Riding a Buddy across the country, and then some—For PEACE!

[ericalm]

A Virginia woman is planning on crossing the country on a Buddy, taking a circuitous route that will trace (sort of) a peace symbol on the map. Setting aside all political discussions (such topics are off-limits here), it should be an amazing story. It's a very ambitious project and undertaking it so late in the summer will be an additional challenge as she heads through Texas and the south.

Genuine is sponsoring the ride. She's been outfitted with a black Buddy with a windshield and chrome racks and crash bars.

From her site:

A P.E.A.C.E. SCOOTER
A Patriot’s Exhibition Advancing Community and Environmentalism, on a Scooter
This summer I am literally, “Putting Peace on the Map.”
I will be taking a route, on a scooter (environmentally friendlier), that is 9,000+ miles long and creates a Peace sign on the U.S. map. The start is the White House and the finish is Crawford, Texas. All and all, the route takes more than 2 months. I will be going community to community asking the people to define Peace with me and making a documentary about these responses.
I am calling it a “WE Space production.” The P.E.A.C.E, Scooter Tour is an open invitation to co-create a more peaceful present and future.

I think the postcard (below) is a PJ Chmiel design. Her trip will be shorter than his 10,000 mile Stella trek but may well be the longest trip on a Buddy once completed.

[Keys]

Interesting. When I was planning my Cottonwood, AZ to Baton Rouge, LA trip, Genuine refused to sponsor me because they didn't "want to encourage Buddy owners to do this kind of thing".

Although I am still quite happy with my Buddy, I am becoming less and less enamoured of Genuine.

--Keys

[Roose Hurro]

Hey, Keys... wanna bet your cause wasn't "interesting" enough? Had you proposed to "draw" a nation-sized peach... ahhh, hmmm... peace sign, mayhaps they would have... how shall I put this?... "taken the bait"? In other words, how could they resist the draw? Sponsor what may be the first long-distance road-trip on a Buddy, or sponsor what may be the first long-distance "I'm gonna ride P.E.A.C.E. across the nation" road-trip on a Buddy....

Sorry about the sarcasm....

Maybe you could try, again? You know, now that they've gone back on their "word"?


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[ThisDude]

Awesome on a buddy too! I thought she was gonna do it on a Metropolitan which would be cool too since I have one of those too.

[Dave]

Thats cool! but if she skips Texas maybe she can get Mercedes Benz to sponsor....

[ericalm]

As I said, let's leave the politics of this alone. I think it's an interesting scootering undertaking. I'm curious as to how much experience she has riding, what kind of gear she'll be bringing, how she'll handle it logistically and so on.

Interesting. When I was planning my Cottonwood, AZ to Baton Rouge, LA trip, Genuine refused to sponsor me because they didn't "want to encourage Buddy owners to do this kind of thing".

Although I am still quite happy with my Buddy, I am becoming less and less enamoured of Genuine.

Maybe they just didn't want to encourage too many people to think that they could get Genuine to sponsor their long-distance road trips?

Are you still planning your trip?

[cowgirl helmet]

BTW, I've been in contact with the rider (Alix) and she's interested in connecting with various scooting folks in different locations (see her postcard for more info about where she's going). In particular, if there's anyone in the DC area who would be interested in joining a ride to escort her from her starting point (the White House) out of town, drop me a PM, or post a comment on Alix's site.

[Roose Hurro]

This will definitely be an interesting trip to follow along with, blog-wise. I put her site on my favorites list, just for that purpose... I'm very interested to see how the Buddy holds up, especially since I had a chance to see a Buddy in person, a few weeks ago. Definitely on my list as a first scoot, unless the funds for a Vespa GTS magically materialize in my bank account. Still might choose a Buddy, even if.

*fingers crossed*


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[Tbone]

Haggle with a dealer for a GT.

EVERYONE's going for the GTS and if they have GT's on the floor...the dealer is loosing money. SO, do them a favor and take one off their hands...

Or a buddy. Great bike. Test ride each. See which you like and which one you can afford!

[Alix B]

Hey everybody.

I had planned on posting about the trip-but I see it got here before me.
Nice to see the buzz generating about it and I appreciate the people contacting me with thumbs up, high 5's and general questions.
I feel pretty open about what's going here-I'm up for full Q&A.
I have a ton of preparation to get me on the road, but once I roar off-I will have more time to post on my site. Lots of details to come about the ride and the bike.
Today all the gear came in. I ordered Rev Pack saddlebags, put 'em on the Buddy and REVeled in their function-they can hold a lot of stuff-without a complicated set-up. Having the cowling on my bike comes in handy for securing them. Otherwise you could just modify and put in some eyebolts, pad eyes or anchor eyes.
Other than those packs I am using a SHAD case, GIVI said they didn't have one to fit the Buddy, YET. And then, a milkcrate on the front.
There is plenty of room but I believe in packing light-there will be plenty to pick up along the way.

Glad we can keep the politics out of this. I don't think Peace is inherently political-unfortunately it has become so-in response to political agendas.
I'm looking to circumvent that and start at the individual-I'm interested in how people define Peace. So that's what I'm doing-interviewing people about their definition and showing people how scooters are great for alternative, environmental forms of transportation.
And riding 9,000+miles is really Peaceful to me personally!

As far as sponsorship goes, well, Yes, I was pretty surprised that Genuine was so willing to work with me when I wrote them a proposal. They gave me more than I asked for. All in all, it wasn't a bad proposition.
Trust me, aside from the bike, it's all me and the kindness of other people. I'm going for broke doing it.
I don't know anything about anyone else and their proposals. Sorry.
I was willing to do this going 30m.p.h on my Met, at best. Now, I will be safer and have access to many more roads.
Oh, and yes, me and PJ worked on the postcard. I gave him the ideas and he used his mad design skills to produce it.
This trip idea came to me May 23. Thats a lot of work done on it in a little time-and it's going so well that I don't doubt it was meant to happen.
I am opening myself up to the wild adventure of the road- the generosity
and entertainment of strangers.

Thanks for reading!
Join me in riding out of D.C., rom the White House, if you want to be at the kick-off.

Peace-Alix

[lobsterman]

Alix,

I had acutally seen your site before ericalm posted about it and was thinking of mentioning it here, but he beat me to it.

Glad you posted though; I hope you can post here once in a while in addition to your own site, maybe with more of the technical details of the ride than you want to go into there.

Good luck to you!

[AgentKestrel]

Keys;

Alix is going to be in Prescott and Sedona, looks like she will be taking 89a right through Jerome and Cottonwood! Maybe you can hook up with her and show her the ropes.

[Keys]

Glad to. She can message me here for my phone #. Can't during the day, though unless on weekends...I'm attending the Yavapai County Sheriff's academy during the weekdays.

--Keys

[paige]

Several of us have Givi topcases on the Buddy.

[sparty]

bump. Thought it's a pretty neat thing that Alix is doing. too bad that she's not going to stop by anywhere close to NY.... BTW, looks like she's reached New Orleans now. In her latest post it appears that her Buddy is in a motel room. I am surprised that they allowed her to do that, is that a fire hazard?

[Scootin_in_La]

Probably is a fire hazard, but if you knew the area she was in at the time, you would understand. I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a car outside, let alone a little scooter...

Anywho, Alix made it to New Orleans yesterday afternoon. We rode around the city, got caught in the rain, and finally made it to my house about 9:00 last night. More exploring today!

Jody

[polianarchy]

Anywho, Alix made it to New Orleans yesterday afternoon. We rode around the city, got caught in the rain, and finally made it to my house about 9:00 last night. More exploring today!

Jody

Awesome, Jody! I hope you take some pictures/share your own story here on Modern Buddy. Sounds like fun.

[cowgirl helmet]

Hey Jody -- please pass greetings to Alix from Denise in DC and tell her I'm sorry I haven't sent her my photos from her visit here yet. I'll try to do so tonight when I get home.