Born: Philadelphia, PA, 1972
Started Riding: 1991
VCLG Member Since: May 2003
Relationship Status: Single
Rider Status: Daily
First Bike: 1965 Heinkel Tourist 103 A-2
Dream Bike: Vespa Augsburg GS 150 Typ 112
Bikes Currently Owned:
Current Projects: 1979 Vespa P200E custom
Favorite Rally: Rides of March (west coast) & Summit Point (east coast)
Favorite Food: Burma Superstar's Tea Leaf Salad
Favorite Drink: Abbott Ale
Favorite Movie: Night On Earth
Favorite Music: Blues, Ska, Reggae, Classic Rock and Funk primarily, but that's really just scratching the surface
Favorite Quote: "If it's true that you're one in a million, there are 7 1/2 of you in L.A."
Pets: Molly, a calico cat
Other Hobbies: VW's, playing bass, karaoke, cooking, collecting scooter toys, VW toys, and license plates
Other Info:
I first discovered scooters in 1986, when I found my 1965 Heinkel in a farm shed in Dalton, MA. After some research and tinkering, I eventually got it running again and back on the road. On Memorial Day weekend 1991, I attended my first scooter rally, put on by the Soul Survivors Scooter Club in Washington DC. I met so many fascinating people there and had such a great time that I knew I was hooked!
I soon bought a one-owner 1979 P200E from a neighbor, which just needed a battery, a spark plug, new tires, some fresh gas, and a wash. I really enjoyed the boost in power that the P200 gave me, how nimble its handling was, and the more I learned about it and worked on it, the more I began to appreciate the ingenious design of the Vespa. Then, while I living in Berlin, Germany in 1993, I bought my 1958 Heinkel Tourist, which served as my daily driver there and I even rode it to a rally there the following spring. When I returned home, I shipped it back with me, where it joined my first Heinkel and my P200. Riding those three bikes, I traveled to dozens of rallies up and down the east coast, from Virginia to Ottawa, and from Boston to West Virginia. Out of the all of those rallies, I can count the number that I have trucked or trailered my bike to on one hand... in other words, I like to ride!
I moved to San Jose, CA in 2000 and eventually ran into Josh Rogers, who told me about the September Shindig rally that was coming up soon. I got my P back on the road just in time for the rally, and I had an absolute blast. Ever since then, I have been having a great time riding and hanging out with the scooterists of the Bay Area and attending rallies all up and down west coast. I've been a member of the VCLG since May 2003, and I currently serve as the club's webmaster.
In September 2006, I rode my (now kitted) P200E, pictured to the left, in the Scooter Cannonball Run, an epic 9 day, 3300-mile ride from Oregon to New Jersey. In 2008, I rode my Vespa GTS 250 on the Cannonball, this time from San Francisco, CA to Ocean City, MD in 10 days. Once again in 2010, I rode the Cannonball from Vancouver, BC to Portland, ME. I also rode all the way from California to Vancouver in two days before the start, and then afterward I rode from Maine to Pennsylvania in two days, for a total distance of more than 5200 miles in 18 days! Partly as a result of that herculean effort, I received the first annual award for the VCLG member with the most miles ridden throughout the year (16467.7 miles in all), presented by our club's founder, Rolf Soltau.
