

Doing a bit of research for this story in my early blog posts I saw two themes at work.  The first was an early obsession and passion for riding.  I’ve seen new riders excited to have a new motorcycle or scooter but not ride much.  I was bit hard by the riding bug.

A second theme emerged regarding the expansion of my riding “oeuvre” — basically I continued to push the envelope in regard to time in the saddle, length of rides, time of day and eventually through all types of weather.

I was relentless.  And looking back, perhaps not as astute as I should be regarding risk, skill and technique.

And I can’t blame youth for my poor choices — I was 52 years old.

Vespa LX150 on a snowy roadEarly Snow Riding

Consideration of riding in the winter was influenced by two rider/blogger — Gary Charpentier and Dan Bateman.  They shared technical information, approaches and considerations that helped me make the decision to roll down the street when there was a little snow on the ground.

Reading the story of my first drop again, an event which occurred on March 3, 2006, I shudder at the newbie mistakes I made — going too fast, not thinking through the route, and most importantly not understanding the nature of the snow.  Ask any skier — it comes in many shapes and sizes.

So without further ado — here’s a link to a once upon a time in the snow story of my FIRST DROP.

See if you can pick up on the errors.

And as always, I don’t advise this kind of riding.  Even a perfect approach can go wrong in the snow.  And that’s not ever factoring other vehicles on the road.

Stay safe, keep your scooter shiny,  stay at home when it’s snowing.

Vespa Riding in Snow

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Vespa GTS scooter on snowy forest road

Looks as if the year will end without snow so I had to go digging in the archive for Vespa riding in snow.  This photo was made on Christmas Eve in 2013 in nearby Rothrock State Forest.

Haven’t put the Heidenau snow tires on the scooter yet.  Looks like I can wait awhile longer.

Looks like Christmas Eve this year may get near 60F.  That sounds more like Florida than central Pennsylvania.

Seasons of the Soul

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Vespa GTS scooter on a forest road

Struggling to focus my thoughts about a cold morning ride in the central Pennsylvania forest I heard my wife talking out loud about a book she was downloading — The Seasons of the Soul: The Poetic Guidance and Spiritual Wisdom of Hermann Hesse — and everything became clear.

It was 38F when I woke with a steady wind and forbidding sky made riding the Vespa scooter seem foolish and when it began to snow only the simpleminded would venture forth from the coziness of a warm home.  It’s the kind of thinking that the cold season provokes in me — a sacrifice of mental wellbeing for physical comfort.    The mental process is indicative of one of the seasons of the soul.

Vespa GTS scooter parked outside the Ski Patrol office

The light over the Ski Patrol office at Tussey Mountain Ski Resort is a sure sign winter is near. Lately it’s been dark when I get ready for work and dark again when leaving the office for home which makes the sun more distant than the season already does.

With my cold weather gear in place and my brain coaxed into place the pilot light of desire bloomed into a hot flame as I moved through the winding forest roads of Rothrock State Forest.  And I thought about something I read about how a person might think about how their life is going.

Of the ten messages shared the first stayed with me — you’re alive!

Regardless of what has happened or will happen, being alive is better than the alternative.  And it’s a precious gift far too easy to take for granted.  Being on the road gives me the space to think about all the moments that should be seen with gratitude rather than those that haven’t happened.

Or weather that’s not warm and cozy.

Vespa GTS on a narrow gravel forest road

I’m alive.  I’ve survived a serious heart attack and the accumulation of age on my body.  I can’t do the things I once was able and some dreams are in the rear view mirror.  But still there is mystery and adventure ahead because I don’t know what’s around the bend.

Riding on these narrow little forest roads is fun because I never know what I’ll see — a flock of wild turkeys or a bear, or a glistening sliver of water tracing through a cathedral of hemlock trees. There’s no place I would rather be.

An infant reaching toward the camera

The road took me to my granddaughter Emma and I like to think her reaching toward the camera is really her way of saying, “Grandpa, give me the keys to the Vespa.”

By the time Emma is old enough to ride I’ll be 76 years old.  It’s possible I’ll still be around but there’s no predicting what will happen.  I’ve still not wrapped my head around the natural cycle of life with my daughter and granddaughter.  I understand it but at some level it remains impossible that the world has spun round so many times.

Vespa GTS scooter near Meyer farm.

A scene on the way home, one of the many winding rural roads that the scooter can soar along like a bird.

I’ve always felt it important to feel passion for something.  It doesn’t really matter what, just something that keeps the mind and body in motion and not surrender to the television or easy chair collecting regrets like so many extra old socks.

The Vespa, my Vespa scooter, is like bacon to my dogs.  I want it.  I almost drool thinking about it.  At 1:16am it seems entirely reasonable to go for a ride into the night just to be on the road. I have no right to have such desire.  I have no idea if other riders feel this way.  But I know it’s a good thing and keeps the fire of being alive bright regardless of the seasons of the soul I may find myself amidst.

My god, what a great day it’s been…