The Scooter Cannonball participants. Bar Harbor, Maine, to Eureka, California. Ten days. Over all kinds of roads, some dirt/gravel. Approximately 4,500 miles. The "winner" isn't the one who gets there first. You get points for passing through all the checkpoints and a bunch of Bonus Point options, some along the route, others where you may have to go out of the way. Over 100 people were signed up. By the time they started in Bar Harbor, that number had dropped to 60 to 70. As they come through this area - literally, right outside Hart Ranch - they are on Day 6.
There is a tracking map and website to follow along...
These are some tough men and women. The maximum scooter size is 278cc... which happens to be the displacement of the Vespa GTS (seems to be the favored choice), but there are plenty of smaller scooters. There is a defined route, with designated overnights along the way. Most day's runs seem to be taking 8 to 10 hours. They are making impressive time.
After 3 hours or so of riding, my butt is about done for the day... yes, these folks are doing all these hours and miles - every day - for 10 straight days. Yes, I am impressed. No, I have no desire to do this.
Watching the tracking map, we went out to the entrance road to Hart Ranch to see some of them blast by. We found out the tracking map isn't quite "real time" - we missed the two front runners by a couple minutes. But, we waited and watched the tracking map...
Yes, we are candy-ass: we went for some shade while we were waiting...
The participants don't have that option...
While there was a break between scoots going by, we went back to the coach to have a quick breakfast... I missed two of the participants I really wanted to see by about 20 seconds when I returned - I saw them from the road, but not soon enough to get photos. Then, more coming by...
Some of these folks I "know" from the scooter forums I frequent. Joan asked me if I wanted to ride along with any of them for part of this leg - I do not want to be in anyone's way or slow anyone down. These folks are serious, I am a "for the fun of it" kinda rider.
Their stop-over tonight is in Hot Springs, South Dakota; a little over an hour away by direct route. Their routing was anything but direct.
Looking at the leader-board, there are still 40+ riders participating. There are still some making the trek, even though they have dropped out of the competition, driving support vehicles. There is a real comraderie among the participants, helping each other with repairs and spare parts.
Quite the event.
2 comments:
That's really cool. Great that some of the riders waved back too.
I never got into the Iron Butt rallies, but knew folks who did. Probably my longest single riding day was the long route from Fairbanks back to Anchorage via Paxson and Glennallen, about 445 road miles and passing through two mountain ranges. (The short route northbound was only 365 miles). My hindquarters were DONE by the end of that day, as was my brain. That ride was on a Gold Wing 1500 with a custom Russell saddle.
True dat... it's like learning: the mind can only absorb what the butt can endure. We've owned some comfortable bikes over the years, but as the desire to take long trips on bikes waned, we downsized. Our current scoots are actually an "upsize" after the PCXes... I still can't imagine what these tough folks endure on this Cannonball. Well, I can imagine, but it isn't something I'd take on willingly. ;-) Fun to follow along on their trek, though.
What we both seem to enjoy these days isn't about how many miles we cover - it's about how much enjoyment we can pack into the ride. Day-tripping suits us just fine.
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