Saturday, Sept 11, 7pm: Meet at 9lb Hammer in Georgetown at 7pm for a prefunction featuring games and cool prizes. The rideout will leave about 8pm for a short ride over to the Skylark Cafe for all the music and good times!

So mark your calendar, grab your Rude Boy hat, and start working on your dance moves, 'coz Skoot vs. Ska is coming!

PS: Westender Wednesday at the Tiger Lounge is this Wednesday as well! Great food, drink specials, and Baby Ketten Karaoke at 9pm. Check out this great midweek break and hang out with your scooter friends!

As one gets more into the hobby of scooters and scootering, the inclination to dabble in vintage scoots can become very strong. Westenders prime minister RogerTango has taken the plunge, and now there's a new Lambretta in the Westenders lineup: meet Gina the Lambretta!

The Series 3, also known as the 'slimstyle' Lambrettas, offered scooterist a dramatic alternative to the Vespa scooters of the day. Taking advantage of their centerline-mounted motors, the Series 3 Lambrettas had a long, lean look to them that was a counterpoint to the more rounded, almost bulbous Vespas. These scooters were very successful, particularly in Britain, where they were prized by the 'Mods', scooter riding hipsters in 'swinging sixties' London.

Gina's namesake is Italian screen icon Gina Lollobrigida, who did for Lambrettas in the romantic comedy "Come September" what Audrey Hepburn did for Vespas in "Roman Holiday"!

Be on the lookout for Gina and her owner at a Westenders ride near you!

PS: PlanetLambretta wants to pass the word that in the next couple of months, one each of a fully restored SX200 and TV175 will be available. Go to their website for contact info!

It's that time again! Come on down to the Tiger Lounge (421 South Orcas) this Wednesday (8/25) from 7pm 'til whenever. Enjoy great food (awesome pizza, by the way!), drink specials, and Baby Ketten Karaoke at 9pm! And you may get to see the prime minister's new scoot! See you there!

The fifth iteration of R2DQ (Ride to Dairy Queen) is now history, and everyone agrees that it was quite probably the very best yet of a series of great ride events! Despite threats of rain (which very considerately confined it's activity to north of the Ship Canal), attendees enjoyed good weather, a wonderful ride, and a swell BBQ with games and prizes as well!

At the DQ, the Swarm enjoyed complimentary ice cream treats, courtesy of Dan & Cindy. Even Rusty the Wonder Dog got to enjoy a little bit of Dairy Queen's ice creamy goodness! After a nice break and chance to stretch their legs a bit, the Swarm departed, and retraced their route for home. The miles passed under the floorboards of their scoots as they passed now-familiar landmarks in reverse order, until reaching the Casa de Rat for the R2DQ BBQ.

The Swarm was greeted by a delicious buffet of salads, DQ chili dogs, featuring the Rat Family's specialty, bacon-wrapped chili dogs. Ever-fastidious about these things, the Rats even ordered special bacon that had been sliced extra-thin, so that when you took a bite out of the chili dog, you didn't have the whole strip of bacon unwind off the dog and slop onto your shirt.

After lunch, it was time for games! Rudy the Rat brought out his famous ring toss game, where folks tossed scooter innertubes and attempted to 'ring' one of a a group of vertical tubes. Stinky scored the top prize by pulling off the near-impossible 'skill shot'. Many thanks to Vespa Seattle and Big People Scooters, as well as Twin Lakes Dairy Queen, for the wonderful prizes!

As you can see, a fantastic time was enjoyed by all! Many thanks to Rudy & Pat Rat, as well as Dan & Cindy, for putting on a great event, and thanks also for everyone who braved the threat of rain to make R2DQ5 the best yet!

Just a reminder that R2DQ5 is this Sunday! A great time will be enjoyed by all, but PLEASE be sure to RSVP at RSVP (206) 248-1890 or e-mail at p.stanaway@msn.com (full details can be found here). See you this Sunday!

UPDATE (8/22): This just in from the Rat Family: "The weather update for this Sunday says "cloudy with chance of showers". So we say it's a GO! Ride leaves at 10:30 - BBQ aproximately 1:30. Hope to see you there.

Rain's supposed to peter out by tomorrow, so saddle up and we'll be seeing you!

What is it about scooters that attracts artistic people? Is it the flowing lines, the fact they are a form of kinetic sculpture? Or the slightly iconoclastic nature of them that gives them such an appeal to creative folks and free thinkers of all stripes? The Westenders Scooter Club counts a number of highly creative people among it's members. We have painters, photographers, sculptors, actors and poets. Some of our members have made the arts their profession, and for others it's a much-enjoyed hobby.

Westender Chris (aka 'S.A.M.') is one of the managers of the international award-winning West Seattle Bakery Nouveau, and rides in incredibly sweet Vespa Primavera. She is also a highly accomplished photographer who will be showing her work in her very first exhibition at Bakery Nouveau as part of the West Seattle Artwalk series on Thursday, August 12. Please come and join as as we admire and celebrate the work of this talented artist!

We well meet at Bakery Nouveau at 7pm, and enjoy refreshments while we admire S.A.M.'s collection. Afterwards, we may pop over to Talarico's for a slice, and/or scoot up to Westender Hairy LaPinch's Styling Studio, which is also a participant in Artwalk! Read more about her upcoming show here. See you there!

There are many reasons why scooter clubs go to the time, expense and work to put on a rally. One of the main reasons is to say 'thank you' to all the other clubs who put on rallies that have been enjoyed. So it is with the Westenders; we set out to put together a nice little rally that other scooterists could come and enjoy, and ended up throwing a three-day party that completely exceeded our wildest expectations, and perhaps those of the Pacific Northwest scootering community as well. Here is our story:

Tour di Mari 3: Riding Down to Brighton got off to a great start at Jack Block park on Friday afternoon with a delicious BBQ provided by our sponsor, Valley Scooters. Scooterists flowed in from all over the map to enjoy burgers & dogs, collect their Rally Packs, and admire each others vintage and modern scooters. While there, the director of Southwest Youth and Family Services, Steve Daschle greeted rallygoers and described how SWY&FS assists families in the West Seattle/White Center communities. A portion of the proceeds from Tour di Mari 3 would be donated to help SWY&FS carry on their important work!

Later that evening, Westender Hairy LaPinch of Styling Studio led the swarm on a merry dash to the Tiger Lounge, where we rocked out to the tunes of three excellent Seattle Bands! First up, the lounge/pop band Laguna got us going with their unique sound, which could be described as 'Martin Denny meets Astrud Gilberto'. Next up was MiniRex, a delightful quintet of pretty ladies that played a hard-driving set of powerpop that left the crowd wanting more! Rounding out the night was a fairly new band, Bandolier, which includes members of the Tacoma's F**k Yeah Scooter Club. They really rocked the house, and got the crowd on their feet!

On Saturday morning, we met up at one of West Seattle's most popular dining and music establishments, the Skylark Cafe, for a great breakfast and then set out on the signature ride of the Tour di Mari rallies, the "Westenders Water Ride". Led by Westender Doc and Rusty the Wonder Dog, and ably assisted by a crack team of ride marshals, the route went along Puget Sound, Lake Washington, Lake Union, and almost as far north to Edmonds! The 4-hour, 75 mile ride was definitely a hit with the 70+ scooterists who took part.

While the ride was underway, Westenders Top Chef GrumpyGus and his elite culinary team were hard at work at Woodland Park preparing the English BBQ. Since the theme of Tour di Mari 3 was a British/Mod/'Swinging-60s-London' theme, GG was faced with the challenge of creating a menu that took classic English favorites, as well as other foods commonly found in cosmopolitan London, and incorporating them into a buffet dinner for 100+ diners! As always, GG did not disappoint. As a matter of fact, he prepared a feast that could be described as his magnum opus! His menu included:

• Grilled Bangers with Onion Jam & Rolls


• Sausage Rolls with Onion Gravy


• Kebabs Kubideh (Chopped Lamb Kebabs) with Flat Bread and Tzatziki


• Chicken Tikka Skewers


• Vegetable Curry


• Traditional Baked Beans with Onions & Bacon


• Red Potato Salad/ Vinegar-based


• Macaroni Salad or Cole Slaw


• Assorted Cookies & Brownies


• Lemon-aid

While finishing touches were put on the buffet, rallygoers were treated to an outstanding performance by a Samoan dance troupe from Southwest Youth & Family Services. They performed a number of dances, chants, and shared stories of the Samoan culture. After the performance, all lined up for dinner, and a wonderful feast was shared by all!

At long last, it was time for the raffle! When it comes to soliciting prizes for Tour di Mari raffles, one wag called the Westenders the "Overachievers SC". This year was no exception. Nearly $4000 in prizes were given away in a drawing that took the normally long-winded Westenders prime minister RogerTango nearly an hour to finish, and he was being atypically brief with each prize package!

Next came the presentation of Special Awards, which had been crafted by Westender Rudy the Rat. The 'Furthest Travelled' award went to Karen S., who made Tour di Mari 3 part of her west coast odyssey from her home in Del Mar, California, en route to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, on a Vespa GTS200! The 'Best Scooter' trophy was won by Tony Reid for his concours-perfect Vespa GS160, and the 'I-Can't-Believe-That-Thing-Still-Runs' trophy was awarded to Westender Corey S. and his incredibly war-weary P200, which appeared for all intents and purposes to be holding together pretty much from force of habit and little else!

After all the prizes were given away, it was time for the Main Event: the raffling off of the Vespa P200E scooter. Since last fall, an expert team of restorers and preservationists led by Westender Stinky had been painstakingly restoring this scooter and bringing it back to its former glory. During this time, Stinky distinguished himself as 'the man who could make anything', performing miracles in his garage! The scooter's motor had been rebuilt by Doc, Brad, and Stinky, and darned near all the Westies turned out in a series of summer work parties to prep the body of the scoot for painting, which was done by renowned custom scooter builder and painter Thom Sullivan!

A hush fell over the crowd as SWY&FS's Cara stirred the Golden Tickets of Fortune in the Drum of Fate. She drew the winning ticket and handed it to RogerTango. As the numbers were read off, there were cheers or moans depending on whether one was no longer a contender or still 'in the hunt'. RT boomed out the last number, and the rest is history:

The last day of rallies are normally low-key 'decompression' days where the hosting Club can enjoy a ride and relax a bit at the end of the Rally. But the Sunday of Tour di Mari 3 was going to be just as special as the previous two days, as 40+ scooterists gathered at Cafe Revo, where proprietor Sofia and her staff prepared a delightful brunch buffet. Afterwards, Westender Click led the riders on his delightful "Photographer's Ride", which took the swarm to many of the finest photographers' vistas in Seattle. He had a special surprise for the swarm this time, as he was able to secure permission from the Seattle Parks Department for the group to ride down the restricted access road to the end of West Point all the way to the lighthouse. After stretching their legs at the beach, Click led the swarm to other senic Seattle spots, including the Ballard Locks, Fisherman's Terminal, and Queen Anne's famous Kerry Park.

And with that, Tour di Mari 3: Riding Down to Brighton came to a close. The Westenders Scooter Club would like to thank the Bjornsen family and Vally Scooters for their generous financial support that makes these rallies possible. Many thanks also to our sponsors for all the wonderful prizes, all the Westenders whose hard work made this weekend party possible, and most of all, YOU, our friends and fellow scooterists, who came out and made Tour di Mari 3 the best Westenders rally ever!

Well, now that "Tour di Mari 3: Riding Down to Brighton" is just a happy memory, you may be feeling a bit like a kid on Xmas day after all the gifts have been opened; happy and tired, but also just a little down, because it's now over. But cheer up, scooties! The summer rally fun is just gearing up! Here's a couple great events coming your way:

FLYING MONKEYS SC 'CASINO ROYALE' SERIES: The Flying Monkeys SC have been on the scene for a long time, and they are offering a series of fun Sunday rides from now through mid-September! Meet at All City Coffee at noon, and ride to a different local casino each week for fun and frolic! You definitely want to check this out!