Saturday, December 12, 2015

Colorado to NYC on a Scooter.


I am not afflicted with wanderlust and I don't really consider this an adventure; but, like all good adventures, I signed myself up for a bit more than I expected. I suppose almost everyone would not choose to do a trip like I planned, which is all the more reason to write about it here and give the trip a full recount.

Over this summer, I had a lot of time but not a lot of money. So, I took my white Vespa on three really fun trips. First, I rode up from NYC to Rochester, then back through Geneseo and Alfred. The following weekend I rode from NYC to Montauk and camped overnight. Then, I rode from NYC to Washington, DC for a weekend trip. Those trips were really fun and went well – and by a small stretch of the imagination were relaxing, so I decided to do a bigger trip. I wanted to ride my little Vespa out to Colorado for my brother's wedding. But, I decided I would need at least a few days to make it out there. Because I have a summer job, I was pressed for time. So, I decided to commit a little bit of my savings to buying another scooter. I watch Craigslist all the time for deals, and figured about $3000 would do it. So, I sent my brother a check and told him to be ready.

I was really torn on what scooter to get. I really wanted a new 2015 Vespa Sprint S 150cc, but the out the door price is around $5700. It was too much for me to pay. So, I found an interesting Aprilia on Craigslist. I hesitated to buy it at first, but then I got excited about it and told Timmy to cash the check and purchase the scooter. He did.


I went to Colorado, went to the wedding (which was wonderful), and didn't bother preparing the scooter until after the festivities died down. Then, I went to test pack the scooter. I bought this particular scooter because it had a topcase and two hard sidecases, or panniers. I figured I would be able to hold all my “knick knacks” for camping. In Timmy's yard, I test packed the scooter. Unfortunately, I noticed the tires were completely dry rotted! This was a major problem! So I called the scooter shop, Sportique. Sportique hooked me up with a rear tire, but couldn't find a front tire. They told me the tires were a really rare type, which I was confused on. I figured the tires were ordinary 16” motorcycle tires. My Vespa has an 11” front tire, which is the funkiest size I could possibly imagine. Sportique did an oil change and a tune up on the scooter, and after many, many phone calls I found a shop in Fort Collins that could supply a front tire.

Because I had been focused on the wedding, I really only had one day to prepare the scooter and get it going for the trip. I knew I could get a trip permit from the DMV. I had called the Colorado DMV twice to confirm this. While the scooter was at Sportique, my sister Meg and I to the DMV. I was really nervous that I might not be able to get the trip permit, but I did with no problem. The permit was only $6 and it was good for two weeks, expiring on September 11, 2015. Then we went to the AAA offices and got a stack of maps. We took a break and went to all you can eat indian food, which was delicious, and then we went on a shopping spree at REI. At REI, I bought a Thermarest mattress, a titanium camp stove, a compass, and a mini-tool for a bicycle.

When we came back to Timmy and Elyse's house, we met a dude named Joel who was from Montreal and also has an Aprilia Scarabeo. So, I invited him over to have some leftover beer from the wedding kegs and talk about science.

Day 0: Longmont to Fort Collins and back.
The next day I rode to Fort Collins. The scooter was very stable and rode nicely. I got caught in a major downpour. The rain was warm and came down with a force that rivaled the water pressure of most apartment showers. The mountains in the distance were beautiful, like a painting. The scooter shop in Fort Collins was called Moto Italia and it was on Horsetooth Road. They had Moto Guzzis, Piaggios, Vespas, and Aprilias. They had my scooter in their shop before I even blinked. I walked to Panera Bread for lunch, then came back and the scooter was done. I even bought a nice motorcycle tool roll from them.
I rode back to Longmont and had a nice dinner with my family there. We looked at the map and I decided I would take Route 36 across Kansas.


Day 1: Longmont, Colorado to Norton, Kansas
I could barely sleep because I was so excited. The next day I woke up very early. I had everything packed already and was off right at 6 AM. I rode all day. I wanted to stop and take a picture in Last Chance, Colorado but totally missed it. I rode past many sunny sunflower fields. I was just so focused on covering distance on that first day. My mind was really clear and I was just focusing on aiming the scooter down the road. One really cool thing I saw was High Plains Raceway, in Eastern Colorado. I stopped in Atwood, Kansas. It was a really cool town, very foreign and interesting to me. I met Kenny, a local farmer, who talked to me for a while about grain sorghum. Then I stopped to chat at a motorcycle shop in Oberlin, Kansas. They liked my scooter a lot. It was hot out, with totally clear skies, and I got a bit sunburned. The first state park I saw, mid afternoon, was called Prairie Dog State Park. I decided to get a campsite there. I set up my tent and went to get some food at their supermarket, backtracking a bit on the way out of town. I realized I had no idea what to eat, so I bought some yogurt even though yogurt is not really even close to making it into a list of my top 10 foods. The campground was so calm and pleasant, and uncrowded. I got to go swimming in the lake, which appeared to be man-made and sort of reminded me of the quarry in the film “Breaking Away.” I slept really well. On the first day I established what became the only rule of this trip: my waterbottle and my camera have to go in different panniers.


Day 2: Norton Kansas to Wallace State Park near Cameron, Missouri
I slept so well in the tent on the first day. One of the biggest surprises, though, was how wet everything got. The tent had a lot of condensation. My sneakers were all wet in the morning. My helmet was wet. Route 36 through Kansas can only be described as desolate. Other people might be worried about traffic, but I was worried about no traffic! If I broke down, there weren't many opportunities for people to stop to help me. I almost ran out of gas a few times. The Aprilia's gas gauge was doing its own thing.
I wanted coffee. I love drinking coffee. As it turns out, there were no Stumptown Cafes in Kansas. I stopped mid-morning in Scandia, Kansas. I saw some old ladies drinking coffee in front of their antique shop and decided to stop and talk to them. They gave me some of their coffee and I sat and chatted. When I was almost to St. Joseph, Missouri, my scooter suddenly lost power and I rode it to the shoulder. Almost immediately, two people on Kawasaki Ninjas pulled over to help me. I was out of gas! I had been trying to keep track of my gas consumption and refill every 100 miles, but in a trance I had lost count. I gave them $20 and they rode off. Another rider on a Harley also stopped to help me. They came back a while later with a gas can and gas for me.
I rode into St Joseph. This was the first blighted town I stopped in. It reminded me of the poor towns of upstate New York - Albany or Utica. I tried to find Jackson's Motorcycle Repair, which came recommended by the Harley rider. I wanted them to give my scooter a quick tune up. Because I had come down in elevation, I was guessing the scooter was running lean. Unfortunately, by the time I found Jackson's it was closed. It's too bad, because it looked like a nice shop. They sold Kymcos, which are very similar scooters to my Aprilia. I didn't know what to do, so I went to McDonald's. I tried to use the wifi there, using Meg's old iPhone, but I couldn't get it to work. I went to the counter and asked them if there was anywhere I could camp. They were, like, stumped! But then, the manager said Wallace State Park, so I rode there.
At Wallace, I got the last campsite, or at least that's what they told me – maybe to make me feel special. I suspect they would have let me camp in the field near the bathrooms if the campground were really full because they seemed very friendly. In line to pay for the site, a dad and little son started talking to me. At a break in conversation the little boy looked up and just said, “My dad talks a lot.” I told him something to the effect of “I've noticed, and I don't mind.” The campground was crowded with families – little kids were riding razor scooters in the loops. I set up my tent and walked around. One camper had a BMW R motorcycle. He came over and asked me what type of bike I had. When I told him, he just nodded and said “They make a lot of race bikes.” I told him I was worried about the scooter not running right. He said that if it were his, he would just ride and ride and not worry. A few days later, I followed his advice. I couldn't sleep well because there was lots of noise.



Day 3: Cameron, Missouri to Clinton Lake, Illinois
I woke up to the sort of weather conditions known as “pea soup fog.” At first, I didn't mind it, but when I saw some of the highway, I realized Missouri people don't believe in foglights or daytime running lights. I stopped at a diner to wait it out and read books. I made fun of the diner because they had “roll-up sandwiches” instead of wraps. The diner had a fifty cent vending machine and I bought one. Some of the stickers said “YOLO” or “Princess” and I decided before I opened it that I would put the sticker on the scooter. My sticker said “LEGIT” so I thought to myself, wow, that worked out great. I also went to an auto parts store and bought a really long screwdriver, with the intention of adjusting the carb, and I also bought a quart of oil. I didn't use either item on the trip, but it felt like I was being prepared by buying these.
I rode and rode through the slightly rolling hills and thought about the Native Americans. I wish I had researched this trip more and found out where there are good places to learn about Native Americans. On my next trip I am going to make this a priority.
Then, I crossed another border! It was the grand Mississippi River. I pulled over and followed a sign for the dryly named “John Hay Public Use Area.” My lunch there was water from my water bottle and trail mix. It was super hot, so I went swimming. I felt that this was a very American thing to do! Later, I found out I was across the river from Mark Twain's childhood home.


I was refreshed after this swim, and really feeling confident about the ride. I kept going into Illinois. I rode and rode. I got to Springfield and had dinner at a pizza place. Then I got off of 36 and headed northeast. I rode down some great country roads. I was aiming for Clinton Lake. It was really dark by the time I got there. The groundskeeper was not friendly. He gave me a campsite really far away. It took me a few tries to even find the site. It was dark! When I did find it, no one else was around – or so I thought! I wheeled my scooter into the campsite and woke up a sleeping camper in a tent. I yelled hello to him, but he was also unfriendly. I set up my tent in the dark. The woods were really loud and I had a tough time sleeping.

Day 4: Clinton Lake, Illinois to Kickapoo State Park, Illinois
When I woke up I was treated to a nice surprise! It was the most beautiful campsite of the trip! I hadn't noticed in the dark! I made coffee with my titanium stove and it tasted delicious! I went swimming in the lake and it was like bathwater! I didn't want to get out of the water!
I rode into Champaign, Illinois. First, I stopped at an outdoor goods store. They told me where to camp next. Then, I went to a cafe. It was weird, because it felt like a return to civilization. I was nervous about my scooter, so I parked it behind a dumpster behind a bar. I walked to their record store, Exile on Mainstreet. I was delighted to see Braid records in the local music section, because they are one of my favorite bands. I wasn't going to buy anything, but then I started talking with the people who worked there and I bought a Sarah Records release of a group called St Christopher and I bought another record by the band Slint. I compromised, because both were 10” records and not 12”s! I made it clear I was a record nerd with those picks, so they started talking to me about this label called Numero Group. A month or two later, I started listening to the releases from this label, specifically their Eccentric Soul series, and it's now my current favorite.
I rode across town to the campus area. Campus was really big! I parked the scooter in front of some frat and sorority houses, then wandered around campus. I ate at their Qdoba burrito place in the dining hall. Then I went back to the scooter, but I couldn't remember which street I parked it on! I overshot it by a few blocks.
I called my sister and had her look up where the house is on the cover of the emo album American Football. I stopped and took my picture in front of it.
I found Kickapoo State Park. It was a while off the main road outside of Urbana. I set up my tent in a large meadow area. It was very lovely. There were deer wandering around, which reminded me of my old apartment in Alfred. It overlooked a quarry type of area with a large dock. However, swimming was prohibited. I had really wanted to go swimming every day, and was frustrated when I couldn't achieve that goal.
I tried to work on the scooter in the meadow. I checked the oil. Then, I looked at the exhaust. Two bolts were gone! I got very upset. This was bad!
Across the way in the meadow I saw what looked to be bikes with big Ortlieb bags. I wandered over and sure enough it was Ortlieb bags! It was a couple from England crossing the US by bicycle. They graciously offered me some of their couscous and I sat and had dinner with them. Their names were Sophie and Tom and their website is detourtomoosejaw.com. It made me feel so much better to eat with them. They told me how their bikes had given them trouble and they had Paul at Rock Lobster bicycles in Santa Cruz help them. I thought my Aprilia was doomed, but they encouraged me that I would get the scooter sorted out fine. I gave them my email contact information and told them they could come stay at my house in Queens whenever they want.


Day 5: Urbana, Illinois to Dayton, Ohio
I woke up really early. I backtracked from Kickapoo State Park to Urbana. When you ride headed west, you often ride into thunderstorms, and that is exactly what happened to me. It rained hard. There was lightning in the distance. I struggled to wipe the raindrops off of my helmet. I saw a flipped car on the highway. I brought the scooter to the shop in Urbana, and I was there before they opened the doors. It was a Honda dealership. They said they couldn't fix it. The service manager was scared. I was really, really upset that they could not help me. It didn't help that they had a really nice BMW F650CS and a brand new Stella scooter in their shop for right around the same price as I had spent on my Aprilia. At that point, I would have swapped for either bike! The BMW even had a stereo on it.
I decided to get on it and ride. It started raining more. Indiana was terrible. I think around Indianapolis I even did the classic pull over under an overpass and wait out the rain move. I ate a red hot atomic fireball and got splashed by big rigs. My desolate, picturesque Route 36 had passed and now I was on Route 70. I wanted to go north to Toledo to visit my relatives and my grandma, but I knew the scooter's exhaust was eventually going to fall off, so I decided it was best to go straight home.
The rain subsided by the time I got to the Ohio border, but also so did my fuel levels. The gas gauge was not playing on the team with me. I ran out of gas and I didn't know where I was. There were no signs. I didn't see any mile markers. No one stopped to help.
On the other side of a cornfield and a fence I saw a garage with lots and lots of junky cars. So, I walked back to an overpass and climbed up on to the bridge. I kept my leather gloves on to negotiate the barb wire fence. Unfortunately, the dudes at this garage had no gas for me. I walked back to my scooter and started pushing. I made it to another overpass and climbed that one. There was a really nice brick house. I startled this woman in her yard. She was like “Wait right there! I'm going to get my husband.” People in the country are so easily scared. Her husband came out and gave me gas and told me to tell everyone people in southern Ohio are really nice. His name was Chuck. Right as I was handing him his gas can back over the fence, two AAA cars showed up to give me gas. I had been on the side of the road for 2 hours. One of the AAA people, a youngish hippyish guy started filling up my scooter for me, to top it off, and said “You said you wanted Diesel, right?” I couldn't even speak before he said, “Just kidding – that's just a bit of roadside humor for you.”




I rode a bit more and then stopped at a Chipotle. I had a big burrito. Whenever I go places on my scooter, I more often than not carry my helmet with me, as an invitation for people to talk to me about my scooter. In the restaurant's line, I started chatting with a guy who had one of those Can Am Spyder three wheelers. He was bragging about how it cost $22,000. I checked it out and complimented him on it, but he didn't bother to peek at my Aprilia, and then flew out of the parking lot full throttle. After that stop at Chipotle, it was dusk, so I decided to stay at the Comfort Inn and Suites. I got to go swimming in their pool. In the hotel bed, I slept like a rock.

Day 6: Dayton, Ohio to Somerset, Pennsylvania
It wasn't my earliest start, but it was still early. I got on the road. I rode all day. I stopped at Tim Horton's for breakfast somewhere in Columbus. Then, I saw a large display for the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. “This directly pertains to my interests,” I thought, and I pulled over to stop.
Maybe I liked it a lot because I was on a motorcycle trip, but I think anyone could enjoy this museum. I liked that I was one of only a handful of people there. They had lots of cool stuff. They had old Indian motorcycles, a lot of flat track racers, a lot of tourers. My favorite was a KTM race bike from the Paris-Dakar. They also had a whole room dedicated to the lobbying that the AMA has done on behalf of motorcycle riders. For example, they campaigned against a beef tax / under 500cc tariff.
The museum gave me a lot to think about, and I rode off in the afternoon.
I passed another state border – West Virginia! The Hop Along song “I saw my twin” played in my head a lot, because it has West Virginia as part of its lyrics. I wanted to stop in Wheeling, because it looked really really neat, but I also wanted to keep going.
Pennsylvania got very mountainous. I almost went camping at a park called Cedar Creek State Park. They actually let you camp there for free! But, you have to sign in with the guard, who locks the gates. So, you can't get out until 7 AM. I didn't like the sound of being locked in, so I opted out. They did have a runway for radio controlled airplanes though (http://www.monvalleyrc.com/). Also, the creek was pretty shady, muddy and mosquitoey, so I didn't want to go swimming there.
I kept riding until I got to Somerset, Pennsylvania. I stayed at an even cheaper hotel with a pool and got to go swimming again. I went out to dinner at some weird Italian restaurant and had a beer there, my first since Colorado, and it tasted terrible. Then I watched American Pickers because our town was on it.

Day 7: Somerset, Pennsylvania to New York City
I got on the road right away. My goal was to get to visit Scooters Originali in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I rode and rode. The scooter didn't feel that great. I had the address of Scooters Originali, but somehow I still had trouble finding it. When I got there, it was a nice office space and I chatted with Gene and Andrea. I had met Gene at the scooter rally in Niagara Falls about 10 years ago. I had even been to their old scooter shop, where he had let me sit on some really nice Lambrettas. I totally interrupted their day, and they were super nice about it.
After I left Scooters Originali, I had major problems. The scooter lost power on the highway. I got it restarted. Then it lost power again. It was out of gas. Luckily, I coasted on the shoulder of the road downhill for a mile and pulled right into a gas station. I left and the scooter lost power again. It felt really weak. I tried getting off of the main highway, but at one point I had no choice. I stopped for some food mid-afternoon at a diner in Clinton, New Jersey! I was so close to the finish! I was close enough where I could probably beg my friends to come pick me up, close enough to have AAA tow me to my house. I looked ahead on the map and found I was going to go right through Newark, so I texted my friend Liz who lives there. She told me to meet her at The Monk Room. I got stuck in traffic for a long time. I made it to the Monk Room and had a beer with her and her friend Jean. We had pizza. Then we went to another bar and saw our old friend Angela. It was a really nice almost ending to my trip.
I was so tired and my scooter was too. It was so humid. The scooter was overheating. I rode back on to the highway and some weird industrial bridges. I was confused about what direction I was going, but I looked up and saw two beams of light guiding me home - the twin towers memorial. It turns out that night was the first night they were testing them out. I rode through some of Jersey City. Then I found the Holland Tunnel. The scooter was really hurting at this point and I rode it oh, so gently. Finally, I got to Manhattan! Even if the scooter had died at this point I could call my trip complete! It was so strange to see CitiBikes and midtown. I rode over the Queensboro Bridge back to Astoria! I pulled up on the sidewalk in front of my house and was both relieved I had made it, but also disappointed my trip was over.


Post Ride:

Immediately after the trip, I took the scooter to the shop down the street to get a tune up. They tapped the sheared bolts and changed the oil. It wasn't cheap, but the mechanic said they spent a whole day working on just my scooter – and I believe him. They had the scooter back to me the next day. I rode it up to Kurt's in Wanaque, NJ and we rode to Bear Mountain, the go to spot for twisties loving sport bike riders of the greater NYC area.

Of course, if I were to do the trip again I would do things differently. Part of my thinking on this trip was to just get any scooter and ride it. I was going to use it and lose it, kind of treating the bike as an appliance. I realized that isn't 100% possible. The rider needs to understand the bike in some way, not in a zen and the art of motorcycle type of deep meaning way, but a bike and its rider need to have some sort of understanding between them. I didn't, which is why I ran into some trouble and why the tires and carb were huge problems for me.

I'm as confused as ever about what motorbike I want to ride. I really, really think the Moto Guzzi V7 is my style. I still see my name written on all the vintage Vespas and Lambrettas at Scooters Originali. I desperately want to try the 2015 Vespa Sprint S 150 with ABS. And I think I'd probably be very happy aboard a Piaggio MP3. I also think the Vespa 946 is amazing. I'm not a speed freak and 150ccs is just fine.

In the meantime, it's Autumn 2015 and I've been riding the Aprilia still. I still like my Vespa S150, but the Aprilia is by all measurable means a better bike. I like this scooter a lot! It's a weird bike - it's smooth, it's stylish. I'm not sure I'm totally in love with it, but I'm close. I ride two up on it a lot and don't even notice a passenger back there, while on a Vespa this still feels like a date night or a stunt.

In any case, I want something more durable. This led me to checking out the BMW dealer on 57th on the West Side of Manhattan. I walked in and said I wanted to do a bit of touring. I was eyeing their 650cc, and they said “Nah man for touring you have to get the 800. - you really need to have 800ccs for touring.” So I pulled out my phone and showed them pictures of me touring on the 250cc Aprilia and they just started cackling. I tried on motorcycle gear there and chatted with them for a long time. As I left, they said “You'll be back!”









Packing List:

Glovebox:
registration & insurance, snow peak titanium spork, knog blinder bicycle headlight

Left Pannier:
Water bottle, maps, boots, some dirty clothes, tool roll

Right Pannier:
Camera, snacks, camp stove, titanium mugs, toothbrush, toothpaste, backup titanium spork, SOTO coffee maker, iPod and headphones (did not use on trip), iPhone (broken, did not use)

Top Case:
clothes, vinyl records purchased in Champaign, Illinois

Bag on backseat:
REI Passage 2 Tent, REI Lumen sleeping bag, Thermarest Pad, blankettowel, hat, Chaco sandals (strapped to outside)



Riding gear (not recommended, and will be upgraded):
Corazzo armored hoody, Icon Mainframe helmet, Rev'it gloves, Adidas ZX700 sneakers

Welcome to Ohio!





No comments: