Bloomington (IL) to Bloomington (IN) Baby!

redcass · Post by **redcass** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:15 am

I have planned this trip for months and months, and now I'm half way through! It was somewhere over 200 miles--the discrepancy b/t Google and my odo is kinda funny.

The trip went pretty smoothly, 5.5 hrs in all, but not without event. Such as:

arrived at a corner, went to grab my 'map booklet' and found it missing from my glovebox. Turned around, kept eyes peeled on the road, found it (yay!) a very long 5-10 minutes later. Turned around again and kept on.

Road closed! The detour was the interstate. So...I found my own detour.

After crossing state lines, yet another road closed! This time, the detour would have made me backtrack at least 20 miles. I was low on gas, and I knew none of the recent towns had stations, so I tried again to find my own detour. Got some directions from some locals, eventually found the highway again.

Really almost ran out of gas. I slowed to 30mph for about 15 minutes to keep my mpg up. The gauge was at the far left for quite a while when I finally found a station.

docutech · Post by **docutech** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:55 am

Awesome!

Thanks for sharing the experience and pictures! Looks like you are having a great time despite the "bumps" and almost running out of gas. Enjoy your stay and have a save trip back.

How much was your Buddy off mileage wise compared to Google's mileage estimation?

redcass · Post by **redcass** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 3:15 am

docutech wrote:Awesome!

Thanks for sharing the experience and pictures! Looks like you are having a great time despite the "bumps" and almost running out of gas. Enjoy your stay and have a save trip back.

How much was your Buddy off mileage wise compared to Google's mileage estimation?

Thanks! It seems like more than 10% off. I'm not sure exactly with my detours, though.

Queen · Post by **Queen** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:24 pm

What a fun ride!! I bet you rolled right by me here in CU?

Xena · Post by **Xena** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:46 pm

You, my dear, are an absolute inspiration!

It sounds like you had a blast even if there were a few little hiccups.

How was to ride that far alone?

redcass · Post by **redcass** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:08 pm

Pax wrote:What a fun ride!! I bet you rolled right by me here in CU?

Hey! Another central Illinoisan! Did you get your Buddy at Illini Scooter? Bloomington's a pretty good town for scootering, how is Urbaign?

redcass · Post by **redcass** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:09 pm

Xena wrote:You, my dear, are an absolute inspriation!

It sounds like you had a blast even if there were a few little hiccups.

How was to ride that far alone?

Thanks, you're sweet! It was a really nice day for a ride, just a bit too windy, I didn't mind riding alone. But I would've welcomed company too.

Any chance you'll take a ride of your own soon?

Xena · Post by **Xena** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:16 pm

I love riding alone at times for being able to get lost in my thoughts...but you did a good haul on your own and you should be wicked proud!

You mentioned wind...do you also find that the Buddy is not so sturdy feeling when the wind picks up?

Hubby and I ride together all the time and have been enjoying exploring the state of Rhode Island. He has recently moved her from England so this is all new to him and new to me through his eyes, if that makes sense.

Queen · Post by **Queen** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:34 pm

redcass wrote:
Pax wrote:What a fun ride!! I bet you rolled right by me here in CU?
Hey! Another central Illinoisan! Did you get your Buddy at Illini Scooter? Bloomington's a pretty good town for scootering, how is Urbaign?

Yup, Dale at Illini Scooters set me up!

This town was made for scootering, I live in Urbana less than two miles from work at UI...free parking at the door, 90+mpg, and a FUN ride to and from every day!!

redcass · Post by **redcass** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:43 pm

Xena wrote:I love riding alone at times for being able to get lost in my thoughts...but you did a good haul on your own and you should be wicked proud!

You mentioned wind...do you also find that the Buddy is not so sturdy feeling when the wind picks up?

Hubby and I ride together all the time and have been enjoying exploring the state of Rhode Island. He has recently moved her from England so this is all new to him and new to me through his eyes, if that makes sense.

Sure, that does make sense! Sometimes I had a nasty cross-wind, and that was rough in a few spots. I also got chilly and put on my rainjacket liner under my mesh jacket. It fits pretty well, but there was a bit of a 'sail' effect.

MPA · Post by **MPA** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:52 pm

sounds like a fun trip. I'd love to take a decent ride on mine

redcass · Post by **redcass** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:41 am

From the remainder of my trip:

hcstrider · Post by **hcstrider** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:52 pm

It looks like you had a great trip, those are some very cool pictures. About a year ago you replaced the white wall tires on your Buddy. Now that you have encountered a variety of road conditions, what do you think of your replacement tires.

Xena · Post by **Xena** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:15 pm

Fantastic pix!!!

redcass · Post by **redcass** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:46 pm

hcstrider wrote:It looks like you had a great trip, those are some very cool pictures. About a year ago you replaced the white wall tires on your Buddy. Now that you have encountered a variety of road conditions, what do you think of your replacement tires.

Ah, it's funny you should ask! I actually had to replace the rear tire right before my trip. I had had Zippy 1s, but the back one tore right at the valve. Since the Italia came with tubed whitewalls, and the Zippys are tubeless, the mechanic needed to add a valve (and the Scooterworks salesperson hadn't sent the valves with the tire

). This time around, Scooterworks was out of Zippy 1s, so I got a Zippy 3 instead. And after much convincing, the salesperson relented and sent me a new valve. That valve is L-shaped, and fits the tire really well. I believe I'll actually get a fair chunk of mileage on that one. (crosses fingers)

So with a Zippy 1 on the front and a Zippy 3 on the back, it was a nice ride. I felt that I had ample traction, and swerving around potholes was quick and easy. In comparison, those tubed whitewalls were total crap, and I would not have chosen a long road trip with them.

donkin · Post by **donkin** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:49 am

Thanks for the pics and the updates on the ride. As an IU grad, the photos brought back memories!

Guess it's time to think about a trip from Fort Wayne dwn to Southern Indiana.

Safe travels!

Don

Post by **jmazza** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:05 am

Great pics redcass!!

It's an impressive trip you made... sounds like you dealt with the inconvenient problems (detours, gas, etc) really well!

Inspirational to be sure!

Jackie F · Post by **Jackie F** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:49 am

Congrats!

When you get home, can you mail me some Advanti's? yum!

MPA · Post by **MPA** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:10 pm

cool pictures!

Modern Buddy

Bloomington (IL) to Bloomington (IN) Baby!

Bloomington (IL) to Bloomington (IN) Baby!

a couple more photos