It's that time of year again, for the biannual Scooter Cannonball Run. Long story short for those that may stumble on this miserable attempt at writing...the cannonball is an open event for scooters under 250cc. It normally is a ten day event that crosses the country and this years event is, to the best of my knowledge, the first to enter another country (Canada) and is being run from Hyder, Alaska to New Orleans, Louisiana. A distance of some 3500 miles. The "race" this year concludes with the opening of Amerivespa 2014.
It is not a race.
So I thought I do a little public service and include all the web links I could for the individual riders. They are on a hell of an adventure - and I will admit I feel a little envious and then I think..."oh hell no!" After all your going to ride for 350 miles a day roughly on a bike that may only top out at 50 MPH. Their are a few riders who may not even be capable of that speed.
You have to admire the craziness of it, the dedication to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to do something like this. To be on a bike for 8 or 9 hours a day, work on it at night for a few hours and then right back to it again.
It is not a race. It is a challenge. An experience. An insanity.
Last year, two years of ago I would have loved to have done it. Now....while now is a different story.
So here is to the insane ones, the crazy ones. The ones that are pushing themselves, their bikes and perhaps even their luck. Here is to you crazy fools.
Show some love and leave comments on their blogs and Facebook pages. They would appreciate it. Here they are in no order what so ever.
Phil's 2014 Cannonball Run - Blog and photo's
Skwirly's - Sadly his run is already over as I type this due to a bad piston. But your welcome to peruse.
Scooterfile - Providing coverage via a dedicated page.
Rocket and Me - Pictures and Blog
Dave's Cannonball Run - Blog with photo's and VIDEO.
2014 Cannonball - Blog but no updates since Dec 2013? Perhaps later?
Rides and Random Thoughts - Blog with Photo's. She is also one of the few female riders that I know are participating this year.
Scooter Cannonball - Very nice unofficial blog for the whole thing?
Kick Start Karen - some interviews with the riders and other interesting tidbits from a former Cannonballer.
A lot of the riders are offering real time tracking of their progress as well so you can follow along on the journey. If I missed anyone or anything just let me know and I'll be happy to add it!
Good luck!
5 comments:
Rob, I once thought I could do that, on a Vespa LX150 no less. That was in 2010 when I naively thought the Cannonball was a leisurely tourist jaunt across the continent.
No, those folks are hard-baked nut jobs. I mean that in the kindest way.
I'm kind of following Bill Leuthold and Ken Wilson, only because I've traded e-mail with them.
Oh, and the 2010 Cannonball kicked off in Vancouver BC and went to Portland ME, so there was a little Canadian leg to that one.
In 2012 it ran from Savanah GA, to San Diego CA. That one was easy-peasy. Yet one rider caught a MERSA infection that required hospitalization in California and intraveous anti-biotics.
Not for me.
Besides, my current Vespa is too big for the new rules.
OMG! If I knew how to wrench, I would do this in a second. I'd have to get a bigger scoot larger than my 150 tho. That's a lotta miles. Have fun and keep us posted!
Dave,
You were right so I stand corrected. Never argue with a lawyer!
Katy Did,
I'm not taking part in the event, but got to admire those that are. Glad you found the blog, pull up a chair and sit a spell.
Rob
Cool that you posted about this event!
I know a couple of years ago a Yammie C3 and Honda Ruckus did the run, among others.
I think it was quite a challenge for them to ride those saddles for that long, as described in their "Scoot!" mag article afterward.
I was proud of those scoots though. All of them, big and little.
Don't know if I could handle it without a "sag wagon" like the cycle tourists use. IT sure sounds intriguing.
Thanks for the links and the insights!
Deb - is that "Scoot" article online somewhere? I like to read it. :)
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