Today I managed to lock my Vespa up in a dark stuffy cell. I rented the storage locker for a month while I'm off galivanting in Italy and my scooter will sit still in the dark. Its tough picking a time to leave for a summer vacation when you live in the Keys, hurricane season works up to a crescendo in August and particularly September, so I'm off hoping June/July will be quiet.
I never cease to amaze myself how much I enjoy riding the scooter through these islands. Its not a motorcycle, nor do i want it to be a motorcycle. I've had quite enough of riding along, my feet and legs out in the breeze, a hot engine nestled between my legs,my feet slipping ever-so-slightly on the foot pegs and my pant legs flapping horribly in the breeze. I have to remember to shift gears, an annoying habit as it takes my attention off the road and the views and the general pleasure of riding in the tropics. Yes, the tropics, the subtropics, the heat. I love the heat especially sweeping through the green and the blue and the warmth on my silent, smooth Vespa. I am going to miss the daily
ride.
I am glad I have a commute because it gives me an excuse to ride. Its just a one road county around here but its one hell of a road. Bridges give way to causeways just a few feet above the sea. The views off each side of the road show flat waters, clumps of green mangroves sprouting out of the water like toadstools. The road itself is lumpy with lack of maintenance and the roadside attractions are pretty rough. I mean this is a corridor that absolutely screams out for some urban planning...Shacks superimposed on shacks, neon, landscaping that more resembles a junkyard than anything else, all sidling up to the long umbilical that is US Highway One.
And then there's me, sweeping happily along on my gearless 250cc buzz bomb. The great thing about the Vespa GTS for a middle-aged man like me is that its comfortable. I can sit, have sat, on the broad black seat for 12 hours and been able to walk away at the end of a trip. That was ona recent trip to the Everglades. I did a similar trip ast year on my cruiser motorcycle and my ass hurt aftre one hour.
