Scootin’ into town full throttle: Scooter Cannonball Run rolls through Texas Hill Country

In June, 260 riders on powered scooters set off on a journey across eight states in eight days during the the 2025 Scooter Cannonball Run. The group will be making their way through Kerrville this Saturday, arriving in the late afternoon as they near the end of their trip.

Veteran and rookie riders have signed up for the 11th Scooter Cannonball Run, a checkpoint-loaded, point-based rally that began June 22 in Seaside, Oregon, and ends June 29 in South Padre Island.

According to the organizers, approximately three-fourths of the 2025 Scooter Cannonball riders are rookies.

The run is hosted biennially and is a reference to the term “cannonball run,” an unsanctioned, illegal, cross-country race from the Red Ball Garage in New York City to the Portofino Hotel in Redondo Beach near Los Angeles, California that was hosted multiple times throughout the 1970s.

However, organizers of the Scooter Cannonball Run say that it is not a race among participants and there are rules and regulations.

Scooter Cannonball routes are usually coast-to-coast — from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or vice-versa — though the 2014 event was mapped to go from Hyder, Alaska to New Orleans. This year, riders will travel from Oregon's Pacific coast to the Texas gulf.

The eight-day run spans 4,000 miles. Each day riders tackle a test of will and skill as they traverse 350–500 miles of backroads, desert expanse, cold rain and scorching heat. The route, which avoids major highways in favor of smaller scenic roads, includes dozens of checkpoints — specific landmarks where participants must document their arrival with photos uploaded via a smartphone app to earn points. However, there are no monetary prizes or rewards, instead the rally is a test of endurance and navigational skills.

A handicap system levels the playing field for scooters of different engine size, age and modifications.

The idea for a coast-to-coast scooter run was conceived in the early 2000s by Mike Heytens at the Gold Spike scooter rally in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to Heytens, the first event was hosted,“because people said you could not kit a vintage Vespa and make it reliable, so I was out to prove them wrong.”

Most scooters’ top speed makes it difficult to get into serious trouble with law enforcement, so organizers decided on the rally format.

On the morning of Sept. 12, 2004, nine riders departed Virginia Beach, Virginia on a 12-day rally to NoHo Scooters in North Hollywood, California.

The Scooter Cannonball Runs are entirely volunteer-organized and operated without corporate sponsorship or financial backing.

In 2023, video journalist Corrie Vaus filmed a documentary titled “The Big Scoot!,” which includes Cannonball rider GoPro and helmet-cam footage, and highlights America’s backroads as riders face everything in the open air from dusty roads, pouring rain, scorching desert heat and rutted mountain passes all on two wheels no larger than 13 inches in diameter. The documentary can currently be rented or purchased for streaming on Amazon Prime.

Scooter Cannonball riders push the limits of what can be done on a scooter, documenting America on two modest wheels and setting an example that big adventures don't require big machines.

To learn more about the Scooter Cannonball rally, visit www.scootercannonball.com.

This article was originally published in the June 28, 2025 edition of the Kerrville Daily Times.