Tag Archives: Vespa

Today we get our first real snowstorm of winter. What that means, among other things, is that the 2009 riding season is officially over. I winterized my Vespa several weeks ago, but this makes it official. 2009 is done.

In November, I reached the two year riding mark. I’ve now ridden about 10,000 miles on four different scooters. In short, it’s been a blast. This is easily one of the best things I’ve ever gotten into. But as fun as the …

I’m talking to you, Winter. Show up or shut up.

October 31, 2009 — With The Mrs out of town visiting friends, the nearly 60º weather today meant I simply had to get on my Vespa while I still could. Weather lately has been gloomy at best. With the wettest October in the history of civilization, I had pretty much given up hope on doing any more riding in 2009. Weather forecasts now look like rideable weather all week long. I’m not really complaining, it’s just that I thought we were done. I’ve already started winterizing the scooters! And by winterize, I mean run stabilized fuel through both scooters until they run out of gas, then park them for the winter. Thankfully, neither bike is fully empty yet, so I was able to make it to a nearby station and fill up for a much needed ride.

September 26th, 2009 — I love autumn in Minnesota. I started riding scooters in November two years ago and this time of year re-energizes my love for riding. Perfectly on cue, the leaves started changing right on labor day this year and though a lot of green remains, this weekend was the first time the weather turned just slightly chilly and truly autumnal. Such a great time to ride.

Special thanks to the folks over at Los Vesparados for featuring my Flickr set of their site.

Los Vesparados: The Art of the Scooter Ride Log: Los Vesparados

August 23, 2009 — So this morning I had only one thing on my agenda: attend the Wheels of Italy car and bike show over at Lake Calhoun. This seemed a simple enough photo mission and I was already imagining the kinds of groovy Ferrari and Lambo photos I would be posting to Flickr before the day was done. I sent a text message to my buddy Bree to see if he wanted to attend and then set about having a simple breakfast, putting on simple clothes, and getting ready for my simple day. Feel that sense of impending doom? I sure didn’t.

August 14, 2009 — For each scooter season here in the Twin Cities, there is one event that defines the year: Rattle My Bones. This year was no exception. The last three years have really — at least in my opinion — been extremely good events. The first year of RMB was also my first time attending a scooter rally. I didn’t even own a bike yet, but still had a great time. I couldn’t believe there was such a thing, let alone that it included stuff like gymkhana, paintball jousting, or hundreds of scooters of every make, model and decade. Last year I learned the pure adrenaline sport that is ride blocking. This year was all of that and more.

August 9, 2009 — The big ride is less than a week away! I, for one, am stoked. This will be my third year attending Rattle My Bones and this year I’m that much more involved. Back in 2007, I didn’t even own a scooter yet, but I payed my $25 for the opportunity to experience scooter culture first hand and get owners’ perspectives on the bikes I was interested in. Last year, by virtue of the crowd of scooter nut jobs I fell in with, I got roped into blocking for several of the rally rides, including the big one. This year I’m looking forward to doing it all over again. I’m even organizing blocking for the Friday history ride. With the event quickly approaching, Joe wanted to run blockers through the 60+ mile route one last time and identify those tricky intersections. The email went out to the whole group of about 20.

August 4, 2009 — Tonight a Jeep Cherokee pulled an oblivious left turn right in front of me. Thankfully I was still far enough away that he only managed to pull out in front of me. Had I been a few yards further along, he might have hit me instead. It was still close though. This is how something like 60% of fatal two-wheel accidents occur.