The seventh edition of the Hamster Run saw great weather, great riding, great food at Jeff and Mary’s, and probably one of the bigger turnouts of people from Seattle and points south. Oh, and Jen & Canyon came from Spokane!

Friday’s meet & greet once again took place at Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen, where people noshed on polish dogs and Chuckanut’s selection of beers. From there, the group left on a short ride to the top of the Parkade for slow racing, but alas, no sunset, at least not like last year).

From there, folks went to downtown Bellingham’s various licensed establishments.

Saturday morning’s meetup was at Zuanich Point Park on the waterfront, where Tony’s coffee and donuts were served while rally packs were sold. The morning Poker Run left right on time (my hand was awful, as it usually is), ending in Fairhaven as the sun emerged from morning clouds.

Bellies full, the group left on the long ride, down Chuckanut Drive and out east. We did have to rescue Elizabeth, who dropped her Buddy when she hit a patch of gravel, but she was not seriously hurt.

There was a lengthy rest stop before the stretch run back into town. The group reconvened at Jeff and Mary’s for games, prime rib, salmon and even little shrimp cocktails! Oh, and Mary’s seasonal berry shortcake. Yum!

Sunday morning was sunny and warm. Tom led a ride north for our Canadian friends, while Todd took a group south. Everyone had a great time, if the comments on our Facebook page are any indication.

See you next year? —Orin

Photos: Ali, Orin

Bellingham has been enjoying actual summer weather lately, with much more to come. We’re hoping the sun will be out for Hamster Run, but in the meantime, members of the SOB Club and 2UP SC rode north to take part in Fully Tanked SC’s Deltascoot 5. Hope you had a chance to ride over the weekend!

Photo: Ali

This was a rally planning meeting and the discussion focused on what needs to happen over the next seven weeks for the rally.

Commitees are being put into place:

Food Commitee – Jeff R, Tom, Mary, Gary, Craig, Joy (need more for serving/clean up)

Ride Commitee РTodd, Solo Ni̱os SC, Orin (rescue vehicle)

Game Commitee – Tom, Craig, Rudy, (need more to assist)

Rally Pack Commitee – Dorcie, Jana, Coll & Shelia (Sales) – everyone to contribute donations to the packs, and help with sales on Saturday Morning as needed.

Raffle Prize Commitee: Dorcie, Tom, (need people for ticket sales Saturday)

There’s a preliminary itinerary, which you can see here.

Hamster Run VII is a Vegas-themed rally—It’s Bellingham, baby!

—Tom Smith, Club Secretary

Victoria is this weekend! Todd will be leading a ride to Anacortes to catch the ferry to Sidney. Meet up at 6:15 AM at the 76 station at the corner of Old Fairhaven Pkwy & 12th St. Departure is at 6:30 AM SHARP. Arrival at the ferry dock will be at approximately 7:30 AM. See you there!

Cycle Barn/Vespa Lynnwood hosted an open house Saturday to celebrate the addition of Genuine Scooter Company’s lineup to their product offerings (they also sell Vespa/Piaggio and Kymco scooters, and Triumph and Zero motorcycles).

Todd and Dorcie, Tom, Craig and new member Bill departed the Sehome Village Starbucks along with yours truly. The weather was sunny and warm all day, making for a pleasant ride down to Lynnwood.

Lots of Seattle people were there when we arrived, and there were free hotdogs, Polish sausages and soft drinks.

The scooters have all been moved to the top floor of the building. As you can see, they had a good selection of Stellas, including several of the 2-tone versions (avocado or slate blue on ivory). Jason took a new Stella for a test ride. He said he liked it.

—Orin

The meeting was called to order at 10:32 am.

* St. Pat’s Parade/Pi Run: We were a hit at the parade! Parade organizers said, “We love the new addition to our parade.” Which sounds like an invitation for next year, doesn’t it? Joel bought out a party store’s supply of green-bead necklaces, which he gave out to people on the parade route. Sixteen scooters and 18 riders participated. Talk of a drill-team routine for next year.

Most parade participants went on the Pi Run. The sun came out! Everyone had a great time, the pie was delicious. March 14 is a Thursday in 2013; St. Patrick’s Day is on Sunday, doubling up on Saturday the 16th would seem likely.

* Hamster Run: Dorcie will get in touch with Vespa Lynnwood regarding sponsorship. Regarding the t-shirt, Django said some simplification of the Vegas sign graphic would be necessary to keep the cost of the t-shirt reasonable. Dorcie and I discussed options, which she executed brilliantly. Dorcie also created a patch design that DOES include a scooter (the t-shirt will not), which is ridden by a hamster, of course.

At this point, there is no Hamster Run committee. Volunteers are needed. Also, donations of raffle prizes would be appreciated, even something you might just buy and donate yourself. Tom is in charge of food; a pig roast on Saturday night is being studied. Online t-shirt pre-orders will be available shortly, and Jeff said there’s an inexpensive device that makes it possible for smartphones to accept credit/debit card payments. A route for the Saturday Poker Run is being planned by Todd.

* Victoria: Five rooms are left in the block Todd reserved at Paul’s Motor Inn. Get in touch with Todd if you want one of these rooms; see the club Web site (http://www.scootersofbellingham.org) for info on how to reserve a room at the group rate. This year’s rally has a James Bond theme. The idea of buying a commuter ticket book for the WSF ferry ride from Anacortes was mentioned (it saves a few bucks on each fare), but whether this is available on international routes was not known.

* Membership: If you haven’t paid dues, please do. Cost is $20.00. Dan made some flyers to carry when you ride, so as to leave one on any parked scooter you see.

* Midweek evening rides: We’ll start these up again in April (unless it snows ). New meetup spot will be Kulshan Brewery on James St. Further details to come.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:05 am.

Respectfully submitted,
Orin O’Neill for
Tom Smith
Club Secretary

Going to the Victoria rally? Do you have a place to stay? Consider hangin’ with the Hamsters!

Once again, Todd has booked a block of rooms at Paul’s Motor Inn, in the heart of downtown Victoria, British Columbia. And there are still rooms available! It’s always a good time, with a good group.

Mention the Scooters of Bellingham group to reserve a room at the discounted rate.

See what a nice place it is? Hope you can join us! Contact Todd with your questions: (360) 224-7891, or tfuller (at) fullerbd (dot) com.