Scootercast Scooter Internet Radio

SHOWNOTES: Sorry to have missed putting out a show last week. I usually have everything ready to go by Sunday evening, but last week I was still in Seattle. As I sat in the airport, I couldn’t help but think about the day, which included a rally ride from downtown Seattle to Vashon Island, a beautiful ferry ride and an outdoor barbeque. Look for picture galleries of Amerivespa events as posted on 2strokebuzz. You may remember that my trip to the west coast was planned around taking care of my mother, while my sister was out of the country. Unfortunately, shortly after my sister left, my mother became ill and was in the hospital for over a week. I wasn’t even sure that I would be able to get over to Amerivespa. She did recover and while I was in Port Angeles, continued to improve. So I left Saturday morning, headed for Big PeopleScooters to pickup a Vespa and rode to the south Lake Union site with great excitement. Once there, I realize that I had missed two great days of activities and drama, although there was more of the drama to come. Becky McCabe greeted me at the registration table. The gymkhana showed just how skilled a rider some were or how many times you could try to avoid making a fool of yourself. The evening banquet started with a fashion show, interesting and fun with some hooting and hollering. At the banquet that evening, Ben from Honky Tonk Dragon introduced himself and we snapped a picture with Orin of Scootin old Skool. Take a look at it on the website. The awards were dominated by the large Canadian contingent and apparently provided the gun powder for some kind of controversy later in the evening. You can see more of the details over at the Scooter Scoop as reported by Lawrence Hsu. Then Sunday morning, a clear blue sky, downtown Seattle, no traffic, and parking lot full of vintage and new Vespas, Lambrettas, Buddies, Kymcos and many other scooters. This was the beginning of the Vashon Island ride, starting with the smell of 2 stroke smoke, the exciting sound of 300+ scooters blasting off for a ride out around Alki Beach, over through West Seattle, down to the ferry dock. For anyone trying to understand why the people of Seattle put up with ten straight months of drizzle and rain, just one sunny day on Vashon Island or the San Juan Islands will convince you that everyone else in the world would give their right arm to live here and having grown up here I would say that at that moment, you would be right. Not really knowing anyone at the barbeque and being disabled by shyness meant that I spent most of my time taking pictures, watching an unending string of interested people and occasionally squeaking out a hello. In the middle of all this two young women sat down with me in the shade and struck-up a conversation. I want to thank Mary and Amy for letting me record their comments about being scooter newbie. They remind me of the excitement of a first scooter, of a first rally, of many other first scooting experiences that make this a vibrant community. Amerivespa has remaindered me that scooting at its best is inclusive, invites everyone to participate and celebrates our shared love of the culture, freedom and riding.

SHOWNOTES: Thanks for joining me. I invite you to send me email at sctrcst@gmail.com. I am leaving in the middle of the night on Tuesday to travel out to the west coast again. My mother went back in the hospital this past, but seems to be OK, so I will spend a few days with her at home and then on Saturday, head over to Seattle for Amerivespa. I hope to speak with all the bloggers who are planning to go, from blogs like Little Billys Scooter Tales, Scootin Old School, Big Guy Small Scooter, 2strokebuzz, Honky Tonk Dragon and any others who show up. Podcasters have a whole network of social links that connect us to each other. It was through one of these links that I found Mr. Suaves Mod Mod World. First go over to his website and check out the retro site Mr. Suave pod casts from Seattle, so I have been wondering if I can track him down at Amerivespa. On his blog he mentions the Rat City Roller Girls, a Seattle area girls roller derby league. Check out the trailer for a the movie on his website or look at it directly here: Blood on the Flat Track. Check out his early mod ramblings here, but beware, use Explorer, if you try to use Firefox you mostly will crash your browser. By now, I expect that most of you listening know or have heard of the website Girlbike. Crystal Waters web presences goes way back to 2000 when she wrote about riding over 1000 miles in an Austin Bike Charity raising money for AIDS research. In addition to checking out Crystals current blog topics, look for the Long Hall to the Last Mile Ride post. She and several friends will be leaving from Maryland and end-up in Vermont. I read about the Last Mile Ride several weeks ago and it has been on my mind ever since. I wish that we were all a bit more altruistic and vocal about the things that are really important, like Crystal. Got to her website and learn how to sponsor her in the ride. Have you noticed that SCOMO has disappeared? Well I am here to tell you it is not true. I went down to see Chelsea yesterday as the website has been off-line for several weeks. I was relieved to find that, yes, they are all still here in Richmond, same great people and some surprising new developments. Right now I will tell you, Scomo is now Scoot Richmond and has a new, colorful website. In a few weeks Chelsea will be talking with me on SCTRCST about the new showroom, displays and scoots.l let you know more about that later. This weeks music features Porter Block with South Beach Drive from Podsafe Music Network and Eleanor Rigby with Mod Boy from the ioda promonet. Some of you may remember Eleanor Rigby as a Mod Icon and Cult Figure on the Record Collectors Market. This was her 6th & final Single.

SHOWNOTES: Ciao, Its been a beautiful week here in Richmond. I have been out riding several times and even got to try out my new full-face helmet. My thought, why didnt I get one sooner? I am still waiting for the rest of my safety gear, but for now, I am definitely recommending the full-face helmet. This Podcast features the music of Bombskare with World Turned Upside Down from the Podsafe Music Network. One important news story you should know about is Vespa has issued a recall of certain 2006-2007 GTS scooters. On certain scoots, the graphite exhaust bushing, which seals the connection between the exhaust pipe and the muffler, must be replaced each time the muffler is removed and reinstalled. If the exhaust bushing is not replaced, exhaust gases may be permitted to leak past the bushing. The rear brake hose may be impaired or melted, increasing the risk of a crash. Make sure you call your dealer with any questions. I first heard of John and Who Rides a Vespa several months ago, when it was announced that he won a Philippine blogging award. John is a Vespa fan in a country where classic Vespa are hard to come by, but out until he could fine what he wanted. We did this interview over Skype, way past my bed time, because of the time change. Remember to get yourself over to www.Amerivespa.org and registered for Amerivespa July 12-15 in Seattle. Look for me on Saturday night or Sunday and please just introduce yourself.

SHOWNOTES - Ciao, come va? You too can be a part of the show. I invite you to send me email at sctrcst@gmail.com Think about subscribing for free through itunes to another podcatcher. I a have been spending more time surfing the web in search of riding gear. It started with all the blogging that has been going on about helmets and relating several horror stories of low speed crashes and my perusing the numerous pictures of bruised up legs and arms. The last straw was seeing pictures of the bruises and cuts, along with a beautiful white Vespa GT smashed when a car turned in front of a fellow scooterist and she was wearing gear. I am back in Richmond, but my mind is still out on the west coast. I will be going back out in a couple of weeks to see my mother, who is going through chemo therapy for cancer. Thanks for the emails, she was doing fine, but somehow slipped and broke her ankle, so I told my sister I would come out to help with her July treatments. I will be coming back to Richmond on the last day of Amerivespa and plan on stopping on Seattle to do the Vashon Island ride and meet up with a few of my new friends like Little Billy and Orin. Hopefully you too will be able to get to a few of the Seattle events. I will even admit to being a shorts wearing rider in the summer, but have held fast to not wearing sandals. So I have been reading Steve Williams blog for a while and was touched by the post he has written about safety, then when Orin wrote on his blog a while back about his friend Safety Ed and his fall, cushioned by his landing on his helmet covered head, I started to think again about needing an upgrade. Now, I do not make these kind of purchases easily, I am a skilled window shopper, which use to drive Marcel crazy, especially when I would stop at the Ferrari shop to talk with the sale guys. But she has come to understand that this practice is fun for me and that these excursions do not ultimate result in a purchase. But this surfing I have been doing is different; first I have decided I need to upgrade my helmet so I am going to a full face, influenced as much by those I admire who use them like Steve, Orin and Chelsea. One feature I decided I wanted was a flip-up, which narrowed the selection and increased the price, but I think in the end I will be happier with the flexibility it will bring. Next, I read about the armor features of the new jackets, but did not want to look like a Speed channel racer. Living in Richmonds temperate climate also meant looking for something that was breathable and would completely drench me in sweat when I was wearing it. I have decided to go with a First-gear Mesh-tex jacket, ventilated and including shoulder and elbow armor. Lastly, with some trepidation, I have decided I need gloves. Now this was a big decision, having never worn gloves, since most of my riding has been in areas where cold is considered 50 degrees. Again, I thought, mesh with protection and have ordered a pair of First Gear sport gloves with armor over the knuckles. It should all arrive this week, so I will let you know what this new and safer approach towards riding is like for me. I am going to wait to see what the service is like before I talk about the company I have order this from, but please feel free to make your own recommendations in emails to me. I will pass those along to other listeners. I mentioned earlier that I wanted to make a few comments about the creativity of the scooter bloggers we have on the net. What has fascinated me is the creative endeavor each has that go beyond writing and blogging. The first who comes to mind, of course is Steve Williams and his photography. It is so much more than the little tourist snap-shots I have taken. There is real art here, make sure you look at that section of his blog. Although there are many other gifted bloggers, who hopefully we can also talk about at another time, I want to again give a shout out to Little Billy. Most of you may not know that he is an accomplished musician, having played for years in a band called Little Billy and the Corvettes, but beyond this, he is also a talented cartoon artist. Many of his cartoons were done for the employee owned building supply store he works for and I have put a few of his works of art here. Remember to get yourself registered for Amerivespa July 12-15 in Seattle at www.amerivespa.org has been out of town this week, and the big news is I will be recording a conversation with John Rana in the Philippines late this evening. John writes the blog Who Rides a Vespa and received special recognition with a Philippine blogging award several months ago. Next week we will try to catch up with Bryan Bedell of 2strokebuzz who has been out of town.

SHOWNOTES - This week I have gone from Seattle to Denver to Richmond, which means that I am still blogging and producing SCTRCST on my laptop, with a radio shack mic held together with wire and chewing gum. Along with meeting Orin ONeil of Scootin Old Skool this past week, I have been scouting out the Denver scoot shops and have been amazed by the scooter growth in the this city. Denver is where I first got the scooter bug about 10 years ago. For those of you who have never been to the mile high city, it is a picture postcard of parks, trees, big city buildings all with the back drop of the snow capped Rocky Mountain. Erico is an authorized Vespa dealer and the show room is packed with new ETs, GTSs and a variety of other motorcycles. The shop is in lower downtown and sports a fashionable Euro feel with a decidedly race inspired theme, punctuated by high powered Ducati, Moto Guzzi and Triumphs. The staff are welcoming although many sport super-bike leans, they are very open to talking scoots and old school bikes. There is a complete Vespa Boutique, if you are into the high priced Vespa fashions, and they have a variety of Ducati and Triumph race duds. What was more interesting to me is, right next door is Casa Lambretta. In contrast to Erico it has a small warehouse feel, an oil and gas smell and numerous partly restored Lamberetas lined up next to the tool bins. Make sure you stop here and check it out, it is what scooting and scoot repair use to be. Denver was a want-a-be big city just 10 short years ago and the landscape began to change as the population began to grow and the town began a revitalization. I wont venture to guess what sparked all of this, but back then, a little upstart of a scooter shop was opened by two Denver scooter legends, Colin Shattuck and Adam Baker, it was called Sportique Scooters, The business has grown from one Denver shop to three including one in Boulder and another in Colorado Springs. This is a far cry from the small shop that Colin and Adam opened in 1998 in a run down gas station on Denvers seedy west side. In going back there, I was glad to see that the shop still sports that rat-bike feel, with the head mechanic adjusting an old, rusty Vespa 125 out in the lot, among all the new and shiny Genuine Buddys and Kymcos. If you have not seen it yet, look for Colins scooter book Red Eyes, Whitewalls and Blue Smoke it is a great read on the evolution or de-evolution of scooters in the US. The short story on Denver is, get there when ever you can. With 300 days of sunshine it is a riders paradise and whether you enjoy city riding or touring in the mountain, there are plenty of fellow enthusiasts. If you are wondering what I mean, when I say plenty of fellow enthusiasts, think about attending Mile High Mayhem, the last week in July. With hundreds of scooters, scoot activities and parties it is one of the years best destination rallies in the United States. Many thanks go out to SIP-Scootershop for including SCTRCST in its newsletter. Do not forget to go to Amerivespa.org and register for the rally. This not only gets you all the Amerivespa perks, but will cover you in participating in all the city and Vashon Island rides that are planned. Since I have been out of town, I have not had a chance to speak with Bryan Bedell of 2strokebuzz about riding the Lake Erie Loop, but I try to check in with him and have something for you next week.

SHOWNOTES: Remember that you too can be a part of the show. I have ended up in my home town of Port Angeles, WA. I have had an opportunity to speak with several bloggers on this trip, one of which lives right here in Port Angeles, Bill Sommers, writer of Little Billys Scooter Tales. Make sure you check out Bills blog HERE. Its easy to forget that the pace of life varies depending on your circumstances and place in the world. When ever we travel, even back home here I am reminded over and over, how everyone has their own world view and when you are open to listening to them you find out fascinating things about life, and people are even interested in this funny little podcast. Some selections from the Podsafe music network this week are PW Fenton and Ride, along with Jaya the Cat with the Jimmy Cliff classic, Harder they Come. Thanks to Ben from Honky Tonk Dragon for the blog post and to Errol and Robert for the emails. Check out the Toronto Motor SC HERE. Next time, more from Seattle and Denver on our way back east. I invite you to leave a comment or better yet leave me a voicemail for the show.

SHOW NOTES: Ciao, come siete mi miei amici? Downloads have been skyrocketing the past two weeks, I must say thanks to everyone who has joined us. Maybe this podcasting thing will really catch on! Drop me an email and tell me how you found the show. I also invite your to go over and visit the website www.sctrcst.com and leave me a voice mail to play on the show. This week I have the rest of my interview with Orin ONeil of Scootin Old Skool He talks more about scooting in the Northwest and his PX. Remember back a few weeks I mentioned the Lake Erie Loop Ride? Yesterday I spoke with Bryan Bedall from 2strokebuzz who tells me he is planning to do the 650 miles on his Genuine blur scooter 150cc all in one day. You also hear him on talk about that on this podcast. The shows music comes from the Podsafe music network. This show has Redska with SNOB and Stefanie Seskin with Your own Road. Big news is I leave for Seattle in a few days. Although I am really making the trip so Marcel and I can spend sometime with my mother, I hope to look-up Orin in Seattle and also visit with Little Billy when I am in Port Angeles. The other big surprise for next week is I'm going mobile. Im planning on taking my laptop, microphones and a recorder on my trip to the northwest. Just think of next weeks show as a big crap shoot.

SHOWNOTES: This show features an interview with Orin ONeil of Scootin Old Skool. He is in Seattle and talks about the scooter scene, The Vespa Club of Seattle and allot about the clubs plans for Amerivespa, News of the week is that Piaggio is going to Vietnam to produce scooters. Will they use the usual Asian techniques for building bikes? Check out the link here. Go to the Podsafe music network to hear the Buck Brothers with Girls, Skirts, Boots and Bikes and Katebite with Telling Lies Next time more details about my upcoming trip to Seattle and Port Angeles, Washington and finish hearing the interview with Orin who talks more about his long distance riding, the rally in Victoria BC, the Cool Hand Rally, sponsored by the Capital City Scooter Club.

SHOW NOTES: Welcome and thanks for joining me. Subscriber numbers continue to go up. I appreciate those of you who are sticking with me. If you are new I would be interested to know how you found the show. Drop me an email. Sorry about weeks show it was too much fluff not enough specific content. I realized that I said I would talk about rallies but then just referred you to the rally calendars. Hopefully this show makes up for that. Not only is there talk about a couple of specific rallies coming up, but I have a boat load of rally video links for you. Music on this show is from the Podsafe music network. Jonny Kaplan And The Lazy Stars with Ride Free Another wonderful week in Richmond Virginia, Lots of sunshine and more time to get out in the yard and do some weekend riding, Look for the sctrcst logo to appear on the Amerivespa sponsors page of the site. The Lake Erie Loop ride is the weekend of June 8-10 2007. The ride originates in Wellington, Ohio, heads west through Detroit, Mich. and Windsor, Ont. into Canada, east through Fort Erie and Buffalo, NY, then back to Wellington, Ohio. 650 miles in a day! Great video on the ride is here. Another upcoming ride is here on the east coast is Scootergate 3, in Washington DC rally, June 1-3rd. It is sponsored by top shelf shops in the DC area like Vespa Washington and Moto Strada. Click here for pictures from last years DC rally. The Lake Erie video started me thinking about other rally videos I had seen on the net. The first SCTRCST show included one from the shop in San Antonio where I got my first Vespa. Here are some more recent rally videos with music to check out. Look at the South Bay Vespa Club LosGatos Rally this past May 4-6 2007 and Demons Run which was at Narrowsburg NY in Sept 2005 sponsored by the Checkered Demons SC and the Vintage Vespa Lambretta Scooter Rally in Colorado Springs. Moving On Up #5 from June 2004 music by Fanny Pack. (abrupt ending) Also look at the NY Scooter Club 2006 Block Party wait out the guy doing the intro for some great b-3 sounds and the Vespa Lambretta Scooter Rally Segovia 2005 Segovia is a city in Spain, It is about an hour north of Madrid (there are ton of rally videos on the net from Madrid SC) Vegas Scooter Rally 2007 300 or more Vespas were in Vegas at the Gold Coast (SKA music). Pharaohs Scooter Cult:sposored the King Tut Putt 2007 Rally in SanDiego. Jump over to see Europe 2007 National Scooter Rally, in Mt Gambier, Australia and then a rally sponsored by the Rode Mate Scooter Club in Bergamo Italy Run to the Hills 3 video, it is a ride through the hill towns. Bergamo is a walled city in Italys Lombardy region, lies along the route for those visiting Italys northern lake country, just off the A4 between Milan and Verona close to Crosio and Solbiate Arno north of Milan where my family came from. ore) Another selection from the Podsafe music network. Katy Pfaffl with This Ride. Next week come back for more details about my plans for a June trip to Seattle and Port Angeles. Hope to speak with Orin Oneil of Scootin Old Skool. He should be just getting back from the rally in Victoria BC, the Cool Hand Rally, sponsored by the Capital City Scooter Club and we will try to check back in with Bryan Bedell on new developments over at 2strokebuzz.

SHOWNOTES: Welcome to episode 11 click the pickleplayer to listen to this or any other SCTRCST episode. On this episode more shameless promotion of Amerivespa 2007 as it looks more and more like I might get there and I also have a links below to preview of some of the spring and summer scooter rallies. From the IODA music network Love Dont Care by Tommy Castro Blind Pig Records . It is spring and everything is new again and her in Richmond it has been perfect for riding. Every time I go out it feels like the first time, part of that is wondering about the reliability of my classic ride. I take my small cadre of tools including my cellphone and optimistically take off. Trips this past week were to Carytown for shopping, eating and general people watching and then to the river, a peaceful sanctuary and oasis in the city. Get curious about other rallies coming up and check out one of the best calendar lists which is on Scooterbbs. It has been around since the late 1996 one of the first places I went trying to find out about scooters Bryan at 2stokebuzz has a mirror of the calendar on his site and SCOMOs calendar is always a good resource. Look for regional scooter calendars on Yahoo Groups like the one around here for DC, VA area we have Your best source may be your local scooter club. Switch gears and check out Jeremy Sutton blog on his Vespa 180ss restoration . From the Podsafe music network. Jonathan Coultor and Code Monkey. If you are a real tech geek or you get around on the net you have probable heard this. I first heard it several months ago on net at nite, Leo Laporte and Amber McArther. Youtube videos you can checkout World of Warcraft or Sims 2 or somthing from a bunch of students.

SHOW NOTES: Welcome and thanks for joining me for episode 10, a SCTRCST milestone! Listen to individual shows on your computer just click the pickleplayer on the right hand side of the website. You are also invited to leave me voice from your computer, check out the recorder also on the right hand side of the site. From the Podsafe Music Network Sting Rays Get On It. Thanks to the listeners and special thanks to many of the bloggers that both inspired me and have supported me with shout-out in their blogs. Scooter Dave, Steve Williams of Scooter in the Sticks Steve Guzman at The Scooter Scoop, Dave Dixon at Big Guy Small Scooter, Orin ONeil at Scootin Old Skool, Bill at Little Billys Scooter Tales, Ben at Honky Tonk Dragon and of course my hometown friend Chelsea at Scomo. Here are the archived Vespa links that led me to Gianluca on our Italy trip in the spring of 2000. Airvespa Home page ,Bikes for sale, Price list, Shipping, and of course the current Vespa Club Roma site.

SHOWNOTES: Thanks to those of you returning, if you are new I hope you find something you like! This show features Bryan Bedell from 2StrokeBuzz. Make sure you check out his website for the latest in scooter news and look for his early zine publications on the website. From the Podsafe music network Truly, Madly, Deeply by Pama International, a soul-injected ska, rocksteady & dub sensation for the 21st century (sounds like a music A and R man wrote that). Make sure you visit their UK website. Check out the Blazing On A Sunday Afternoon Scooter Ride this coming Sunday May 6th. The ride consists of three scooter clubs that will meet at different locations around LA that morning and ride to Royal Claytons where there will be a DJs, food and prizes for the Best Lambretta and Best Vespa. See the clubs websites, they are Reflections Scooter Society, West Side Scooter Club and Southbay Scooter Club It is not too early to start talking about Amerivespa. Go to the Amerivaspa website and look at the agenda for the three days. Thanks to Michael for the voicemail and to Scott for the comments, See Scotts website, ScooterJar about his scooter obsession.

SHOWNOTES: Thanks for listening, this show has the second part of my interview with Steve Williams from Scooter in the Sticks blog. The only real news in Virginia this past week has been about Virginia Tech, thanks for the emails. This podcasts music comes from IODA the Independent Online Distribution Alliance it is John Nemeth singing Blue Broadway Steve mentions Little Billys Scooter Tales which is written in my home town and others as influences. Entertaining scooter videos on the web. HonkyTonk Dragon has guy riding a Vespa up the wall of an empty swimming pool, a tame version of the old motorcycle stunt called the Wall of Death. 2Strokebuzz links to three vintage Vespa commercials on utube, Thanks for the email Nick, check out a clever cartoon of his new ride at this link. Next week, Brian Bedall from 2Stroke Buzz.

SHOW NOTES: Ciao, welcome to SCTRCST. In this episode you will find my reflections on Podcamp NYC and New York. Many thanks to all the podcasters who gave me a renewed excitement about getting more in touch with you, the audience. Check out some of their podcasts (Jason VanOrden, Chris Penn , Chris Brogan, Adam Varga, Vergel Evans ) This Podcast wouldnt exist without you, I invite you to leave a voice message at the website. Check out Podsafe Audio or Uncle Seths Blog for more of their music. Listen to Part one of an interview with Steve Williams where he talks about beginning his blog, motor scooters and his relationship with his readers. Read Steves latest posts at Scooter in the Sticks. Check out the movie trailer for PJs 2006 RAMBLE on Honky Tonk Dragon a scooter ride from the Midwest through south and up the east coast.

SHOW NOTES: Ciao, come va? Thanks for returning hope you find something you like! Take a moment and visit the website http://SCTRCST.com I have made some changes in the look by using custom made headers with pictures for our trips to Italy and my Vespa motor scooters. You can now listen on the website to individual SCTRCST shows with one click. Reminder Dogwood Delirium sponsored by the Richmond and Charlottesville clubs April 28-30, contact email davemunn@scomo.net Something from the Podsafe music network Stingray. I am planning a trip to NY next weekend for PodcampNYC Sprtng time riding is all over the blogisphere DaveDixon of Big Guy Small Scooter rides his Vespa scooter into the mountains SteveWilliams of Scooter in the Sticks get catch in a snowstorm riding his Vespa Orin ONeil of Scootin old Skool takes off for a Spring Rally in Portland, Oregon - Twist and Play Scooter Clubs SpringScoot Some newer blogs SharonVespaGirl from Hobart, Tasmania, Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite A woman writes about riding in her youth. Get that Mod feeling, German site at Christian Spanring's blog .Listen to some fantastic mod music from The Beautiful Kantine Band from Austria.