What do you do when you are planning to race around the planet in 80 days? You go to America first to find out if you and a 150cc scooter can survive 10,000 km of pure American chaos.
This was not a vacation. This was a 52-day mission to stage a vehicle for the North American leg of the world tour, test my limits on a continent I had never ridden, and find out what happens when a German on a tiny Italian-style scooter is let loose between Virginia and San Diego.
Spoiler: alligators, rattlesnakes, a crankshaft failure on an Apache reservation, a naked photo on the Texas salt flats, a WWII fighter jet over Malibu, and a tattoo in Tijuana.
America delivered.
I found her online — a 150cc Stella Genuine 2T in Virginia for $900. The Stella is an LML licence-built Vespa PX 150, assembled in India and beloved by American scooterists for its classic lines and two-stroke soul. She was not glamorous. She was $900. She was perfect.
After a quick overhaul at my brother's house in Virginia Beach, Betsy and I set off to cross 20 states on 10-inch wheels.
America is a country that takes the concept of "wildlife" very seriously.
Alligators — Florida locals refer to them as "speed bumps." I treated them with slightly more respect.
Rattlesnakes and coyotes — regular companions on the desert roads of the Southwest.
A drunk German ex-pat — nearly shot me. I have no further comment on this.
Death Valley — I camped among scorpions. Spent hours shaking out every piece of gear every morning to avoid taking a venomous hitchhiker along for the ride. The silence there is unlike anything I have experienced anywhere else on earth.
The Texas salt flats — I posed naked for a photo. The heat made it feel entirely reasonable at the time.
Adventure is only real when things go wrong. In the middle of an Apache reservation near Phoenix, Arizona, Betsy's crankshaft failed catastrophically. Complete engine death. Middle of nowhere. No workshop for miles.
A group of Harley riders found me, loaded Betsy onto a trailer and took me to Phoenix. I sourced a brand new LML motor, swapped it in four hours at a local scooter shop, and kept going.
The world trip preparation was going exactly as planned.
The Grand Canyon — I stood at the rim and felt appropriately small.
Route 66 — the mother road, on a classic scooter, exactly as it should be done.
The Blue Ridge Mountains — one of the most beautiful rides of my life.
Malibu Beach — a local pilot invited me to fly in formation in a WWII fighter jet at sunset. One of the most surreal moments of my entire life. I said yes immediately.
The journey ended in San Diego. But not before a quick dash across the border to Tijuana for tacos and a fresh tattoo. Priorities.
I stored Betsy at Vespa Motorsport San Diego — she would wait there for twelve months until I came back to collect her for the 2018 world record attempt. I flew home with an empty bank account and a full soul.
What is a Stella Genuine? The Genuine Stella — sold in the USA, built by LML in India as a licence version of the Vespa PX 150. Classic two-stroke Vespa engineering. Betsy cost $900 in Virginia and carried me 10,000 km across America. She then waited in San Diego for the 2018 world circumnavigation.
Was this a preparation for the world trip? Entirely. Every kilometre was reconnaissance for the 2018 circumnavigation. Same scooter, same continent, same solo riding. The dress rehearsal went well — if you ignore the crankshaft failure, the rattlesnakes and the armed German.
Did you really fly in a WWII fighter jet? Yes. Near Malibu Beach. In formation. At sunset. On a trip that already included alligators and a crankshaft explosion. At that point nothing surprised me anymore.
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