TheScooterScoop

(Pre-ride huddle before the Maxi mine ride.)

Back on May 29th I got an email from Marty asking if I was going to make the “Iron Range Super Scooter Rally” in Minnesota. Well, as nice as it sounded, I didn’t think my Vespa T5 stood a chance of making it from here to Mountain Iron, MN, so I had to pass on it. Maybe if I still had my Honda Helix I’d be able to pull it off.

Well, I got a follow up email from Marty explaining that he was leaving at 7am for a 400 mile, one way trip out to the rally. I was impressed! 400 miles one-way is nothing to scoff at. THEN he told me to check out Bowen’s Rally Ride Blog. Bowen is another guy who takes his riding seriously. When I asked him about the ride and why he was making ride from California to Milwaukee he responded (with my parenthetical commentary close behind):

I am riding, if you include my 2-nighters in both Yellowstone and the Black Hills, a ways over 2000 miles to get to the rally. One of the main reasons I am doing this is because every teenager, before they go off to college (I am 18, by the way), needs to go on a big trip, following high school. In conjunction with that, I wanted to be a part of a huge maxi-scooter event and this was easily the best way to do it. I really relish the opportunity to meet my scooter brethren and understand everyone else’s reason for coming. My grandparents live in Milwaukee, so I get to go see them after the rally, so thats yet another reason for coming all the way out here. There really are tons of reasons for why I am doing this, some big, some small, but too many to list.

Wholly Guacamole! 2000 miles!? And at such a tender age… That’s some seriously impressive iron-butt action right there! The two of you have ridden further to a rally than I ever have.

Marty came back to give us a few highlights:

Went up on June 6th and came back on June 10th.

I went for the rides and tours that had been set up. If I am going to drive 400 miles for a rally I want to see something in the area.

And that is how this rally was set up. Having some one local guiding you to the best things to see in the area.

I road more at this rally then any other rally.

The Iron Range Super Scoot Rally 2007
Events-

The Serviceman’s Club in downtown Virginia was our place to gather, socialize, organize ride groups, and hang out.

Wed, Jun 6th. 4-7pm was Early check-in/registration with a burger fry put on by the Serviceman’s Club.

Thurs, Jun 7th. 9-12AM – official check-in/registration. The Serviceman’s Club holds a pancake feed as a fund raiser for help with their projects. Very good food!

In the early After Noon about 12 of us went for a ride to Ely, MN. We stopped and had some lunch then went to the Wolf museum and back to Virginia. (I’m impressed, I didn’t know wolves had their own museums!)

One other group went for a ride to Hibbing. They stopped at the “Iron Man Statue” before going arriving. They also stopped at the Hull Rust Mine (because hull rust is a very important export for Hibbing), Grey Hound Bus Museum (mom, can we leave yet?), The High School it was built in the 20′s with millions of dollars (you didn’t have to sit in any classes did you?). Bob Dylan and Robert Zimmerman where both from Hibbing (and now we know).

Fri, Jun 8th, Groups should start pulling out about 8AM heading north to Ely. They had breakfast at the Ely Moose Lodge (I guess if the wolves can have their own museum, why not?), Lunch was at Two Harbors, At 4ish, Aerostitch in Duluth (that’s the rider jacket people). I was unable to go on this ride because I was camping and the night before we got some 70 MPH wind gusts that made my tent look like a large upside down white cap on the lake below the campground (damn… the sux). But I did drive down to Aerostitch in Duluth to meet up with them.

Sat, Jun 9th, about 8AM the groups started out for Tower/Soudan To see Underground Mine & & Physics Lab (That was very Cool) Kind of like some thing you would see on the SCI FI channel. (Isn’t that where they split the beer atom?) We had a small parade in the afternoon and shopped at a vendor that came up with a trailer load of stuff. At 4PM we met at the Sawmill Saloon in Mountain Iron for dinner, presentations, drawings, and good times.

On Sunday I packed up for the 400 mile ride home.
This rally was very well planned out. We are now all part of the same scooter family. I put on a little over 1200 miles total – 800 of it there and back.
We had people from all over.

States that people came from.
Wisconsin (3), Arizona (1), Minnesota (19), California (1), Indiana (2), Illinois (5), South Dakota (3), Idaho(3), Kansas(1), Ohio(1), Iowa (1)
Money raised for charity? About $624

Well, it sounds like it was good times and according to the photos I’ve seen, looks like some beautiful scenery. You can click on the title link to check out the forum posts or go see the Rally Ride Blog for Bowen’s daily ride updates. Thanks to Marty and Bowen for the scoop on the Iron Range Super Scooter Rally!