June 21, 2007
In RAMBLE-Related News
Well, I went out to Los Angeles to meet with the guys who are putting together the scooter documentary "Scooter Nation," and that seems to be going really well. My trip is a theme that will run throughout the movie, which (I think) will be about 45 minutes long and will be available on DVD through their website and select scooter shops once it's done. They're just about to release a more finalized trailer for it and have a professional editor on the job to polish things up, but I'm really impressed with what I've seen of it so far, lots of great footage and interviews. I had an excellent time with Evan, Josh and Craig, and also got to reconnect with some long-lost friends from college and PETA. I've still got some more LA photos to upload to Flickr, so keep watching for them.
Also, the new Scooterworks catalog just came out, and it's got a bunch of photos from my trip sprinkled throughout. This catalog wasn't designed by me, it was designed by Eric, my replacement and a talented designer in his own right. I should also note that while I supplied them with a disc full of photos, I had nothing to do with the "PJ" content. It's funny, they asked me to write a synopsis of my trip, why I did it, and about traveling by scooter...which I did (twice, at different lengths and with different emphasis), and in the end they just kind of ditched it and wrote their own little paragraph, which is very nice and complimentary toward me, but doesn't say as much about my trip... Maybe I'll post my blurb below...
And speaking of Blurb, I'll soon start working on a book version of the RAMBLE which I will self-publish through their website, at least initially...once I've got a few copies in my hands I may shop it around to real publishers, but it doesn't really matter to me, as long as my family and friends can get something in their hands to look at and read (lots of photos, I'm thinking about a 130-page 8x10 book, which would retail for about $35-40 on the Blurb site, IIRC). It won't be just a copy-and-paste from the weblog, since the weblog is terribly inconsistent and probably goes off on wild tangents. I may focus more on images and select story excerpts than long, windy passages recounting every beige meal and bump in the road...suggestions are welcome.
Here's the long version of the overview of my trip and my thoughts on "Traveling by Scooter":
A basic overview of my trip
I love to travel and I love scooters (haven’t owned a car in the 6 years since I got a Vespa). I had been in the same city and job for a good spell and was starting to wonder what I was doing. I got restless, pining for adventure and the lure of the road. I had managed so save up some money over the previous couple of years and figured I’d use it for some kind of big trip. I could’ve gone to the far reaches of the globe, but I felt like moving out of Chicago, and the problem was: I wasn’t sure where to. Being very inspired by all kinds of road stories (I See By My Outfit, the Second Chance Tour, Easy Rider, Travels With Charley, etc.) I decided to plan a trip that would take me all over a sizable chunk of the US in search of adventure and a new place to hang my hat.
I had a map of the Eastern US on my wall in my bedroom, maybe it steered me in this direction for the trip…also the variety of that half of the country, not to mention the greater population density and quantity of worthy cities. The West is just so vast, and much of it sparsely-populated, it didn’t have the same appeal. If I’d had unlimited time and money I would’ve done the whole 48, but I had to make a decision and I chose East and South. I bought what I thought was a good map (nope!), charted a rough course that would take me through most of the major cities, and made up a website, postcards and magnets to promote the trip.
With well-wishes all around I stepped down from my post as graphic designer at Scooterworks and found a talented guy named Eric to take the reins (he’s designed the catalog you’re holding in your hands now!). I hedged my bets, ended my apartment lease and started packing what I figured I would need. My scooter was a newly-rebuilt and custom-painted Stella called “Ramblin’ Man” after the Hank Williams song. I loaded up my gear, said my goodbyes, crossed my fingers and headed East. After a bit of a rough start in the first few days (newly-rebuilt engine had an oil seal come undone, had to be rebuilt with fresh topend and broken-in on the road), I was on my way. I spent 10 weeks traveling 10,000 miles across 30 states and provinces. That works out to about 143 miles a day. Some days I’d go 250 miles, some days 90, it depended on the local scenery and weather, but mostly distances between destinations.
Generalizations about travel by scooter:
It’s not the fastest way to get there, nor is it the most practical or comfortable. It IS great for engaging in conversations with strangers from all walks of life. The same questions come up constantly, and having traveled by scooter before I knew to print up an FAQ on my postcards about gas mileage, top speed, gas-tank capacity, and the jaw-dropper: “Yes, I rode this thing all the way here from Chicago.” I liked to joke that most riding lawnmowers have more horsepower than my scooter (funny because it’s true!) FYI, I cruised at around 55 and averaged between 60-70mpg with my setup.
Routes:
Taking the back roads is practically required, in the interests of safety, sanity and scenery. 2- or 4-lane “state highways” are perfect and offer the best riding and sightseeing experience. Divided highways and Interstates will get you there, but you’ll barely feel like you’re moving on that wide swath (and have very little to look at while doing so). Some people can’t fathom how you’d get across the country without taking the Interstate, not realizing that the Interstates weren’t even built in most cases until the 1960s! The US has a whole system of lovely pre-Eisenhower highways that can get you just about anywhere. Someone asked if there was anywhere I hated, the answer is No. I dislike suburban sprawl and the ugliness associated with that, but that is not confined to any particular area. Apart from that I saw some palpable form of beauty and worthiness everywhere.
Luxuries:
Stopping whenever you please to take photos, take a look or take a leak. The only time I couldn’t pull over was when I was forced onto the larger highways or bridges. You have to stop for gas several times a day, and in my case, I had to stop to check the map quite often because I was usually lost. Roads can be VERY poorly-marked, a source of both frustration and happy accidents. I had a rough itinerary but no absolute timeline, in some cases I had people (usually very kind fellow scooterists) to meet, but often I did not, and could go wherever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to, steered only by whims and wits. If a road looked good, I could take it. If I saw a flea market or a gift shop, I could indulge myself. Someone asked me if I didn’t get lonely riding alone, but the answer is No, not really. I enjoyed the company of everyone I met but was glad to have the luxury of answering to no other.
Characters:
The people I met were incredible; I really wish I’d had a clandestine voice recorder to capture the conversations. As it was I managed to scribble down a few quotes here and there. Besides scooterists I met good ol’ country boys, sophisticated women, gritty urbanites, hell-raising barflys, fast-talking street philosophers, soccer-moms, friendly hobos, wily entrepreneurs, Cajun swampers, Texas cowboys, back-to-the-land idealists and various students of life. The fabric of this big patchwork quilt we inhabit, all indispensable.
Hazards:
There are dangers to a trip like this, vulnerabilities. You’re out in the open, for better or worse. Usually it’s for better, but when the bottom falls out of the sky, you’re going to be fairly miserable even if you’ve got great raingear. Classic scooters are not made for touring, so you are pushing your luck there and can never fully “relax” without thinking of what might go wrong and how you’ll react. Metal grates, high winds and big trucks can have you checking your shorts. Scooters are conspicuous and likely targets for theft. When I stayed in cheap motels I’d get a room on the ground floor that I could wheel my scooter right into, for peace of mind. I had a few close calls, a couple of would-be highwaymen almost intercepted me in rural Louisiana and I had the awful misfortune of hitting and killing a cat at nighttime on a Georgia country road, but no other accidents or serious injuries. I did wear an armored jacket, a full-face helmet, Kevlar gloves, and steel-toe boots at all times, and armored pants sometimes, just in case.
Technical:
After my initial engine problem, I had smooth sailing and no real mechanical troubles, even while burning crap-quality gas station 2-stroke oil. I would’ve preferred to use better oil but was too lazy to track it down and carry a bunch with me, so I left it in the hands of fate. Invariably I’d be almost out, find a gas station, buy a quart of sludge with silhouettes of a chainsaw and a boat motor on the label, dump it in, and pass a motorcycle shop 2 miles later. I learned the importance of a spare gas can after pushing the loaded scooter for a couple of miles in the hot sun. I brought lots of spare parts and manuals that I ended up not needing (thankfully). I didn’t break a single (Prima!) cable in 10,000 miles. I did go through about 2.5 rear tires, though I was using a softer, racier tire than I probably should’ve. My gear (topcase and Prima bag) worked pretty well for me, though my scooter was heavy and a little unwieldy.
Lodging:
The scooter community knew of my trip and welcomed me with open arms; I saved a lot of money by staying with other scooterists. I stayed at people’s houses maybe half of the time, and stayed in hostels or really cheap motels the rest of the time. The least I paid for a motel was $22/night in Texas, the most was $80/night in Montreal; average was probably $35-40 (I stayed in the cheapest I could find, often pretty sketchy ones). Hostels were usually $18-25/night, camping is about the same. I got a few hours of restless sleep outside on a pallet (behind an abandoned building) one night in Lake Charles, LA when I was feeling too cheap to spend $50 on a motel.
Regrets:
Only two things, really. Bringing a tent turned out to be a waste; I was really looking at cities to live in so I almost always stayed in towns and not in the countryside, plus I usually drove until dark or after, so setting up camp would've been difficult at best. I could've definitely done without the tent, I only camped out with it on one night. The bigger regret I have was not having a laptop computer with me, it would've made life SO much easier in terms of journaling and photo-wrangling...having to rely on internet cafes and people's home computers is FAR from ideal, and it really limited what I could do.
I could've done more research about the places I was headed to and done a better job of letting people (and scooter shops, and possibly even local press) know when I'd be through their area, but it was pretty seat-of-the-pants and the schedule was really subject to change, so I could never tell anyone with much certainty where I'd be (or when). I lost a bunch of stuff on the trip, a combination of me not being very thorough and bad luck. But mostly it was wonderful, eye-opening and positive. I would do the trip again in a heartbeat, it was the time of my life.
Postscript:
After much deliberation I moved to Louisville, KY. It’s a nice, medium-sized city, cheaper and warmer than Chicago, slightly different part of the country but still relatively close to my friends and family.
Posted by pj at June 21, 2007 12:26 AM