Four motor scooter riders announce 600-mile ride to Vermont from Maryland

FINKSBURG, MARYLAND - On August 20, four motor scooter riders are leaving from Central Maryland to undertake a 600-mile back-road journey to Central Vermont.

The destination is Randolph, Vermont to ride in the 140-mile Last Mile Ride that starts and ends there on August 25. The Last Mile Ride benefits and is sponsored by Gifford Memorial Hospital in Randolph.

"Both my boyfriend Dwayne and I grew up in Vermont, and I'm riding in honor of his father Charles 'Shod' McCullough, who died in February in the Garden Room of Gifford Memorial Hospital," says Crystal Waters, one of the organizers of the ride. "The Last Mile Ride is to benefit Gifford's end-of-life care, including the Garden Room, and it means the world to me to be able to ride in Shod's memory and raise money for this cause."

So far, Waters has raised more than $3,000 for the hospital, and will be riding her 150cc 2004 Vespa ET4 motor scooter to Vermont and in the Last Mile Ride.

A few weeks ago, Waters and fellow scooter-club member Pascal Girard started talking about how they would both like to ride from the DC area to Vermont before the Last Mile Ride on their scooters. Within days, they were planning the 600-mile ride. The riders' scooters, ranging in engine size from 125-250ccs, are legally registered as motorcycles, requiring a motorcycle endorsement.

Two other riders were asked to join them. Susan Dominica is flying in from Colorado to do the ride and is riding a borrowed 125cc Yamaha Vino. Chevon Jay from Baltimore faces a tougher challenge: On July 27, her 2006 Piaggio Fly 150 scooter and sole means of transportation was stolen from her back yard in Baltimore. Her fellow riders and scooter community are pulling together to find her a scooter and gear to complete the ride.