Motogiro d’Italia is a motorcycle touring rally made famous in the 1950s and revived in 2001. The event, showcasing classic Italian machines, is venturing outside Italy for the first, of what I would imagine will be annual, Motogiro America. The oil leaking event will be held in and around Monterey, CA preceding the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in July 2008. Webbikeworld.com reports that the routes will include a lap around the racetrack at Laguna Seca as well as scenic rides around the picturesque Monterey Bay area. There is a range of entry classes including a “Vespa Class.” Hopefully other vintage Italian scooters will be allowed as it would seem very fitting to have some of the beautiful Lambretta D race machines participating (I’m talking to you, Alex). It sounds like a dream week for any Italian Iron enthusiast.
Category: Touring
Rustic Roads recap
Pete Selkowe’s great Rustic Roads Ride Writeup (say that ten times fast) from the Racine Post Blog. Check out Nitro’s flickr page for tons more photos. The Magnificent Seven SC has planned two great events in less than a month, and their Photo Scavenger Hunt on November 4, 2007 sounds even better.
P.E.A.C.E. comes to an end
Congratulations (and thanks) to Alix Bryan, who finished her epic P.E.A.C.E. Scooter ride this weekend. (CNN’s story.) Thanks to the Scoop who was in Crawford for the end of the ride.)
Girlbike supports P.E.A.C.E.
Crystal at Girlbike/ScooterSeatCovers, who just finished a big charity ride herself, is offering a limited-edition peace-sign seat cover to help raise money for Alix Bryan’s cross-up-down-and-around-country P.E.A.C.E Scooter Ride. And Steve from the Scooter Scoop just bought a 2sb jersey. I feel like I should be giving more back to the scooter community, or at least giving scooter-relief.org the $200 I collected for them at Slaughterhouse two years ago that’s still hiding under my mattress. I’m an idiot. At least I didn’t spend it.
Continuing P.E.A.C.E
Alix B. is still plugging along, deep into her P.E.A.C.E ride, and she’s keeping her blog admirably up-to-date and entertaining. I think it’s working, too; Karl Rove jumped ship yesterday.
Scootstars on TV
Looks like the Scootstars got on TV in Milwaukee. They haven’t updated the blog for a few days, but it sounds like they’re still stuck in Chicagoland (Milwaukee is in Chicagoland, BTW).
P.E.A.C.E. & Scootstars
Alix B. and her Genuine Buddy are a week and a half into their P.E.A.C.E. scooter tour, and blogging away with gusto rarely seen on epic scooter tours. We should probably interview her or something. In other scooter tour news, Josh and Peter the Scootstars have another dead 50cc Chinese scooter on their hands and are apparently stuck in Chicago weighing their options. We’ll hopefully hook up with them before they escape.
Loopy
48 hours from now, my butt will hurt and I’ll hopefully have some good stories to tell. I was going to write more, but I better get some sleep.
The Underpants Thread
Modern Vespa got interesting today, though this is exactly the kind of information I need before next weekend.
20,000 miles @ 50cc
Another great link from Crystal Waters’ Girlbike: “In 2003, Rupert Wilson-Young rode from Alaska to Ushuaia in South America — that’s over 20,000 miles — on his 50cc Yamaha Vino.”
Speaking of Crystal, it looks like Vespaquest and Vespaway are — thankfully — back online.
Lake Erie Loop IV
POC Phil: “Like it or not…we’re turning the Lake Erie Loop into a rally. The campsite is too good for it to be anything but a rally. Run what you brung and be ready for a 680 mile ride-out.”
Thailand by scooter
A Belfast Telegraph writer tours Thailand by scooter, and a Telegraph intern horks the title of Peter Moore’s book.
Tuk Talk in London
Jo and Ants of Tuk to the Road fame will appear Tuesday (December 12, 2006) at the Royal Geographical Society in London at 7:30pm to talk about their travels and show a short film. The pair traveled 12, 500 miles across Asia and Europe this summer, raising nearly £33,000 to date for Mind, and are currently working on a book.
Cold Weather Challenge 2007
Ryetronic’s Cold Weather Challenge is back! The full rules are here, but to summarize, it’s a contest for scooters (no motorcycles, sidecars, or three-wheelers) to determine who can ride 10 miles or more (distance is used only as a tiebreaker) in the coldest weather before February 28, 2007. Last years’ winner was Kent Messer of Ithaca, NY, who rode in -6.5° on December 14 2005. If you live in a sunnier climate, fear not, runners-up are grouped by state. The Cold Weather Challenge is sponsored by Crafty Planet, who reminds you to knit responsibly this holiday season.
Burgdog
Reader Bill Meek responded to our “Burgmania spreads” story:
It’s great that a 2-stroke site has information and links about the Suzuki Burgman. Here’s an interesting newspaper article about a Burgman rider (me) and his unusual passenger that I thought you might find amusing.
We certainly did. Bill and his dog Sandy have covered over 10,000 miles in the last year. Sandy even has her own website with photos, press appearances, and videos.