Up here in Eastern Canada when it is October you take every sunny warm day presented as if its the last. We have seen snow storms as early as Halloween and sunny warm weather as late as Christmas including everything in between. However, having warm sunny days in mid to late October is unusual and most of us up here would agree that this would be the last such sunshine.

Combine that with my injury that prevented me from riding all summer long while my wife passed her motorcycle license, got a Vespa GTS-300 and went out riding with a smile at every opportunity, would explain why I do not apologize for yesterday.

Bloggers that ride Vespa such as Steve Williams  (Scooter in the sticks), David Masse (Life on Two Wheels), Bob Skoot (Riding the West Coast) and many others have posted such beautiful pictures lately. Sunsets, leaves turning in fall, farmer fields, cities along side waterways and more. Normally when I ride by something worth stopping for, I always stop. Riding alone makes this simple since I can just slam on the brakes as I veer to the shoulder or off to a small road. However, having my wife riding behind in formation does make these last minute calls a bit more challenging. But still, that is not my excuse for not apologizing.

Yesterday was a beautiful warm day, most unusual for the time of year. In fact, the toys (Vespa GTV-300, GTS-300 and the Abarth) are all scheduled to enter their garage storage facility by the end of this month for their winter slumber. So riding days are numbered. My wrist was a bit sore from the last two rides I had taken, but I was not going to pass down yesterday’s weather.

So off we went. We decided to go south to the United States and I was going to take Chantal to a small University town that she had never visited (Potsdam, NY). The ride was AMAZING considering I had not being on the Vespa all summer. We passed beautiful rivers painted with the fall leaves, mountains bursting with colors, farmers working their fields and really old churches, houses and other buildings all worthy of a photo shoot. But I do not apologize! My mind was not ready to stop for even a minute to take a picture. Not for my blog, not for my fellow bloggers and not even for my collection.  I absorbed these landscapes so selfishly in my head while enjoying the hum of the Vespa engine, the wind and the freedom of the road. This was a feeling that I had not had for such a long time. It was even better now since I could look in my right rear view mirror to see Chantal in formation with her white GTS-300.

We did have to stop in Potsdam to feed our bellies and empty our bladders so I did snap a few pictures. Nothing noteworthy other than an old building in an old town.

We stopped and had a wonderful lunch served by students at a South-Western Grill called Hot Tamale.

Their food was fresh and homemade.  They offered a dish called “Bear Bowl” which was a burrito in a bowl. You could choose to have the chicken with their home made sauce and then have the bowl loaded with fresh beans, vegetables, salad and my personal favourite, guacamole. It was nice and light yet filling. No wheat and no rice which was perfect for our diet. We spent a few minutes looking at some of the stores but we both agreed to get back on our Vespa’s and ride.

We found a local gas bar that offered super 91 gas with no ethanol. This seems to be coming more and more popular these days. We are trying hard to fill up with non-ethanol fuel before we store the bikes and the abarth since we heard that the ethanol may separate and create moisture. Today is gearing up to be a nice sunny day but a bit colder. We most probably will ride again but with warmer attire.

Now I have 5-6 months to re-habilitate my hand further to get ready for an amazing 2014 riding season with Chantal. The good part about having Chantal ride all summer without me is that she got to learn on her own. Now she can keep up and rides in perfect formation. If you knew me and my lack of patience, this is a very good thing…