BAR HARBOR, Maine (WABI) – The Scooter Cannonball is a biannual event where contestants ride scooters from one side of the country to the other.
The starting line for this year’s Cannonball was in Bar Harbor, where nearly 90 people set off on their scooters Monday morning to undertake the 10-day 4,500 mile trek to Eureka, California.
Maine to California in 10 days is many miles in a short amount of time on a machine that wasn’t built for long-haul comfort …
“Custom seat on my scooter. Hopefully this will fix the sore bum issue, ”said Cletha Vaillancourt, Tupelo, Mississippi.
… or speed.
“Sixty-five on a good day, downhill with a tailwind,” said Vaillancourt.
“It’s consistency. You just have to keep going. It’s not about how fast you go, it’s about keeping moving ”, Binh Cheung, 2014 Scooter Cannonball winner.
The people taking part in this year’s Cannonball Run say that for this time and distance, you have to be a bit more than an enthusiast to ride something like a scooter.
“You have to be a little crazy to do that. You have to be a little crazy to get out there and try it, ”said Tim Jackson, Atlanta.
“I got an email that said, ‘Hey, this is a stupid idea’ and everyone was like, ‘Yeah, this is a stupid idea.’ Aside from sounding interesting and stupid to me, so it’s a little bit crazy, but it also looks like a lot of fun and a real once in a lifetime experience, ”said Lewis Weigle, Cleveland, Ohio.
Technically a long distance race, this event is really about community and the shared experience of taking on a tremendous challenge while seeing the country in a unique way.
“The beauty and joy for me is these little streets and what you will see that you would not see if you walked down the plate,” said Vaillancourt.
“What I really wanted was to meet a lot of great people and make some lifelong friends, and these guys are amazing. The scooter culture is very close, ”said Jackson.
For many riders, their approach to Cannonball 2021 is no different from their approach to everyday life.
“I will ride until I can no longer. I’ll just go out there and let it go, ”Jackson said.
The first leg of the Cannonball Scooter ends in Manchester, Vermont, about 677 miles from Bar Harbor.
For more information on Scooter Cannonball 2021, visit follow.scootercannonball.com.
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