By Joshua Luckadoo
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CULLOWHEE, North Carolina (WLOS) — When most people travel across the country, they tend to pack a couple rolling suitcases and hop on a plane. But over the summer, 250 riders from around the world traded airport terminals for small tires and slower speeds.
The 2025 Scooter Cannonball began in Seaside, Oregon, taking riders through rainforests, over mountain passes, and across hot deserts, finishing on South Padre Island in Texas. The unforgiving endurance event lasted for 8 days and covered about 4,000 miles. Those are long days behind the handlebars.
“Anything with wheels on it, I always want to enjoy it,” said Austin Ritch. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a skateboard, a car, a truck, I just like being a part of that culture.”
When Ritch heard about the event, his first reaction was: “How can I participate?”
Ritch lives in Cullowhee and is a proud alumnus of Western Carolina University. Some event participants ship their scooters to the starting line, but Ritch had other plans.
“My wife and I, we drove from Cullowhee, all the way to Seaside, Oregon, so that was a cross-country trip, even before the event started. She was my support vehicle. She followed behind me the entire way, just in case there was an emergency or issue we may run across, out in the desert, or up in the remote mountains.”
The Scooter Cannonball rules allow a wide variety of small-bore machines to participate, as long as they check certain boxes. For the event, Ritch picked his trusty 2022 Honda Monkey.
“It’s a 125cc engine, with all of 8 horsepower. We’re not breaking any speed limits or even hitting the speed limit. For a 6-foot-4-inch rider, it was a little rough.”
The Scooter Cannonball is not a race. Riders navigate to daily checkpoints, earning points based on the miles they complete and their pace for the day.
When Ritch arrived in Oregon, the scope of the journey ahead started to set in.
“As more and more riders started rolling in, I was like, wait, this is a larger event than I thought it was. I thought it was just going to be people riding around seeing the countryside, but there was some stiff competition,” Ritch said.
Endurance events like this have risks, both physical and mechanical. Ritch prepared his Honda Monkey the best he could, but an unexpected issue almost took him out of the competition.
“We had drivetrain issues. I broke the sprockets from the inside out and had to push the bike because I could not accept any outside help. We were in remote Idaho at 11 p.m. We go to a truck stop, hoping they could help us build some pieces and put it all together,” Ritch said. “Sure enough, they did, and we got right back at it.”
Even though competition was stiff, the scooter community always rallies together.
“Everyone wanted to help out, no matter what it was,” said Ritch. “There were other riders that had issues that I could help with, and I certainly did so. Everyone took care of each other, and it was a real nice environment to be a part of.”
The 2025 route traversed Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.
“The Million Dollar Highway through Colorado was gorgeous, through Ouray and Silverton,” Ritch said.
The scenery in Idaho was also a highlight for Ritch.
“We went through Craters of the Moon, which is a place I’ve never even heard of, but it was gorgeous,” Ritch said.
When Ritch put the kickstand down for the final time in South Padre Island, he was proud of the final statistics.
“I finished 95th overall, and 41st in my class, even through all of the failures and issues,” Ritch said.
“It was a great way to see the countryside,” said Ritch. “I’m all about exploring and just seeing what’s out there, traveling off the beaten path. I’m not just cruising the interstates and highways, looking at ditches and trees all day. I want to see the countryside, and see what our whole country is about, and meet the people in between.”
And his plans for the 2027 Scooter Cannonball: “I will definitely be involved with the next one, for sure. It was too fun.”
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Melissa Sanders
