The next Scooter Cannonball will take place during the summer of 2025. https://scootercannonball.com/ About a year before that registration will open. I’m going to register as soon as I can.
The event has fascinated me for years. It’s one of those nutty things that look like fun -that’s if you idea of fun is a grueling coast to coast event. It’s a timed event with checkpoints. Daily miles run from around 350 to 500. The route tends to avoid highways and has a certain amount of dirt road travel.
Over the past year I’ve been slowly building up to it. I can now change a tire on the side of the road with the tools onboard if needed. Every time I do a project on the scooter the tools are added to the kit. I’ve also added stuff like USB charging. Today I received a Garmin motorcycle rated GPS. It’s essential to understand the ins and outs of the device. Getting it now allows me time to get proficient.
The plan is to go on some extended trips during the coming riding season. It’s a good way to test the equipment and the rider. One of the things I did last summer was to ride dirt roads to improve my skills. Believe me, a scooter is not exactly an ADV bike. However, a careful driver can make it happen.
It’s not a cheap event but it’s now a priority for me. So why now? I’m getting freaking old. Too many of my friends are dying without living out their dreams. Others have had sudden health declines that came out of nowhere. I’m not in great shape myself, but I’m working on it. Right now I’m doing better than I was doing last year so that’s something.
In 2023 out of 250 people who registered 180 made it to the starting line. I may or may not finish, but I’m doing all I can to start. Just getting there would put me ahead of all those who don’t show up.
-Sixbears
Wow sounds like a peak endurance event for you, your scooter and your wallet.
ReplyDeleteI do look forward to seeing your reports in the field.
Why not spend that time and money taking your sailboat to the Keys for a bit of lobster diving instead?
Your big task would be avoiding sunburn vs random drivers. Just saying.
Already sailed to the Keys a few times.
DeleteI was looking at the helmet that kept me from a neurosurgery when a trucks passenger side mirror clipped me while I was on my bike just last spring.
ReplyDeleteWas still a pain filled event but not crippling.
Thus, the concern about lobster diving instead.
Apparently you've never had to abandon ship in the dark in shark infested waters. I miss that sailboat. There are risks everywhere.
DeleteI'd love to hear THAT story 6 Bears.
ReplyDeleteMy bet (given the years in HS I worked in a Boat Yard) that the through hulls leaked. Far more common than the reef meet hull scenarios.
Not the through hulls. Storm filled in the channel since the last time I was there. Charts and navigation markers were wrong. Markers were scheduled to be moved in two weeks. Fleeing a storm in the dark and it caught us as we grounded on the new reef. Pounded the heck out of us. My wife, dog, and a go bag went into our Sea Eagle 420 kayak. That was a trick in itself. Skirted the reef and landed on an island through the surf in the dark. That's the thumbnail sketch. Boat broke up and went to the bottom.
DeleteDanger meets experience and determination to survive.
DeleteAnd I thought I lived an exciting life :-)
I've got to do something exciting since I left the fire service. Funny thing, it wasn't my wife's first shipwreck. Her dad sunk a 32 foot cruiser. On a darker note, her brother died at 17 in a different boat accident on the Hudson River.
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