Where this TAT bug for me started…

Last year around labor day a large group of moped enthusiasts came together to organize  a “race” of sorts from Portland, Maine to Key West, Florida. 

Officially it could not be called a race but, it was. 

I was immediately taken by the concept of trying to push the limits of moped endurance. I loved the idea of trying to build a bike that can withstand the trials. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of a “race” but, whatever. 

I tried to get some of the local moped people as excited as I was about putting together a team but, no one showed much interest. I didn’t have the resources to fund a team by myself so, I had to be content with living vicariously  through others

Here is a link to this year’s Pinball-run registartation/rules/route etc….(I just noticed that they have already changed last year’s route and rules to this year’s new route….which goes from Minneapolis to NEW ORLEANS!)

http://pinball-run.com/

Here is a link to a video a friend compiled from the inaugural Pinball-Run that gets me hyped every time I watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZFLwl8-2tk

The whole pinball-run was being covered by various moped-media and such (mopedarmy.com, glimpse, facebook, etc.) and it was killing me inside not being a part of one of the teams.

Towards the end of the pinball, Alex Groh a friend and member of the Cream City Cranks moped gang in Milwaukee was having troubles with his ignition.. …The next hour was a blur but, it went something like this:

I read online that Alex Groh was broken down

I look over at my freshly built hobbit with shiny new ignition and premium exhaust

I call TW Hansen (which was one of Alex’s chase drivers) and asked where they were

I book a flight to Miami

I call a taxi

While I wait for the cab, I remove my ignition and exhaust and throw everything I can into a backpack.

I am in Miami 4 hours later…….. Here are some of my pictures

swimming at the hotel in Key West after the race

Flying home after the race

Hanging out in the Keys

Sleeping on someones floor in Miami

trying to figure out how to bring and exhaust on an airplane

Alex Groh getting 2 hours of sleep before the start of the next race day

Finish line, Mile marker 0 in Key West, FL

i think this was a saddle shop in Key West?

A. Groh getting some needed sleep

Key West shallows

We tried to catch all of the conch 

Shawn L. loking like Robert Duval in Apocalypse Now

driving to the airport

goodby Florida

And here is a much better photo dump

http://homealonemopeds.blogspot.com/2013/11/pinball-run-and-my-100th-post-pics-and.html

I showed up right at the end of pinball where everyone was pretty much burnt out and ready to be finished. In retrospect, I wouldn’t/couldn’t have changed a thing. I felt almost compelled to be there for the end even if I was just a spectator.

Needless to say, The “moped-endurance” fever took hold AND If there ever was going to be another pinball-run, I was damn-sure going to be a part of it………

In November of 2013, Shawn Lukitsch (one of the inaugural pinball-run organizers/racers) had proposed his idea of possibly attempting the Trans-America Trail via moped. I believe I was one of the first to jump on-board with the plan and I never looked back.

The Trans-America Trail (TAT) is certainly no race. The very idea of making it down the trail 100 miles on a moped is pretty daunting but, the challenge of attempting something like this is pretty much everything I live for. Added to the fact that I need to custom make a vehicle to face this trek? COUNT ME IN