miscellaneous rambling

This year is the 60th anniversary of Piaggio's Vespa scooters. This past weekend in Taiwan's east coast the 9th Taiwan Vespa day was held. It is a weekend event where vespa riders come from all over and meet up with old friends, buy parts, Vespa paraphanilia and just hang out. I rode down on Saturday with some fellow vespa riders, and then came back yesterday. It was a great ride, but extremely tiring and also nerve racking at times. The trip is about 300km through the windy mountain roads that run the middle of Taiwan. We went through sun, and then wind and rain. It was also a long weekend in Taiwan, and therefore there was alot of traffic. Riding in a scooter though, we can zip past cars while they are stuck in line though.

This year's attendance was considered "small", with only about 100+ vespas there. Last year there were 200-300 vespas.

There were tons of souped up, wildly designed vespas, ranging from the late 50's to the 90's. I had recently sold my 1980 black vespa 90cc. and bought a 1969 baby blue 150cc model. This was my 2nd big ride with it, and was the biggest ride I have ever done. I've never gone so far, so high and so fast on a scooter before. Being a newbie, I had trouble keeping up with everyone flying down the highway. I don't have the guts to take turns and bends as fast as they do as well.
I would have liked to stay another day on the East coast, but most of us had to be back for work today. I could have made it back in time for work, but it would have killed me. As I write this, it's hard to stay awake. The trip had really taken alot out of me. It stressed my mind and body entirely. On saturday night, we went out with vespa riders and only got about 3-4 hours of sleep the night before, and then rode all day yesterday.