Lake Erie Loop 2006: POC Phil’s report

Here’s Phil Waters’ report on this year’s Lake Erie Loop, a low-displacement motorcycle race around Lake Erie to benefit the Aluminum Cans for Burned Children Foundation:

Any scooter or bike 200cc or under can compete. Bikes over 200cc can participate in the non-timed “tourist class.” All proceeds go to help burned kids, so you can feel good about breaking the law and destroying your scooter or bike. There were 18 contestants this year. We proved that scooters posed a real threat, 5 scooters were entered and ALL of them completed the course with 2 of us taking home trophies.

Unlike the Cannonball Run where riders complete a shorter given distance each day, this race is over 650 miles, all WFO. Everyone leaves at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, you run your own route, you provide your own support (or none) and you are responsible for only yourself.

The overall winner was on a CB200T and finished in a blistering 11 hours and 30 minutes. His exhaust fell off in New York and he picked up several MPH on his top end.

I won the 125cc Class on a brand new Genuine Buddy 125 (pink, of course). My time was 12 hours and 13 minutes. That’s an average speed of over 55 miles per hour, including fuel stops. The next rider in my class was over 2 hours behind me.

The slowest rider was POC’s very own Stephan Was. He broke his ’05 record by completing the event in just under 31 hours. Stephan rides a bone-stock Vino 50 with a desk-chair touring saddle.

Another POC victory came from Nick Vanello who decided to not just go around Lake Erie, but also Lake Ontario at the same time. This made his total mileage well in excess of the “1000 miles in 24 hours” required to qualify as an official Iron Butt association member. Nick was only 30 miles away from base camp (at 3a.m., 21 hours in the saddle) when his rear tire exploded.

Next year we are going to do more to attract scooters. The “camping rally” feel of this event is already a part of the deal, the added benefit of actually getting to ride your scooter an amazing distance in a short period
of time is an added challenge.

–Phil Waters
Pride of Cleveland Scooters

More photos in the 2strokebuzz Gallery

Thanks, Phil, sorry it took a few days to get this posted. Congratulations to you and all the LEL participants!