hard-core cross-country via Vespa
I'm sorry I've been so quiet over here. I've been totally swamped doing a server-n-software swap over at girlbike.com, and at the same time, trying to get out scooter seat cover orders. I did get a chance to meet with some scooter friends over crabcakes and hamburgers this weekend, and my scooter buddy Carl said that he's trying to get Karen to ride their PX150s back from California across country.
Riding cross-country via Vespa is a fantasy come true for a few lucky folks. I wrote on this blog about one of the luckiest people alive, Shreve Stockton, who rode from San Francisco to New York in two months on her Vespa ET.
The hard core registrants of the 2006 Scooter Cannonball Run are upping the pace a bit: These folks are riding from Pacific City, Oregon to Orange, New Jersey in nine days, starting September 10. That means 350 - 500 miles a day, 8-12 hours a day.
But they don't just do it for the love of a challenge. Many are doing the ride for causes they believe in. Here are a couple I've heard about:
Mike Garrett, a Navy yard contractor, is riding a 1964 Vespa VBB he restored to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) provides college scholarship grants, along with financial aid and educational counseling, to the children of Special Operations personnel who were killed in an operational mission or training accident. article here
Mark "Bobo" Bobotek is riding to raise funds for Canine Partners For Life (CPL). CPL trains service dogs to aid people with impaired mobility and other disabilities. Just to get warmed up, he's already ridden the other way across country, from Miami to Portland. Read about his trip so far at his blog, here.
"Renegade Pilgrim" is riding her 1980 Vespa P200 and donating any left over sponsorship funds to the Oregon Burn Foundation. Here's her myspace page.
looking for someone to sponsor? check out the forum on the Scooter Cannonball web site.
