Modern Vespa

I am looking forward to following the Scooter Cannonball Run this year from the comfort of my desk. And feb31st has done an excellent job of making it possible to follow the progress of the riders.

You can follow the action here: http://scootercannonball.com

And be sure to come back to this thread for the running commentary.

I am looking forward to following this years event. On Day 2 I will be out and about between the bonus location at the Baldwin Fire company in NY, and the check point at the Potter county Sheriff's office in PA. If any of you see two riders on BMW motorcycles waving like idiots, that will be me and a friend.

As a participant, thank you and I appreciate the supporting gestures!

Oh goody!

I will be turning my tracker on tomorrow when I leave for Bar Harbor. It will be great to see some folks cheering us on. Hoping we can get some spectators in Ohio on Day 3 - I've provided details to a couple of Ohio groups. #malossigas #malossiscb2020

Here's my tracker link from the SCR site

https://follow.scootercannonballrun.com/maps/rider/7/today

I *think* my HPE is ready to go! No aux tank for me this time. Except for the "German manufactured" ASR ring on the rear - everything is stock. Heidenau 140 on the rear and 130 on the front. Heated grips. Garmin 276CX for nav. The phone mount and GoPro power lines are routed into glove box powered off the stock USB port and/or a battery brick. Kept it simple.

Doug (OldAsDirt) and Mike (LM15) leave Pennsylvania tomorrow morning around 5AM for a 630ish mile trek to Bar Harbor. It looks like it will be all rain and sloppy seconds from the hurricane.

Good luck you f%$#ing lunatics! Will enjoy watching as always.
Safe rides.

New York and Conn traffic was insane today. We had intended to stop in Portsmouth or Portland tonight but so exhausted from sporadic heavy rain and dead stopped traffic we aren’t making it out of Mass tonight.

See you in Bar Harbor.

Which ones? Could be an interesting data point in my tire conundrum.

Happy riding all! I wouldn't want to ride to Eureka in under 3 days (each way), and I live in the same state!

On that note, Avenue of the Giants, Shelter Cove, and the Point Arena lighthouse are all gorgeous places to ride. Shelter Cove Road is one of my all-time favorite rides, if you want extra credit after you get to this coast. (I've overnighted in Shelter Cove and Point Arena, twice each.)

Let us know if you make it down to San Francisco!

The rear rack on the GTS snapped while we were trailering up to Bar Harbor. Is there anyone in the area that has a spare or would be willing sell me theirs?

I gotta say, props to those who designed the cannonball website. It looks impressive.
Really love all the features with photos and information.

What sort is it, the flat one or the folding one? We're already bringing up a clutch for someone's ET4 and who knows what else, assuming we ever get out of here. I've got the OEM Piaggio rack in chrome flat, chrome folding and black flat, and a bunch of FA Italia and FACO ones that I would have to track down.

Thanks, with the lockdowns in Pennsylvania over the winter it provided some sanity to iterate on with no real outside accountability, pressure, or expectations - also an excuse to tinker with Laravel 8 and Tailwind CSS + a lot of borrowed UI from https://tailwindui.com. I really hope it all works. It should be K66on front and K58 rear. This was not a heavily researched contemplated purchase - I like how they feel in the rain and they will get replaced after 2000-2500 miles regardless of the brand.

Edit: K66 front, K58 rear

THanks to Motovista and GotMojo the rack situation is sorted.

Feb31st has done a great job on the cannonball site and app. The organizers have been doing a fantastic job.

You replace them before they wear out?

on the CB yes you replace when your close as you don't want issues on the road, routes.

It's so impressive I am totally blown away! Great freakin job man!

I live hour and a half from Lusk Wy. I may go out to cheer our scooters.

Still hoping to do so in Wisconsin, but I've got to check on jury duty first...

Arrived at hotel and have already run into WBDVL in the hotel lobby. I see another scooter on a trailer from our window. The riders and support drivers are gathering.

Safe travels to all you non-competing, "it's not a race", wonderful lunatic fringe. Folks like you make life interesting.

I look forward to following your exploits, and hope to experience the same in my sometime future!

Good luck to everyone. I will be following. I see you will be going through Nine Mile Canyon in Utah. I’m sure you won’t be able to stop but if you’re observant, you can see petroglyphs.

I’m at Burbank airport kinda stressed.

My 930pm flight to JFK is now delayed to depart at 3am.

Which means I miss my connecting flight to Boston and miss my connecting flight to BHB.

I’m at the counter trying to see if I can travel at 3am tonight & fly to BHB Sunday morning (instead of Saturday) - if it isn’t booked??!!

Other option is to fly to Portland Maine instead which is 3 hours or so by car from Bar Harbor??

I’m on phone support hold at the counter as they call support.

I’m thinking I should take the flight to BHB on Sunday if it is available.

But if it isn’t I gotta figure out how to road travel from Portland to Bar Harbor where my Vespa is.

Anyone awake? Hit me with your advice please.

-gopam

Hours later….Next update: my plane is now supposed to depart 3:14am?? Hopefully!!

I’m being rerouted to get to Portland Maine airport on Saturday night landing in Portland 645pm

My wife booked me a Portland Maine airport rental car. I’ll drive 3 hours to bar harbor on Saturday night and get there late.

Then I need to return the rental car to BHB airport on Sunday. And get back to the hotel in Bar Harbor on Sunday. Grab any rest I can before cannonball Monday morning!!!

I’m tired but kinda relieved

As they say, the hardest part is getting to the starting line!!!!!

*yawn*
tried to get you some help - Help needed - Anyone near Portland or Bar Harbor, ME?
Glad to hear you have a plan! Hope you can rest before the start. Have a great Run!!

Thank you!!! Yeah it’s gonna be a long journey to a long journey 😵‍💫

2:20am update…we’re told the plane will arrive in 20 min. Then we’re told we only have partial crew & we can’t board until we get full crew. And they don’t know when that will be.
I just listened to an irate guy asking staff why we don’t have full crew. He asked did we have full crew 6 hours ago when we were supppsed to board. They said yes. He asked, so the crew tapped out & left. Answer: yes.

There are many angry people here.

Also my within the airline app flight notification, it still says 3:14am departure, but the flight notification on my iPhone Lock Screen says 5am.

Even if we depart at 5am I should still be able to make my next new connect flight to Portland Maine??

Update: 2:30am the NY plane arrived and people are deplaning. We don’t have a first officer for our flight. The line of angry people is growing. I’m not confident this plane will leave at 5am even. But we’re waiting for answers because they keep saying the flight hasn’t been canceled.

Flight is postponed they are guessing tomorrow afternoon.

Heading home - will work on a plan C tomorrow. To be continued……

Hang in there Gopam. I see now why people say that getting to the starting line is the hardest part!

CrazyCarl, your Vespa is amazing.

Pam. Have you checked flights out of LAX? Seems like there would be more options than BUR. Or even a possible connecting flight. What ever will work.
We fly non rev and know that sometimes you have to think outside the box to get out.
Use ALL LA airports for a search
You didn’t mention what airline

I am really looking forward to following this and wish each and every rider a safe journey.

I will be paying particular attention to #103 and #173.

somerset.

Lebo
Good advice about LAX - I had been looking there when my flight first got delayed…but not during the chaos last night. We’ve checked both airports.

But I’ve got a new plan.

Plan C:

I’m all checked in (with printed boarding passes) for a brand new flight with a different airline. I leave today, heading to Denver. Then Denver to Boston.
Then on SUNDAY morning I fly Boston to BHB airport. I’ll arrive BHB Sunday at 10:50am

Cross fingers :slight_smile:

I forgot what time the riders’ meeting is…but I’ll most likely miss it. I’m sure the cannonballers will fill me in.

Best way to prep for cannonball….arrive with sleep deprivation haha. Aside from my travel chaos, Our sleep has been interrupted for the past 2 weeks since we took in a foster chihuahua mix mama and her 2 newborn puppies. And didn’t know she’d fight with our 2 dogs. We need to keep them separated and it’s been a loud stress house. And I had an intense last 2 weeks working from home. So we’ve had home chaos sleep interruptions etc. ….ps, mad respect to all mamas of all species.

Glad you found a solution. I understand

Pam, Maybe a Boston-based MVer will offer to drive you up to BH. It's a 4.5 hour drive but you could offer to pay their hotel bill and they get to enjoy the departure festivities and then the day in BH. Just maybe...

And if someone did stand up to do this, they would enjoy the good cheer and karma point from all MV members.
Miguel

Thanks Miguel —

I spoke with GotMojo and he said I’ve got a lot of help offers on the east coast to help me get to Bar Harbor.

I’m now back at Burbank Airport. My new flight pushed 49minutes…but then my connecting flight to Boston also pushed. Yay. So I’m still crossing fingers I’ll actually FLY into BHB.

But once I get to Boston, scheduled for tonight…I’ll reassess if I need to get on a late bus to Bangor instead or not?

My goal is to make the Boston to BHB flight Sunday morning. Which is looking good still as of now.

I’ll admit I was rushing with adrenaline and sleep deprivation last night….so I’m starting of with cannonball brain before Day 1 even starts!! Haha

And a HUGE thanks to MV and our entire scooter community. People go above and beyond to help each other. We’re family. I’m grateful and have much love for my scooter community!!!

gopam, Rider No 89 still hovering on the west coast of the map

You GoPam!

Whoo hoo!!!

My update:

I made it & I just purchased WiFi on my plane to Boston! Because treat yo self.

What a nail biter.

My new flight from Burbank to Denver got delayed 49 min but my connecting flight to Boston only delayed a little…BUT it was still possible.

Then getting to Denver, the airline app shows I had 20 min to get to my gate. And I hear we’re at terminal A & I’ll need to take a train in this huge airport to terminal B. Why!!!!

Then the ramp is broken. Why!!!!So we’re stuck on the plane. Many of us had connecting flights and there were 3 cities flights priority over me to start. And we’re just sitting on the runway watching the clock countdown. Looks like I’m screwed.

Then the plane moves. They announce due to the broken ramp we’re headed to terminal B, 3 of us cheer. I high five a stranger. This means I’ve got a chance. Since I no longer have to run to a train & take a train to terminal B!!!!

We taxi towards gate B15 & I know as soon as she calls out my city, Boston….I gotta run to B27

I’m wearing waterproof boots. Carrying a kriega 30lb bag. Wearing my motorcar gear pants & Jacket with liner. And a heavy backpack. And wearing a face mask as required.

Did I mention I have pandemic soft weak body? I’m terribly out of shape.

I hear Boston and as soon as I get to the ramp I run. I’m huffing. Weak. Tired. Stuff heavy. I’m shouting out “B27 hold my plane.” Then shouting “too tired to run”. I walk for a bit. I run again. I walk. I’m a total spectacle. I have a Mohawk & in my gear I look crazy. Run. Walk. Run. It’s now only 2 gates away. I run. Get to the counter HUFFING hard. I MADE IT. People stare at me as I’m gasping for air saying I made it. Flight attendant asks where I’m coming from. I say LA & I started yesterday/last night.

If that gate ramp wasn’t broken….which I laughed at the absurdity of things going wrong….but if it hadn’t been broken, i never would have made it.

ETA Boston - midnight

Next flight Boston to BHB is Sunday morning. Feeling good!!!

Hope you didn’t check baggage!!!!

No baggage check. I never do. gopam just carry and go