no, i did not buy the scooter. i'm broke. but i did start thinking back to a couple of years ago, when the idea of a cross-country trip first started germinating in my cracked nest of a brain. let me explain.
the idea started with a scooter. i wanted to do something a little crazy. ok, crazier than riding solo around the country on vixen. really crazy. i wanted to ride from seattle to orlando (where i had a friend living at the time) on a 50cc scooter. how's that for crazy?
the rules were simple: the only transportation i could use was the scooter. and i could only travel on roads on which i could actually go the speed limit (no shoulder riding). this capped me at maybe 40 mph, 45 mph if i'm lucky.
the reasoning behind this was twofold. first, i wanted to see if it could be done. i'm a little loathe to admit it, but if i even wanted to get across lake washington on roads under 45 mph, i would have to look at a map. i'm sure it can be done, but i'm not sure how to do it. in fact, most seattleites don't know how to do it. because they don't have to. and i started wondering if you could do it across the whole country. is it even possible? especially after my 2011 trip, i'm not so sure. i was on so many farm roads, going through small towns in the middle of nowhere, where the speed limit was still 45, 50, even 55 mph. can you get across the country only traveling under 45 mph? it would be very interesting to find out.
the second reason is slightly more abstract, and definitely idealistic. i think that traveling this way, forcing yourself off the main roads and beaten paths, you would get to see a completely different side of america. i saw much of the country traveling the old US highway system (i avoided interstates as much as possible), but this system, though outdated, was still designed with travel efficiency in mind. i would love to see where you would be forced to go if you avoid all of that. the towns, the backroads, it would be amazing. and you would get damn good at reading maps...
of course, this plan did have some drawbacks, that ultimately led to the evolution into the trip i did take. first off, traveling this way would take a long time. a really long time. i was estimating 2-3 weeks one way, from seattle to orlando. another (minor) downside was luggage. scooters are (obviously) not built for long-distance travel, and what i could take would be severely limited. this would mean probably no camping (not such a downside) which would cost more. and, perhaps the biggest drawback, i really wouldn't want to make the return trip. it would be fascinating to get there, but getting back the same way seems wholly unnecessary, and a bit masochistic. i began fantasizing about buying a scooter, riding it to florida, and selling it for a plane ticket home.
and this is kind of what i'm thinking of now. now that this crazy scheme is back in my head, i've made a few adjustments, some changes and tempering of expectations, and i have a plan. kind of. i have the beginnings of a plan. the idea of the beginnings of a plan.
i want to proposition a scooter company (right now, i'm thinking Genuine. They're local [Chicago], relatively new, and seem kind of scrappy and upstart. right up my alley) to give me loan of a scooter to do the ride. if i can get them to sponsor me the scooter, which i will return at the end of the trip, i think i could swing the rest of it financially. instead of seattle/florida (i don't have any place to stay in FL anymore. plus, i've been there), i will propose a ride from portland to portland. oregon to maine. both portlands are nice and hipster; small and gritty with a DIY vibe, they are both scooter friendly towns (plus, it has a nice ring to it, and i've never been to maine). riding across the country (on the northern side) without touching a speed limit above 45 mph. i'd get to go on another adventure, see more of the country i haven't seen, and it would be great publicity for the company (Genuine. The Only Adventure Scooter Company.) and i could stop at the factory in chicago on my way across. i would of course blog about it, and it would make for some very interesting adventures.
i think it sounds brilliant. i can only hope someone at Genuine thinks so too.
until next time (updates? sponsorship?)
rftc,
scott
UPDATE:
it's a good news/bad news type of thing, really. well, more of a good news for the universe/bad news for scott type of thing. it turns out, Genuine is really down with the long-distance scooter thing. so much so, in fact, that they've already sponsored several trips, around the USA, france/italy and an ongoing trip for something called urawesome.com.
so, good news for the universe: apparently you can travel all around this great country by way of a scooter, assumedly on roads with lower speed limits (otherwise it would be illegal). yay. but, bad news for scott: it's been done. at least in terms of sponsorship, i'm guessing it's a no-go. oh well. back to the drawing board...
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