CycleMN

With the lowest elevation and best morning temperatures yet, the little Buddy Kick was flying through miles. I don’t have a lot to report for the last day and my focus was on just finishing this adventure and putting the entire chapter behind me. The route had a difficult finish in more ways than one.…

The coincidental warning by Blytheville police the evening before outstanding, I had hopes that every citizen would be on their best behavior… At about 4:00AM on day seven, some local snapped the lock off my trailer and stole two large tote bins containing tools and parts. The truly unfortunate thing was that most of this…

Day six was perhaps the furthest deviation from any of the other riders. Setting sights on Branson, Missouri made for an exceptional ride! Branson is for sure quirky! Making a day out of visiting various attractions still put us on time for arriving to the next hotel. I noticed that the official route called for…

While the official route spent the day exclusively in Oklahoma, I figured it would be fun to add another state to the scooter’s experience and meander into Kansas! The day was mostly smooth until the last 10 miles where my exhaust head pipe broke at a weld spot. Having made it to the hotel so…

Day four was a breeze compared to previous days with higher elevation. My scooter was finally responsive and with the lower temperatures I could ride faster with longer sprints. I dipped my toe into Texas on the upper left corner and even that, quite frankly, was too much for my preference. With threats of a…

Looking at the rest of the official route (not paying attention to any checkpoints at this stage) I was able to find safer and less mountain focused routes that my scooter could handle in a proper amount of time. Direct routes shaved off a significant amount of distance each day, and my goal was to…

Heat, mountains, and desert. Still very optimistic, though! Day two started off with a healthy degree of positive vibes and energy. That optimism ended quickly after realizing that all of my shakedown and tests back in Minnesota were at 700-975ft of elevation and a max of 80F… Within an hour, I was already required to…

Truck and trailer packed up and delivered to San Clemente, CA! The little 5×8 enclosed trailer was just wide enough to accommodate three scooters with zero millimeters to spare. A few patio cushions between each bike meant any straps were essentially anecdotal at best. We arrived a few days early and, of course, had to…

The final preparation has begun! Pack lists, panic buying, and feeling like I’m not ready at all for the 8 day marathon. My shakedown rides have been proving very successful and am beyond thrilled to observe an increase in top speed as well as a more stable RPM profile as I steady the ship around…

Spring is [finally] here! Maybe? I made a few larger purchases including the second GPS. Debating between the more popular Garmin Zumo XT and a Garmin Montana 700i, I chose the 700i based on its ability to communicate and send location updates without cellular networks. It always helps to have an extra SOS insurance policy.…

Of course I had to add a Garrett spin to this adventure! My initial goal was to monitor as much as I could on and around the scooter and live stream the data for all to vicariously enjoy from the comfort of air conditioning. Once I confidently addressed the various auxiliary 12V paths around the…

A particularly brutal winter…. Suffice to say I had more than enough time to really get to know the layout of the Buddy Kick. I put the scooter in my office in November and spent hours and days walking various store aisles to see what would fit and how I would go about adding all…

The best place to start with preparing a scooter for a navigational marathon is… well… the GPS. What type of GPS? What features? How will I program it? Does it have to be waterproof? Much of the stress riders feel around the SCBR is the fear of getting lost. Long days, terrible weather, rough roads,…

Let’s back up a bit. Why am I participating in the 2023 Scooter Cannonball? How did I hear about it? In the summer of 2021 I attended a bike night and overheard a few riders talking about this ridiculous group of people who take little scooters and ride them coast to coast. Each rider vocalized…