Scooter Cannonball Run 2010, Sept 9th>18th, Vancouver to Portland Maine

The 2010 Scooter Cannonball Run is all scheduled, start and finish points selected and most of the daily legs seem to be coming together on the message board. I already booked my flight from DC to Seattle. Figured it would be good luck to leave from DC again.

I planned my 2008 Cannonball ride in less than 2 months. I did one 75 mile shake down ride to the DMV in Philly to get my motorcycle license and called it good. I didnt feel like I had the bugs worked out until Day 8/3000 miles into it. With our house project going on, I really need to start prepping early.

Decided On...

• Going to use the Garmin 376C for my GPS. I love the 2820 - yet to steer me wrong, not a single wrong turn in 2008, but the screen is starting to dim/fade, and this northern route is going to have weather complications, and the 376C has full nexrad weather overlays, which proved to be helpful on the 2009 NH trip. The 376C is an older unit, I have 2010 Map Data, but the display is much more primitive than modern units, I've started using it in the truck to get a feel for the prompts and data tags. Garmin has a new aviation/road unit, "Aera" - if I didn't have the house project going on I would have no issue shelling out $,$$$ for it. It's slick.

• No auxiliary fuel tank. I've been tossing this around for 3-4 months, decided to go with the gas can between the legs again. I really enjoy pre-trip fuel planning and while enroute and seeing if my pre-trip calculations and planning were accurate. Probably a carry over from my aviation pursuits.

• Front rack is coming back. I have to figure out how I mounted for 2008, but no sense leaving it folded up in PA if it can be folded up on the front of the scooter.

• Many electrical modifications... and many removing previous modifications. I installed my heated gear wiring in a rush the night before my Florida trip in February. Its a mess.

Undecided On...

• Using the saddle bags again. They add 20 minutes to my day, strapping them on and off.
• Carrying a spare tire with me.
• Tire selection.
• Using my short windscreen or cutting my tall screen down into a custom.
• Bluetooth vs. Wired or Combo? XM Radio or iPod or Combo?
• Rain gear.

Summer Update, Parts On Order

The official 2010 Cannonball Run forum area has been created! Access is set for half previous riders only, half open to the 'public'.

I have about 30 bolts, nuts and spare parts on order for the Vespa right now... nursing my broken muffler. Surprisingly, my gas mileage has gone way up. I think I am going to stay stock on the muffler again in 2010. I will replace the variator and clutch. Stock.

I am excited that Jim T. is in for 2010. We've been talking strategy via phone weekly. I gotta him caught up with technology.

We finally close on the house on Friday, we're putting together a separate blog for the renovation project.

Made it Home from NH

We made it back, one day ride, about 410 miles. No issues, traffic was surprisingly light.

Road about 80 miles on the Taconic State Parkway, I enjoyed it, Lisa did not. It def. is a motorcycle deathtrap. Cars randomly pull out from no where, exits are not really marked, little signage. At night I imagine there would be 1000s of deer.

Washed up the scooter. I am at another service internal, engine oil, hub oil, belt, headlight, few other items. I made a list of replacement screws to order. Winter riding in the northeast, salt, anti-ice sprays, etc... really corrodes everything. I don't have the time or patience to go shopping for stainless steel stuff.

One of the two exhaust studs + nut that hold the exhaust to the header is completely missing. Add that to the list.

A few more photos and a route track to follow in coming days, work to catch up with first.

Made it to NH

Wednesday nights 180 mile to the Catskills was good weather. We left about an hour later than planned, which put the last 20 miles in the dark on dirt/gravel/paved combination of road. The Alpine Inn was alright. The website really plays it up.

Thursday was 300 miles in rain. The last 10 miles was a complete down pour. My gear held up good. Regular rain gear over the Rev-It riding clothing. My boxers were dry and toasty warm after 8 hours of rain riding. Had I wore the foot covers + riding jacket on top + heated gear, I would have been really comfortable.

GPS's worked fine. The 376c's weather NEXRAD was right on. There was no deviating to avoid weather on this trip, but knowing where there was a break in the weather made for nice gas and food stops.

Having problems with the SPOT tracker, I think its bad batteries. It keeps flashing a red light, makes me think we are in emergency mode.

Google Maps + Twitter + FlickR + SPOT + iPhone + MashUp

Did some very very quick (very), last minute programing on my tracking map to pull in geo tagged photos posted from my iPhone/Twitter/FlickR accounts, and place them on their correct location on the map.

Now I have GPS Tracking, merged with social media and real time photo logs.

NH Route, Garmin 376c, XM Antenna Mount

I think I have our route to NH figured out. Placed one last post on MV to see if there were any obvious routes or sites that I missed. We're splitting it into two rides, 155 miles Wednesday night, 310 on Thursday.

Garmin 376c

The previously discussed Garmin 376c arrived (Thanks!). I am going to look like a total tool, riding a Vespa with a Garmin 2820 and 376 mounted side by side.

The 376 has all of the features I am looking for, however, I've never used it to navigate and I am not comfortable trying it for the first time on this trip! Matt is eagerly anticipating the 'crash' of my GPS technology after its near flawless performance on the Maryland Loop. After 8000 miles, it's yet to get me lost!

XM Radio Issues Solved?

XM requires a clear view of the southern sky to work best. There is nothing more annoying or distracting that cruising down the road and having your radio cut in and out.

On the Cannonball, I mounted it inside the leg-shield, since we were heading east, it worked half the time. Sucked, but was surprisingly peaceful to cross the dessert, without a single person insight for as far as I could see and still listen to Fox News.


On the trip down to Florida, the magnetic back held it to the front of the leg-shield, it worked great. No signal issues at all going down, I don't think I could have done the 850 miles without the XM. Helps pass time with fresh news and entertainment. Coming home from Florida, I had it zip tied to the mirror to attempt to get better signal. Sucked and I had to battle an antenna dangling in my way for 1200 miles.

I found a RAM Antenna Mount at Cabelas that will mount to the GPS. Now I look extremely dorky, but, if this works... I don't really care. It was $24.99, I mounted it to the windscreen. If the screen cracks off with vibration, I guess I will need to get a new one. I might take it off tonight put a grommet in the drill holes.



PA to NH Route:


View Larger Map

NH Trip... Coming Up Quick.

A few more maintenance items left before the NH trip.

Replaced the rear Heidenau K66 snowtex two weeks ago. I am back to the Michelin Bopper on the rear and a K66 snowtex on the front. So far I like the combination and feel. My steering is still firm and the rear tracks straight in a hard stop. The K66 would grab and kick the rear left or right if you even slightly locked the brakes in rain. I will run the K66 in the front until Winter, then replace both front and rear with a new set of Snowtex tires.

Considering the purchase of a Garmin 276c and using the New Hampshire ride as a shake down run. Its an older unit, still available new and has the weather data I desire.

Been working on a route for the ride up, need to start on a route for the ride back this weekend.

Ride Up Route In Progress

Elevation Profile

Updates.

I've 'dropped out' of the Lake Erie Loop. We have closing on a house we bought that Friday - kills that. 2010 will have the Cannonball, so that leaves 2011 for the Lake Erie Loop. Maybe by then they will be more accepting of 250cc Scooters (doubtful).

I will be riding up to Laconia New Hampshire in July for Lisa's family reunion. It's about 400 miles each way. Lisa want's to ride on the back, her longest day is 220.

We (Lisa, Matt/TA) recently road a scenic loop around the Chesapeake Bay, overnight in Baltimore and a scenic ride home. Here are some excellent roads from Baltimore into Pennsylvania.

Google Map: http://tinyurl.com/md2pa

Spot Track Log: http://scootercannonballrun.com/dave.php?tripid=6&button=Go

I ended up purchasing the Nolan N-Com 42e Helmet I was looking at during Bike Week. I wish I had purchased it earlier. Not sure if that is "the one" for the 2010 Cannonball, if another helmet emerges with similar "built in" technology, I may switch. You're stuck with the Nolan and J&M electronics on the 42e - I've tried the J&M stuff and so far not at all impressed.

Hopefully the Cannonball stuff continues to develop and finalize in the next few weeks.

Home Safe

Made it home safely!

I left Jim's around 8:30am, for Jacksonville. Easy ride, most of it we had covered over the previous few days. Arrived in Jacksonville around 11. Met up with Dad for lunch. He has been down there for the last 2 months for Proton Therapy for Prostate Cancer. His last treatment was this week! Congrats!

We had lunch at Hooters down at the Jacksonville Landing. Nice place! I was back on the road around 1. I made it to my planned destination, Florence, SC. Had dinner at a Long Horn Steakhouse (OK).

Left bright and early on Saturday morning for Washington DC. HWY 95 gets boring after awhile. Made it to my brothers place in DC around 3PM. We caught up, had dinner at a local place - I was sleeping by 8.

Hit the road at 6AM for the final 200 miles home. Pulled into Allentown at 9:15, just in time for breakfast. No traffic in the early morning.

It was a great trip. Only down side was the commute back - it was the ride down in reverse. The scooter held up really well. Tires, engine, everything. I am pleased with its performance. I quickly remembered alot of things from the Cannonball, for long distance riding trips, packing... simple dos and donts. I should start writing them down.

The 850 mile ride down, was a excellent prep for the 1000 mile Iron Butt ride. There are a few things I would def. do differently for it. I don't think trying to work the first one into a trip somewhere is the best way. Being unable to secure my belongings was a problem, made eating and good food stops hard. Also the added, planning of what to take with me for 7-10 days, made the 1000 mile ride an after thought.

I am tentatively planning a 1000 mile ride around Lake Michigan for June. Depends if I do the Lake Erie Loop. The Lake Erie group is very, "fuck-off-ish" - if you're not doing it on a mo-ped.

CVT & a Georgia Overdrive

I've had a great week here in Florida at Bike Week riding around with Jim.

Here is a short re-cap, I have photos and over 300 video clips. I will have to edit it into a clip show when I return.

Monday we met up with Matt from Scooter Trap in Orlando. Road into Daytona (about 50 miles), walked around all of the vendor stuff at the speedway, up main street, had lunch. Jim & I worked our way back to Oviedo around dark.

Tuesday we hit the road early - had some breakfast, returned to the speedway. Thanks to Lisa I was able to buy a nice Givi lockable top case (I only have AMEX and they only accepted Visa). From there we road up to the "Harley Resort" - a few miles north of Daytona. Very nice. Really put together - lots of vendors. Jim sold them some story and got us inside with out scooters.

Wednesday we took a break from Daytona and road out through Fort Christmas, down to Titusville, over to Merrit Island... found about 10-15 miles of dirt road that went through the swamp lands, saw about 30 alligators along the road, then over to Cape Canaveral - up along the coast. Back down to Cocco Beach and Corky Bells for lunch. Got back to Jim's around 4 clock, did some maintenance on the scooter.


Yesterday (Thursday), we road back to Daytona, parked on the main-land side of main street, walked around. I picked up a t-shirt, stickers, patches, etc. Road across the bridge to main street, found a spot to slip into. I was hassled by the police for open container. They sell beer on the side walk, open it for you... tell you to enjoy it - but, don't tell you have to stay within a few feet of the person that sold it to you. Road up/down main street, in a few bars and shops... started back to Oviedo.

Jim & I worked on a installing a throttle lock, loaded up some gear for the ride home today.

I am leaving here for Jacksonville for an early lunch, (140 miles) - then heading north on/off I-95. I am spending Saturday night in DC, so I am going to balance out the two distances - the weather Saturday is great, so I will leave about 350-400 miles to make for a nice ride across NC/VA.

I had a great time riding with Jim - we covered about 700 miles over the last 4 days of riding. Fun to talk and bullshit, learn about Vespas and Ruckus', repairs, maintenance, riding - home made innovations for the Cannonball. I'll have lots of good video from the week of riding!

Part II

I had a fun time in Gainesville with Scotty and Kelly. We had lunch at Steak & Shake yesterday, ran a few errands and went out for Pizza and bowling later in the evening. They let me park the Vespa under their awning to help keep it dry last night with the storms moving in. Did a load of laundry this morning, had some eggs and left for Jim's place in Oviedo around 1pm. Looking forward to seeing them next time they are in PA!

Windy ride. The wind really blew me all over the road at some parts. I road with a couple on an Aprila for about 25 miles. They were heading to Orlando.

Rolled into Jim's place around 4PM, unloaded, cleaned up the scooter and showed me around. He and his wife Celeste (spelling?) have a beautiful home, acre +, on a lake, manicured lawn, inside is really nicely done. I told Jim I was looking forward to having southern cooking while I was down here so he had a place lined up for dinner. It was a small... shack, run by an old black women with a pit BBQ. I captured the entire thing on video, because the folks back home wouldn't believe it if I described it. So I won't bother. But, the video is coming. Food was good. Best baked beans I've ever had.

We caught up on the Cannonball more and general scooter chat. We're roll'n out tomorrow bright and early for Daytona. Meeting up with Matt & crew (I know of him from Modern Vespa) - Lookin forward to meeting him and the riding tomorrow. It will be nice to ride without all the bags and extra gear.

That's all I have! "Part II" of the trip now underway.

Hello Gainesville

Rolled out of Gainesville (thanks tim!) Savannah around 1PM yesterday. Housekeeping about kicked me out of the room at the noon checkout. I am staying with Lisa's cousin Kelly and her husband Scott until Sunday afternoon.

I am only using my Flip HD video camera on this trip and my iPhone camera. Hopefully when I get back I can make a clip video!

It was a sunny 78 degrees, few clouds. Gassed up and got back on 95. Lots of bikes on the highway... lots of people pulling trailers with bikes. Fun riding.

Pulled into Gainesville area about 3:45. I rode through downtown and the FLU campus area. Really nice! Cool downtown, shops, etc.

They live in a gated condo type compound area. The GPS took me to the main road. There were about 5-6 of them to choose from. Took me another 30 minutes to find their place. Was kinda fun to ride around. The scooter handles much differently at slow speeds with all the gear. Really smooth.

We went to the Magic Show for dinner (thats what I call Hibachi). The guy was a white college kid, but did a good job, made fun of himself for being white and his boss being Asian.

Need to goto Walmart today, get a few odds and ends. I think we're going to a BBQ of some kind this afternoon/tonight. I roll out of here tomorrow for Jim's, near Daytona.

Moonlight Through the Pines

I am really happy to be in Savannah, GA tonight! The scooter held up great. While rushing around this morning, I forgot I left the heated grips & gear on while I was booting up the GPS for programing, drained the battery. Made departing on a bad note. Thats OK. The night before the Cannonball someone messed up my side mirrors. No time to fix the morning of. I guess it's tradition.

The ECU was a pain in the ass, as usual when temp. differs from the last time you ran it. Whatever. Matt, TA & Lisa saw me off!

Rain/Snow mix until around the PA state line. Made for a really cold ride. Mainly my feet. Bill @ Eurosports hooked me up with heated gear on Wednesday. It helped alot. I've never had cold feet on the Vespa, the shield on the front blocks the wind. But the rain/snow soaked my toes. Frozen! I found a Harley Dealer around Chambersburg, PA (do these harley's break alot, cuss there was a dealer every 20 miles on my ride today, seriously) - the dealer didn't have much for my warmth issue (buncha fancy worthless logo socks, great), except some thick rain gear slip over covers. I bought those for $20... they kept the wind off, my feet dried. Mean while my brother Tim was finding a better dealer. Ended up being 135 miles down the road, by the time I got there, it was 60 degrees out. So we met up for a quick hamburger at the McDonalds! Nice surprise and was a very welcomed forced excuse for a break and stretch. I was already 350 miles into the ride at that point - which was the daily average for the Cannonball.

The scooter was running great! I've been really worried about this for over a month now. Since I did the maintenance myself.

Miles 400 - 600 were the most difficult - you look at the the miles left... they don't seem to move or matter if they do. Coming across the Appalachian's was beautiful. To help pass time, I listened to O&A, XM Country Music until I hit rush hour traffic in Charlotte, switched to the Truckin Bozo/Over Road Trucker channel. A personal favorite from the PA-MI trip days.

Once I got into South Carolina, the sun went down and the deer started to appear. No good. 5-10 of them in a bunch along the highway. That really gave me the jitters. Slowed down to around 55-60. That makes other traffic, start trying to get around you, since they want to do 80-90. I don't blame them. Up until the deer, I was dead set on making Gainsville in one ride.

I got off HWY-26 the deer highway and joined I-95. The deer problem went away but was replaced by erratic people pulling trailers with motorcycles. No big deal. Around 9 clock, the deer started to appear again. Great. I decided to find an exit with a place to eat and a quality place to stay. The Savannah/Hilton Head exit, was perfect. Lots of places to eat. Very nice, brand new hotels. Done. Even if I continued 200 miles to Gainesville, I would be spending the night in a hotel. The hotels here, beat any Holiday Inn I'd fine there. $109 a night. Have a giant room. Enjoyed 4 scotches at the bar, time to goto bed!

I will catch up on work here until check out time at noon, then continue on to Gainesville to Lisa's cousin's place. Happy to be here safe and sound.

Getting Ready

I am pretty beat. Spent the entire day running around getting things tied up. Having to leave a day early really threw things off with work stuff and getting the vespa ready and other around town things. I plan to get up at 4AM tomorrow, get on the road when I get on the road and ride until I start to get tired. Tonights running later than planned. Still need to pack.

I am not very confident in the maintenance I did the vespa over the last month to get it ready. I vowed after the Cannonball to learn how to do my own. Hopefully I did it right. Just worried about the variator and belt.

I have live tracking setup here.

Final GPS Track Log & Google Earth File for Cannonball Run

I finally got around to combining all of my daily track logs from the GPS into one export file for Google Earth/Google Maps. The Garmin 2820 logged my position, speed & altitude the entire way.

I also uploaded my GPS Track Log to EveryTrail.Com. Pretty neat animations and graphs.

View Track Log on Google Maps

Download KML File

Day 10 & Race Recap - Home Safe

I rolled into Ocean City on Saturday in one piece. The last 30 miles were nerve racking - I had convinced myself that the scooter would break down. Once I got within 15 miles, I knew I could atleast walk the thing to the ocean, if it took all night.

The DC Scooter Folks were all very nice. They welcomed us across the Potomac River at Whites Ferry. My brother Tim was there to take photos and hold up the tail end of the ride. It was great to see him and also have someone else take pictures! Thank you to the couple who paid Mark & I's Ferry Toll! DC Vespa organized a very scenic 45 mile ride into downtown. Pizza and drinks waiting for us at Vespa of DC. Thanks "Bobo", Jerry and everyone who organized that. The race resumed from the National Arboretum around 4 o'clock.


The finish was fun! Lots of beer waiting for us and supporters of other riders and some locals. The first thing I did was ride my scooter right up onto the boardwalk and take a photo. I had dinner with NASA Mark and Rocket at the steakhouse. Thank you to Mark for picking up dinner! There was an "after party" at the Grand Hotel - it was a bummer to say bye to everyone - what a fun 10 days. Quite an adventure.


I enjoyed my cheese steak at the Buckeye. Mom, Lisa, Matt, T/A, Craig the Buckeye crew were there! After that we gave the Vespa a bath (I've been promising her an ice cream cone if she gets me home for 2500 miles - I suppose a bath will do).


I'm looking forward to getting back to work. Very relaxed, rested and looking forward to working on some new projects that have been set aside for the return. All of my customers were very patient with me being out for essentially three weeks when you add in the wedding (Special thank you to PK, Jon Hinshaw & all of my "daily needs" folks).


Lots of photos and some video somewhere that still needs to be sorted through. I am looking forward to seeing everyone elses shots. I'll repost some of them to mine as well.

I learned that Jerry Reed died while I was gone this morning. Sad! I heard East Bound & Down atleast a few times a day in my 164 song MP3 mix from the GPS. Smokey & The Bandit was/is one of my all time favorite movies as a kid. I was actually forbidden to watch it after awhile. I actually started the race with that song. Sing me out snowman. (cliche I know)

Scooters are definitely not meant to go across the country. It was as much of rider endurance challenge as it was for the scooter. I am looking forward to doing it again in 2010. Hopefully I can convenience a few other friends to come along.

View Day 10's Photo Slideshow

View Day 10's Photo Set

View Photo Set for All 10 Days of the 2008 Scooter Cannonball Run

Made It!

Made It!
Originally uploaded by ewebs

//iPhone

One More Day to Go (Sad)

Put the scooter in the hotel room last night. Lost prevention measures.

I road the entire day with the vintage guys, i.e. Rocket and Roy. I had a blast. They were both great guys to ride with. 40 MPH up hill, 50 in the flats, 60 down hill. It only took an hour longer.

If I do 2010 - unless Patrick/Craig/Tim/someone else, comes along and insists I do it on a modern Vespa, I will do it on a vintage. It was actually an enjoyable ride.


We ran into Mark about 70 miles out of the destination. His scooter wasn't running right. A few shots of WD-40 into the carburetor got it moving enough for him to nurse it into Oakland. I made a trip to ACE Hardware and bought him a few inches of ice machine coper tubing - Rolf made a D-Tool out of it to manually adjust the mixture. He is hopefully running smooth for the final day.


I had an excellent dinner tonight with Rob Taylor, his father and Reno Bob. Fillet Oscar, rare, sweet potato, dewers/water, wine and McCallen 12 yr neat for desert. First good steak dinner on this entire trip.

Tomorrow is the last day. Sadly. Not that I am not looking forward to getting home - but it is has been a really interesting and fun adventure. I road with the vintage guys today to stretch it out as long as I could. I know tomorrow will be exciting to be the last day. Tim (brother) is meeting me half way for the picnic in DC at Whites Ferry! We have a break there for lunch from the DC Scooter Club. A ride through DC, the the race starts again to the finish. Tim's brining me a few cigars, couple cans/bottles of Coors Light, so I have them to enjoy once I arrive (knock of wood).


Not alot of photos today. Boring day of riding photo wise. The ride (roads) were fun for the second half of the day. Tomorrow morning is going to be very f*cking cold.

View Day 9's Photo Slideshow

View Day 9's Photo Set

Moving East

Two more days remain. Actually three if you count the ride back home on Sunday - 184 miles.

Getting out of St. Louis was pretty easy. Lots of fog on the east side of the Mississippi River. After that, it warmed up quickly. I rode off & on with "Reno Bob" today. He is a funny dude, retired.

The Cincinnati vintage guys road westward and met up with the vintage guys and gave them a proper escort into town tonight. That was really great of them. I know Rocket, Roy and Kieran probably appreciated the company.


Not sure if we have internet tomorrow night at the hotel. We're staying in a small West Virginia/Maryland town - middle of no where. If not I will post after arriving in Ocean City.

All the states today where jumping on the Lincoln thing. Welcome to Illinois said "Welcome to the Land of Lincoln" - then Indiana said something like "Lincoln Went to School Here" - then Kentucky said "Birth Place of Lincoln".

I got slightly lost trying to avoid road construction, the leg was totally a waste so I stopped for a Root Beer and Hamburger. A really nice old lady bought me lunch at Mason's Root Beer stand. I told her I would keep the the Coke-A-Cola cup in my front rack for good luck for the rest of the ride. We'll see how long it lasts. She said she would pray for me.


I rolled the Vespa into the room tonight again - so no one takes it. Not the best of neighborhoods. Someone drove their car into a gas pump. I got drunk at dinner and was spouting off political rants. Should keep my mouth shut.

Joel is in second place now. I am really cheering for him. Go East Coast!

Tomorrow is 320 Miles. Saturday 310 Miles.

View the Day 8 Photo Slideshow

View the Day 8 Photo Set

The Show Me State

Another night of awful hotel internet. The only place I can get any internet is in the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet posting pictures.

Today was the shortest day, 270 miles. About 5 1/2 hours of riding. Tomorrow is a pretty long day, St. Louis to Cincinnati - total of 390 miles. We cross the Mississippi, Illinois and Indiana.

Fun riding today. The roads were great - windy, hilly... twisty through the Ozark Mountains. I road along with the vintage guys (Rocket & Roy) for about 50 miles. That was fun. Another boring day for photos. Looking forward to tomorrow. I enjoy Illinois.


A very big thanks for Vespa of St. Louis! They opened up the store, shop, tools, mechanical talents, pizza and a couple cases of Bud. I was able to finally get a new tire, oil change, battery replaced (terminal broke since San Fran), filters cleaned out, plus a new Prima bag for the back!

Rolf was able to do some surgery on Rob Taylor's Buddy. Hopefully it is running good for him tomorrow. I want to see him finish. Its nice having Rolf driving the truck as support. He works for Vespa/Piaggio - he personally trains all of the certified service techs in the US on the scooters. Couldn't have a better person along for the trip.

I moved the milk crate to the front. Not sure what to do with my homemade Opie & Anthony XM 202 WOW sign. It's been on the scooter for 2400 miles. It has to make it across the country.

Speaking of XM Radio. The GPS/XM Weather, Traffic, Radio Satellite uplink is great. Really helps pass the day.

Not sure where I am in the points. I forgot to turn in my score card last night. So my stats havent been updated.

Had dinner tonight with Mark and the guy from NASA riding the MP3.

View Day 7's Photo Slideshow

View Day 7's Photo Set

Fort Scott!

I will post more when I get to St. Louis tonight. The ride across Kansas was really nice. I tried to get service a few places along the way for the tire. No luck.


We had a really great surprise for us in Fort Scott, Kansas. The folks here really rolled out the welcome mat. A letter welcoming us, a live local blue grass band last night, everyone in town was really nice. The bank even had their sign welcome us! I am staying at the Courtland Hotel - its 102 years old, always been a hotel. The husband/wife who own it are super nice. They hosted the life band and event last evening.




It was a nice way to relax and unwind after a few days of stressing over parking lot maintenance, lonely riding and hotel boredom.


More to come from St. Louis.

View Day 6's Photo Slideshow

View Day 6's Photo Set

...a lonesome area that other Kansans call 'out there.'

Today was a good day. Pretty uneventful ride - all down hill. It was freezing cold leaving Salida. In the 20's when I got out to scooter - warmed up to the 30s, low 40s for the first hour or so.

Vespa Canon City was able to sell me a tire, liter of oil, new riding gloves (replace ones I lost in Utah) - and a new pair of winter gloves.

I did manage to lose my rain/touring jacket today. The nasty winds of Kansas worked my side bag open... and out it flew like a kite. I'll get a new one in Wichita tomorrow (hopefully). If I am lucky they can put the tire on - otherwise... I'll be doing it myself in the hotel parking lot tomorrow night. One of the guys has a bead breaker, makes it easier.


Today was 331 miles. Tomorrow is 360 miles. It looks a hell of alot longer on the map - because its completely straight.

The winds are really strong. I am going to shift my clothing bag back over the seat for tomorrow and see if that helps any.

I made a detour on my way into Garden City to see Holcomb and the farm house made famous by Truman Capote in his book "In Cold Blood". I also snapped a photo of the Finney County Courthouse (also described in the book). I was shocked at how small Holcomb was. One or two paved roads at best, the rest dirt. I'd imagine an entire family being killed today would rock that community - much less what happened in 1959.


Tomorrow will be light on the photos. Not alot to take a picture of. Plains, corn... flat lands... few silos.

View Day 5's Photo Slideshow

View Day 5's Photo Set

My Cold Activated Bottle Has Turned White

My hatred for Cruise America Rental RV's has now been replaced by Duallys and Horse Trailers. I didn't think anything could beat lost foreigners in rental RVs... but horse shit and hay flying in your face sure does.

People pulling their Jeeps behind an RV is a close second.

I was glad to put Utah in the mirror. Colorado was an easy ride. All things considered. Granted we went through a southern/middle stretch. The first 150 miles it was in the 30's. My hands were numb. I am able to warm my left hand on the radiator and then ride cross handed and lean over the windshield and warm my right. Not safe but, it gets the job done. It was a fun ride once it warmed up. I left right after the morning meeting - got a head start on the day. 331 miles, almost 7 hours of riding. The last 30 miles included a climb up to over 11,800 feet.


I never thought I'd say I am looking forward to riding across Kansas. But, after 4 days of mountains, I am ready for a change.


My rear tire is wearing pretty good - bald after 1500 miles. The dealer at home assured me it would last alittle longer. I am going to try to get a new tire in Canon City tomorrow. Change in the hotel parking lot tomorrow night. Lisa's working on getting me into a dealer in Wichita or St. Louis.

View Day 4's Photo Slideshow

"That's Just Erosion... We Got That In Florida."

Utah kicked our asses today. Immediately leaving Cedar City, we had a straight climb to 10,000 feet. I had some temperatures into the 20s. Then a cold ride into Bryce Canyon. Then 75 miles of dirt and partially paved roads that lead to a ferry that took you across Lake Powell every other hour. After making that, 110 miles in high winds and desolate highway to Blanding. A town that is dry. Had to use the flask tonight.


About 6 or so guys crashed during the 45 mile dirt road segment. Jim T, 69 years old - went down in the switch backs (photo above). Broke 4 ribs, collar bone, dislocated his shoulder. Blacked out after the crash. Woke, managed to get the bike off him and back up, continued to ride about 30 miles, through awful, dirt, deep sand, washboard ruts/regular ruts, mud/water. To the ferry. They took him off the ferry onto an emergency boat. They confirmed the aforementioned injuries --- he then proceeded to ride the remaining 110 miles to Blanding. He insists on continuing.


A few of the other guys wiped out pretty good. Busted up Vespa's tonight in the hotel parking lot maintenance happy hour, bruises, broken parts. I am not sure how I made it out without crashing. I almost lost it a few times - took it slow and steady. Barely made it through a bad mud wash out.

I did manage to take lots of photos today. I am disappointed in them... I wish they really captured how big, vast... some of these views are. But, they dont.

View All of Day 3's Photographs Here - I Left Comments/Descriptions

View the Day 3 Slideshow Here

The Extraterrestrial Highway

Day 2 started off rough. My Denver Omelet was filled with egg shells. I under estimated how cold 55 degrees in the desert really is. Had to stop and put on a full face balaclava thingy. Then I was toasty.

The first 20-30 miles out of Lee Vining was great. The road was like a roller coaster. Subtle turns, lots of dips, up and down. Fun to ride on... could keep the throttle wide open, no on coming traffic so you had both lanes to lazily ride in. Then... I noticed a big dust cloud ahead around a turn. Mr. Brooklyn Ace, took the turn too quick (or something busted) - he wrecked pretty bad. He is OK. Vespa is not.

20 miles later, I had an oncoming car spin out of control in a sharp turn. Almost took me out - I swerved into the shoulder as he spun by into the ditch behind me.

After that... smooth sailing all the way to Cedar City. No gas for 211 miles. We took the entire Extraterrestrial Highway which also snakes through Area 51. And for almost all of the highway, not a sign of life in every direction. I rubber banded the thumb lock on the throttle and laid back into the clothing bag, one hand on the controls - could have taken a nap all day.

All of today was open range... cows/bulls/horses all over the place, running around... a few on the road.


Any nervousness I may have had left about riding 70+ MPH on a scooter... is gone. After awhile, like a car... it doesn't even seem like your moving anymore. Just wind noise and a few adjustments now and then.

Caught up one some news, thanks to the XM Radio Uplink in the GPS. It didnt work out too well yesterday in the mountains, signal blocked too much. It was a nice change up from the music.


Tomorrow looks like pretty challenging terrain through the mountains... then 70 miles of dirt road, a ferry across Lake Powell then onward to Blanding.

I took a ride to Walmart tonight, bought a six pack of coors light (was pulled over to inspect the bottles, no open containers) - ordered a pizza and doing some laundry. Glad I upgraded hotels tonight to the new Marriott after a long day of riding.

Click Here to View the Entire Day 2 Photo Slideshow

Day 1 actually went off pretty good! No issues with the Vespa, GPS worked flawlessly... had good tunes in my ear, water to drink.

I took lots of video! I'll have to edit through all of it once the trip is over and make a few YouTube Clip Videos.

I had to be picky on when to stop to take photos - or I would have never made it to the hotel tonight. Yosemite was beautiful to ride through. All of the switchbacks up and then back down Mt. Hamilton were alot of fun. Lee Vining is nice, very small, town along a highway, 2 restaurants and a Shell station. It was a really fun day. If the rest of the trip rains, today made it the entire thing worth while.


Random event of the day. I came up on some road construction. The guy said it would be a 25 minute wait for the traffic coming towards us to pass by. Then two girls and a few more scooters pulled up... and decided if they were going to wait - we should all drink. So, we had a half hour of drinking on the side of the road with the stop sign man. Sort of random.

Tomorrow is the longest day of riding. 420 miles to Cedar City, UT. All of it across the desert.

View All of Day 1's Photograph Slideshow Here

The Rock - Alcatraz Tour

Alcatraz was my only planned tour/excursion for the brief stay here. I'd like to come back and go up into Napa, etc... The tour was neat. I personally thought Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia was alot more impressive - as far as prison tours go. But a nice boat ride out - the island itself is really cool. Much more so than the actual prison.

Other than that - spent the rest of the day catching up on emails and final preparations for tomorrows departure. Tonight there is a BBQ for all the riders in the race.

View the Complete Alcatraz Photo Slideshow

Dinner @ In-N-Out Burger

Dinner, originally uploaded by ewebs.

I had a tasty burger, "double double animal style".

Sightseeing in San Francisco

I walked 19.7 miles today (according to the GPS thing). I spent some time at Fishermans Wharf (near my hotel) - followed the shore to the Golden Gate Bridge, hiked several miles to Baker Beach, down and across Golden Gate Park, into downtown, up a huge hill and to a bar for some scotch.

I enjoyed a nice Double Double Animal Style Burger from In-N-Out for dinner, 4 more Scotches here at the Hyatt Hotel Bar and passed out.

View the Complete Photo Slideshow Here

Getting to San Francisco

Matt and I loaded up the Vespa on the truck and took it to ForwardAir in Philadelphia for shipping a week/half before the event. It took them 3-4 days to move it to San Francisco. The cost to ship a motorcycle/scooter across country is $500-$700 (depending on fuel costs at time of booking).

I flew to San Fran on Virgin America out of Washington Dulles. First class was definitely worth the upgrade! The scooter was being shipped to a warehouse a few miles from the airport. It took about 2 hours for them to find my container and another 2-3 hours for me to reassemble the Vespa (mirrors, windshield, battery, fluids, etc).

The ride from the warehouse to the hotel in downtown/Fishermans Wharf was about 40 minutes with the scenic route. I have two full days to sightsee and complete some final preparations. My only planned excursion is the Alcatraz tour on Wednesday.

View a Slideshow of Cannonball Run Preparation Photos