August 24, 2008: 2nd Annual Club Picnic

July 26, 2008: Ride to the Corbin seat factory in Hollister for a tour and lunch at Wizard's Diner.

On a surprisingly sunny morning in July another good turnout of VCOM members and friends gathered at Stone Creek Starbucks for a ride to Hollister via San Juan Grade Road and HWY 156 to the Corbin seat factory.  After a full tour of the factory, the group had lunch at the adjacent Wizard's Diner.	More images
The group of riders received close air support on their way up the grade from VCOM member Bill Sabo in this Navy Flying Club's T-34. The Corbin factory and showroom is located across the street from the Hollister municipal airport and Bill joined the group for the factory tour and lunch at Wizard's  Diner.
Our tour guide, Louis (center in blue Corbin shirt) gave us a complete behind the scenes look at how Corbin makes their custom seats and other unique bike accessories. Thank you, Louis, and all the folks at Corbin for showing us such a great time.

July 13 and 14, 2008: Motogiro America - Cannery Row, Portola Plaza, Laguna Seca,  Gonzales, Big Sur and beyond...

	VCOM members and friends blended in with the official Motogrio America participants on Sunday, July 13 and Monday, July 14, 2008. Several members displayed their scoots at the Portola Plaza gathering on Saturday and several rode down again on Sunday to follow the pack as they started their first circuit. On Sunday, day one: A group met at our usual Sunday Starbucks location, then rode to the Laguna Seca raceway to join the others for a lap of the main track. To scoot around the big track with Grand Prix style (if not speed) was a major kick. After leaving the raceway, they followed the event route down River Road to the city of Gonzales where the entrants were treated to a tri-tip lunch in the park. There was enough for us, too. Very nice. Photos by Cameron Stormes
Cameron had a spare sparkplug for Roger, but he didn't  come as prepared as this event participant did (below). Wonder where he kept his spare clutch cables...	Roger Vandevert had to perform some track-side repairs when his P150 tossed a sparkplug. Cameron Stormes, at left, came to the rescue with a spare.
At right, members Marc Dostal, Belinda Dostal, and Ken Jones prepare to head back to Monterey after lunch in Gonzales. River Road provided a beautiful ride both ways, especially with the heady "shortcake" aroma filling the air when we rode past the strawberry fields.
VCOM members Curt Chaffee and Roger Vandevert at Hurricane Point on the way to Big Sur on Monday, July 14, 2008 - Day 2.	On day 2, Monday, Roger, Marc, Curt, and Cameron met at the Monterey Hyatt to see the start of the second day of rides. The planned route for the day was to take the vintage bikes south along Hwy 1, through Big Sur crossing over Fort Hunter Liggett, and finishing in the town of Paso Robles. "The four of us did our best to "blend" into the vintage bike scene and be a part of the ride itself. We felt like we had gone back in time while riding with the historic bikes." Cameron says. Highway 1 had opened to all through traffic on the same day as the event. Burn scars and fire personnel were evident through Big Sur. They rode south to Lucia and then headed east through the winding hills of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. At roughly the 6-mile point in the climb, the group broke through the fog and the sun finally shined. Roger, Curt, and Cameron turned around for Monterey at this point while Marc decided to press on the the event group. The farther inland they rode, the hotter it became, with temperatures a broiling 108 degrees at times.
Above, Marc Dostal (black GTs on the line) blends with the pack on the way through Big Sur. At top right, the group pulls in for a rest near the summit on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road from the coast toward Fr. Hunter Liggett. Bottom right, Roger chats with event participant and local legend, "Monterey Pete".
Fun time!

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June 15, 2008: Arroyo Seco and Carmel Valley Road

On Father's Day, we took an extended scoot down River Road to the Mission Nuestra Senora De La Soledad. A beautiful ride through rolling fields and wine country for the first half. The second half took us across to the top of Carmel Valley Road for an exciting ride down through the valley. You'll notice there are no pics of that part of the ride as we were all pretty busy at the time. There may be some video in the future as a couple of the riders were shooting  "hands free" with mounted cameras. We'll be linking them from this page when they're ready. The temperature as we turned onto Carmel Valley Road topped 101 degrees. It was good to lose altitude and temperature as we descended past the Village for a late lunch at the Baja Cantina. Great fun!
The Soledad Mission grounds are manicured and the atmosphere peaceful. Soft guitar music filled the covered promenade and the riders enjoyed the serenity before tackling Carmel Valley Road. As are many of our rides, this was a family affair. Below left are VCOM President, Cameron Stormes with his significant other, Katrina. Below right, members Marc and Belinda Dostal pose with son Mason and daughter Mia. Is that Marc, or Clark Kent? Belinda drove the Sag Wagon to help keep the group in one piece, and to pick up the pieces if need be. (Which fortunately it wasn't.) Thanks Belinda!

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May 18, 2008: Second Annual Run to San Juan Bautista

	You know you've got a hit when the excitement is still there the second time around. While we didn't have as many scoots as last year, the 2008 ride to San Juan Bautista was every bit as much fun!  A little foggy at the start, as you can see from the photo below, as we rode through Fort Ord on General Jim Moore. The fog didn't last too long however and we were soon in the sunshine as we climbed San Juan Grade road out of Salinas.
JJ's let us line up out front and served up their usual great burgers. This is a fun ride and one that small and big scoots alike can take part in. The ride up the grade is twisty, but not fast and the countryside can't be beat. Plan to join us next year. This one's here to stay.

January 20, 2008: Misty ride to Elkhorn Slough and lunch in Moss Landing.

Several hearty souls rode from our Stone Creek Starbucks gathering spot on Sunday, January 20, to enjoy windy Elkhorn Road around the back side of the slough. Conditions were a little damp, but mostly heavy mist not driving rain. Chilly though...  We enjoyed talking with the Kayakers about which group was nuttier than the other for being out on such a dank day. Almost a draw... but the wetsuits the boaters had on gave the nutty award to the soaked-jean scooterists. We had a chance to dry out and warm up a bit over lunch in Moss Landing. The ride back into Monterey and Pacific Grove was dry for the most part. Fun day! View a video by Bill (Spielberg) Sabo

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August 26, 2007: VCOM's first annual Summer Family BBQ and Picnic at Veteran's Memorial Park in Monterey. Images

August 17-19, 2007: VCOM helped out in the il Motorino booth in the retro auto tent at this year's Concours d'Elegance.

July 20-21, 2007: Scooters crashing the party on Cannery Row - Red Bull Classic, Monterey.

VCOM on Cannery Row. From left: Back row: Derek Greenwood, Colin Fisk, Roger Vandevert, Kelly Nix, Cameron Stormes. Front row: Siena Fisk, Sofia Chang. Photo by Wei Chang.	Four beauties stand out in the crowd. Photo by Derek Greenwood.
Roger Vandevert on Cannery Row. Photo by Wei Chang.	Throngs of people and police fill Cannery Row to meet and greet VCOM. Well... there were other rides there too. Photo by Wei Chang.
VCOM member Jim Cain and his daughter Olivia near Cannery Row. Photo by Wei Chang.	VCOM member Wei Chang and his daughter Sofia on Cannery Row.

Sunday, June 10, 2007: Breakfast ride through Pebble Beach to the Wagon Wheel, Carmel Valley.

Even though the meet-up in Pacific Grove was a little foggy (what else is new?), we found a little sun in Carmel Valley. The ride through Pebble Beach gave the group a glimpse of how the other half lives. Although, we didn't see any other scooters there so how great could it be, right? As you can see below, the Wagon Wheel is capable of putting down a first class feed. On the way home after breakfast, we again rode through Pebble, this time on 17 Mile Drive. Roger's flat tire notwithstanding, the group enjoyed the fabled Pebble Beach coastline and stopped for a photo-op at Bird Rock. Roger's P150X carries a spare, so while it was a delay, it wasn't a catastrophe. At right: Members Gerry Edelen, Roger Vandevert, and Cameron Storms wait in the fog to get started. Below left: Chow down (The slight blur was caused by the frantic movement of the subjects.) Below right: Lineup at Bird Rock (photos by Wei Chang).
	Sofia Chang (Wei's biker daughter) is ready to roll.

Sunday, May 20, 2007: San Juan Bautista Ride! Eight members of Vespa Club of Monterey and four members of Vespa Club Santa Cruz made the beautiful run over San Juan Grade Road to San Juan Bautista on May 20th. It was one of those days when everything happens right. The weather, the road, and the destination. San Juan Bautista brimmed with people and classic Hot Rods with the main drag closed and packed on both sides with show cars. At least one restaurant, JJ's, was packed with scooters, too. (The Harleys parked around back.)

	There's talk of making this run an annual event, what Roger Vandevert, VCOM President, has christened the Moto-Bautista Classico. It was a perfect day! One of the owners of JJ's snapped several pictures of our lineup for his motorcycle "Wall of Fame" just inside the restaurant. Next time your in San Juan Bautista, stop by JJ's and see our scoots up there with the big boys. VCOM member, Belinda Dostal followed the pack in the Sag Wagon and took some pictures of the ride in progress, as did several VCOM members. Check back often as these images will be added here as they come in. At left: Eight of the 10 scoots making the ride. Not shown are VCOM member Chris Roush's Vino and one other ride from Santa Cruz.
Above left: Charlie Hamper and his son, Charlie (Scooterboy) Jr. dropped by Starbucks to wish us a safe ride and, of course show off the new scooterist in his family. Hey, wouldn't you? Above right: Colin Fisk and his daughter Siena look good on Colin's '61 Lambretta.	Below: Scooters clogged the parking lot at Stone Creek Starbucks as VCOM members arrived. Mike Gunn again made the trip from Fresno on his GT200 to ride with us... a true scooterist!
Below: At the foot of San Juan Grade, the group waits to meet up with riders from Santa Cruz. Photos by Belinda and Marc Dostal.	Below: Six Vespa Club of Monterey members head down Reservation Road toward the Davis turnoff to Salinas on their way to San Juan Bautista.

Saturday, April 21, 2007: Pacific Grove Good Old Days Parade! VCOM members and scooterists from around the Bay (including one hardy sole who rode his GT200 all the way from Fresno...) rode in the 50th Anniversary Parade on Saturday, April 21, 2007. Altogether there were 14 scoots on Pine Avenue, most decked out with Vespa Club of Monterey leg shield banners and American flags.

VCOM member, Wei Chang, and his daughter Sofia ride-share along the parade route.	VCOM president, Roger Vandevert, above leads the pack.
Michael Gunn, a member of Vespa Club of Santa Cruz, rode in from Fresno to ride with VCOM. Thanks for making the trip, Mike, we enjoyed having you along.	Diane Driver and Dave Albright enjoy their coffee before the parade.
Jan Roehl looks over the lineup as we get ready for the parade.	Chris and Marianne Roush have been looking for a scooter club. We're glad they found VCOM!
Below, Rhonda Stieglitz, with her white Aprilia, and Vanessa Bredthauer appropriately attired in an Italia sweater wait for things to start. .	Paul Sparks, pictured above, died on Saturday, April 28, 2007, in an accident on Carmel Valley Road. The members of Vespa Club of Monterey mourn the loss of a friend and fellow scooterist whose gracious company and good humor were enjoyed on parade day and at several club get-togethers. Our thoughts and prayers are with Paul's family.
	At left: VCOM member Ken Jones helps Diane Driver flag-up her Metropolitan for the parade. Below right, VCOM members Bob Reikes, Marc Dostal, Kelly Nix, and in the background, Roger Vandevert. Below left, Sofia Chang enjoys juice and coffee cake before the start of the parade.

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Sunday, March 11, 2007: Ride to Moss Landing. Four members took advantage of a beautiful day and rode to Moss Landing where we met and talked with members of the Vespa Club of Santa Cruz. The support that the Santa Cruz club is getting from scooterists in that area, and from the folks from il-Motorino Vespa in Santa Cruz, is amazing. Twenty-five members of Vespa Club Santa Cruz made the ride to Moss Landing. It was good to see some of the people we met when we first rode with that group through the Santa Cruz mountains last January. If this Sunday is any indication of the fantastic scooter riding days we can look forward to this year... 2007 is going to be a blast!

Above: Lineup across from Phil's Seafood Market & Eatery. As the Santa Cruz group arrived and began to fill the street, heads started to turn. People simply can't look at a scooter and not smile.	Below: Jerry, Bob, and Roger get ready to head for Moss Landing from Stone Creek Starbucks..
An impressive variety of new and vintage scoots brought color and excitement to town.

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August 9, 2006: VCoM president, Roger Vandevert, along with members Ken Jones and Michael Harris attended the August 9th meeting of the Board of Directors for the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, AMBAG. Roger introduced VCoM to the board and begin a dialogue aimed at increasing the board's understanding of, and appreciation for, the environmental benefits of riding motor scooters as an alternative to automobiles, and to express the need for local government to encourage the use of scooters through parking and other traffic related accommodations.

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Sunday, January 7, 2007: Ride with the new Santa Cruz Vespa club! A new scooter club is forming in Santa Cruz with the help of the fine folks at il-Motorino Vespa. On Sunday, January 7, 2007, 3 of our group, Roger, Marc, and Ken, rode to Aptos to accompany 13 members of the new Santa Cruz club for their second organized ride, a 50 mile run through the hills around Santa Cruz and Aptos, and along beautiful Highway 9. (Editor's note: I'll admit I was lost for most of the ride, but they knew where they were going.) Carving the turns through tall pines on winding mountain roads was way cool. Thank You! to the new group at the north end of the Bay for their kind invitation to ride. We will reciprocate! As our two clubs grow, the future of scooting around the Monterey Bay looks bright indeed.

The newly formed scooter club in Santa Cruz (so new they hadn't decided on their name yet) invited members of Vespa Club of Monterey to ride with them on their second planned outing. It's invigorating to ride in a 16 scoot pack, and to see them lined up as they are at right is an impressive sight.   Below: Club president, Roger Vandevert (below in Vespa hoodie) and Marc Dostal (at right in back row) talk with members of the new Santa Cruz club during a rest stop. (Ken Jones also rode, but he's taking the pictures, not posing for them.

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Sunday, October 1, 2006: Rocky Point Ride.. and beyond! A good plan is always flexible. What started out as a Rocky Point run turned into a River Inn run. It gave us more of a ride, and coming off the coast into the redwoods filled the senses.  Although the weather wasn't the best, it didn't rain on us on our way down the coast road. Well, okay, a drop or two through the Highlands, but that doesn't count.

Line up at Hurricane Point. Five made the trip. Shown at left, from left, are Jerry, Roger, Marc, and Belinda.

At left, from left: Ken, Roger, Marc, and Belinda at Hurricane Point with Bixby bridge and the coast road in the distance.

Five members left the Stone Creek Starbucks on Sunday, October 1, 2006 at about 11:30am. We rode through Carmel-by-the-Sea and reconnected with Highway One at Rio Road. After a brief stop in Carmel Highlands, we headed down the coast with light traffic and perfect temperature for the ride to Big Sur. We enjoyed lunch by the fireplace at River Inn, complemented by a three-piece combo providing relaxed and smooth music to eat burgers by. The return trip went smoothly and we were all back in Monterey by 3pm. A most excellent day!

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Sunday, September 17, 2006: Club lunch at Rosine's, 434 Alvarado Street, Monterey. It was fun to see the curb outside Rosine's filled to capacity with scooters. Five VCoM members and two guests helped make our club a visible presence on Alvarado Street and enjoyed answering questions posed by interested passersby. People just can't help smiling when they see a bunch of scooters, and many freely share their own scooter experiences.

Club lunch at Rosine's in Monterey	The first of many planned outings designed to bring the club together and provide scooter visibility in the community. Many thanks go to the staff and management of Rosine's and for the participating VCoM members and guests who made our first Club lunch a great success.
At right, (from left): VCoM President, Roger Vandevert, Secretary/Treasurer, Ken Jones, and member Marc Dostal. At left and above: The group waits for our table to be called.

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September 10, 2006: Ride to Pessagno winery.

Pessagno Winery Ride	On Sunday, September 10th, four members rode out River Road to beautiful Pessagno Winery. VCoM member, Gloria Edelen, working there on Sunday greeted the four riders (three members and Gloria's husband, Jerry), gave us a tour of the winery and a small sip of their finest. Gorgeous day and a fun ride.
	From left: Jerry Edelen (soon to be a member, we hope), Roger Vandevert, Marc Dostal, and Ken Jones.

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August 5, 2006: Had a terrific time riding with the Cushman Club on Saturday.

Cushman Club Ride-along

Several VCoM members rode along with the Cushman Club of Northern California. The route was an easy run from Seaside (left) through Fort Ord to Reservation Road, then through the hills on San Benancio (rest stop shown above) down Laurles Grade  to Carmel Valley Road. After a great lunch at Baja Cantina, it was on into Pacific Grove for a leisurely ride along the water and through Cannery Row, where the 15 riders (Cushman, Vespa, Honda and others) caught the attention of the throng of tourists.

Vespas and Cushman scoots played well together all day, even though the Cushmans seem to have turned their backs on the Vespas, pictured at right, when the group stopped near Lovers Point to enjoy a picture perfect day.

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June 4, 2006: Cruz Car Wash 2006 Classic Motorcycle and Scooter Show.

Marc and Ken had a marvelous ride to the Cruz Car Wash 2006 Classic Motorcycle and Scooter Show in Santa Cruz. The weather cooperated and the 104 mile round-trip ride, which included a picturesque twisty stretch on Elkhorn Road and fantastic panoramas of the Slough from the inland side, was exhilarating. The prize was seeing the impressive lineup of new and vintage scoots and motorcycles assembled for the show. We arrived at the car wash at about 11:30 and were waved into the lot. The bar-b-q was already hot and the place was jumping.

 

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A fun ride and a great show! And, thankfully, Marc's sense of direction saved the day when Ken's upside-down and backwards internal GPS system completely blew a couple of key intersections. (That's why Ken doesn't like to ride alone...)

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