Riding a bike allows you to be in contact with all your senses – you feel the land you are travelling within, smell the delicate natural nuances and on occasion the industrial belching’s, but it forces you to be one with the environment. Smells are evocative and as I write this I can vividly remember fields of deep purple lavender which were the precursors of millions of insects scurrying for pollen in central France. Of course the bike of choice is crucial and I have seen workaday scooters whose range may be less than half a kilometre to excellent classic bikes lovingly maintained and cherished by doting owners – I know which one I would prefer…
Tag Archives: Scooters
Quick Escape
It was late as I saw the two girls out of the corner of my eye – one helmet less but catching a lift from her friend, ahead was a polizia municipale officer – they rode past me and as the pillion dismounted waving ‘ciao’ she slipped past the municipale remounted and giggled their way up the Via Fuorimura – Buona serata
Italian Scooter Culture
Its so apparent that the Italian scooter culture has not subsided. I am surrounded by hundreds of battle scarred scooters which for the Italians seem to be the town transport of choice. What strikes me most is the inclusive nature of the simple scooter as a transport option. I have seen families perched on the machines, dogs in transit with mouths flapping open to catch the breeze and tails dragging on the ground like 
some heroic side-car partner and some many one handed riders with IPhones tucked into helmets loosely slung over heads. Motorcycles appear absent and certainly I am outclassed on mountain and city roads by fearless riders scraping round blind city corners.