Category Archives: Cannonball Run

I don’t have a lot to say. I mean, I’m pretty busy, but it’s pretty busy hanging out. Not a lot of interesting things to write about.

Seattle is a bunch of fun and the weather’s been great.

Mostly, we go to parks or eat. Sometimes we eat vegan doughnuts. I had some this morning. Oh, it’s good stuff. Seattle is great for that.

I rode a bit yesterday, hoping that the problems with the scooter would occur again, but they didn’t. Right now, the scooter is fine. It’s a good thing, but if something is going to go wrong, I want it to do it here so I can fix it.

Several people have suggested that I leave the scooter on the west coast, fly back to PA, spend the summer there and at the end of it, fly back out to the west coast for the Cannonball. It’s tempting and I’ve given it a lot of thought.

Though I’m not convinced that it’s the best choice, I’m going to be riding back. There’s also the option to ship it out to California before the Run and then fly out. That is pretty tempting, to be honest. We’ll see how it goes. There’s also the option of simply not doing the Cannonball. But that’s an option I don’t really want.

One of the reasons I was going to be home was to change out the engine on the Stella. I ordered a PX200 engine and I’m pretty excited about it. However, that doesn’t get here for another six weeks. That should be in mid-August. We’ll see how/when that happens.

So… hm… anyone have any questions about stuff?

Sorry there isn’t much to talk about. Hmhmhm.

As most of the regulars will know, there is a 3,400 mile, coast-to-coast endurance event for scooters that takes place every other year. It’s called the Scooter Cannonball Run (no affiliation with Burt Reynolds). 20 or so scooterists ride from the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans over the span of about 10 days. It’s a grueling event that puts you in the saddle for sometimes over 400 miles a day.

This year’s Cannonball starts on Sept 11 in San Francisco. It ends ten days later in Ocean City Maryland.

Some ride for fun or to see if they can do it. Some ride to race. And some ride for charity (with a bit of the other two thrown in). And that’s me.

After a lot of thought, I’ve decided to do it. I’ve also decided that I will be riding to raise money for Food For Life, a world-wide food relief organization.

Currently, I’m in Seattle, having ridden my Vespa GTS , zigzagging my way across the country for a distance of 7,500 miles.

After visiting Seattle and getting some work done on the scooter, I will be riding back to central Pennsylvania in the next couple of weeks. Then, in mid-August, I’ll be heading west towards San Francisco for the start of the Cannonball Run.

How you can help.
Like I said, I’m riding to raise money for Food for Life. I’ll have a donation page set up and you can donate a flat sum or donate based upon how many miles I do (for example, if you donate a buck for every 100 miles, at the end of the Run (which totals around 3,400 miles), you will have pledged to donate $34).

Whatever money that is donated goes to Food for Life. None of it goes to me. I’m keeping not a farthing. I’m only asking you to donate to Food for Life, I’m not asking you to fund my vacation.

All of this will be set up in the next month or so.

I have little doubt that I can complete the Run. The scooter is in great shape and so am I (relatively speaking). I’m used to long days in the saddle and riding a ton of miles a day. The only differences will be that I’ll be “racing” a bunch of other riders and I’ll be riding with a purpose other than “seeing what there is to see.”