Great Indian Road Trip

Ever since my college Indian Art class, I've wanted to go to India. In my imagination I had envisioned exploring temples and stupas, trying local foods and exploring new towns. What I had never considered was a scootering trip across the huge country. That is exactly what a handful of men from India are doing right now. It's called the Great Indian Road Trip and you can find out about it at the official website.

Their route will take them over 12,000 miles. You can check out the map on their site as well as read their various blog entries. A Kinetic Blaze 165cc scooter is on the trip and made it to the "Highest Motorable Road in the World" Leh-Khardungla Road which is said to be 18,430 Ft. There are motorcycles on the trip, but you know us at Scoot! are pulling for the scooters. :)

I am still waiting for news from Kinetic about when they plan to have their bikes in the states. They are remaking the Italjet Dragster and the Velocifero, so I know that many people in the US & UK are interested in hearing more.

NSR: But still cool

Art Car fest

There is an annual Art Car Fest that takes place in Berkeley and San Jose. This was one of the entries. Kinda cool- kinda scary.

The crew awaiting melted cheese & bread,,,

Pizza!

John of Moto Amore goes to this authentic Italian pizza place & invited us along. A good reason for a night ride.

Thursday night scoot to pizza...

Jason's scoot @ night ride

We stopped for gas & I took a pic of his baddazz ruckus.

Cannonball Run in Full Swing

if you didn't already know it, the Cannonball Run is on with 30 riders attempting the cross-country ride from Oregon to New Jersey. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Silicon Valley has 4 participants on the ride. Go South Bay! Scoot! is sponsoring all the riders (we couldn't play favorites!) by giving them each a gas card. Anyone who attempts that ride deserves some assistance!

While it's hard to get info on all the riders, there are a few places where you can get updates:

site for our 4 local Cannonballers.

Heather Knight's Blog. Heather is from the Portland area and she & I have corresponded about scooter parking. She's a cool gal and I wish her luck.

Modern Vespa Forum. Homeboy Rich is on a People 250 that he charmed KYMCO into letting him ride. He's using the Modern Vespa Forum to post his updates.

Thanks to Dennis for turning me onto Owen Medd's Cannonball Blog. Owen is from the Rover SC and is doing a good job of keeping us apprised of the ride.

The Good Ol' Scooter BBS has some info being posted. While Robert isn't on the ride, he's posting updates that he gets. Look around the site for other updates from Robert Volz who is on the ride.

Of course, you can always check the actual Cannonball site for updates although the info is basic at this point.

If you hear of any other sites, please let me know so I can post it. Those of us who wish they could have gone are eager to hear what's happening.

On an unrelated note, tomorrow is the deadline for content submissions for the Winter issue of Scoot!. Contact me if you have anything you'd like to contribute.

Pics from a BBQ for Cannonballers

Cannonball Sendoff

San Jose's Vespa Club Los Gatos has 4 scooterists participating in the Cannonball Run which begins next week in Oregon. Scoot! is sponsoring the event by providing each of the 30 riders with a gas card. They're going to need it as they ride scooters across country for over 3,000 miles to New Jersey. This is the second year of this event and we're proud to have 4 locals involved. Tom "Bagel" Donohue will be writing a report for the magazine.

You can follow the progress of the riders on the

Cannonball Run Website which has some public forums.

Mike Bobadilla's Tricked-Out ET4

Cannonball Run Sendoff

Mike is one of the 4 local Cannonballeers. he has some cool modifications to his bike to make it more comfortable and useful during his 3,000 mile trek. Read about it in the Winter issue of Scoot! Magazine which comes out in November.