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[benswing]

This summer I'll be traveling across the country on my 2012 Zero S with several other electric vehicles including a Nissan Leaf, Xenon electric scooter and a guy riding the whole way on an A2B electric assisted bicycle.  People can also join us for a leg on an A2B bike if you want to be part of the experience. 

We'll be traveling from Charleston, SC on July 4th to Google HQ in Mountain View, CA on August 16th and I hope to meet a lot of people on this forum along the way!  This will also set the record for longest distance traveled in an electric car, electric motorcycle, electric scooter, and electric assisted bike.  (I know there have been other runs, but our mileage will be farther overall.)

We'll be at town parties each night showing off our electric vehicles and talking to locals about riding/driving an EV. 

If you are interested in following this journey, please like our facebook page to receive updates:

https://www.facebook.com/RideTheFutureTour

or follow us on our blog at:

http://RideTheFutureTour.com

Also, let me know if you can meet up with us one day, or even join for one of our rides.  Most of our trips will be about 85 miles on non-highway roads, so if you have a 2012 Zero S/DS or 2013 S/DS it would be great if you could come along in the morning and hang out with us. 

Our schedule can be found here:

http://ridethefuturetour.com/43-ways-to-celebrate/

[protomech]

McMinnville, TN is about 90 miles from me.

Of course, I'd need a faster charging system to conveniently travel that far..

[Richard230]

I ride past San Gregorio almost every weekend.  There is nothing there other than a nice state beach and a cute very old general store.  One of these days I'll take a photo of the place and post it here.

[WindRider]

Very cool Ben, good luck on your tour!

[benswing]

Just read about Trikester's ride on the Great Rides thread, and I'm so jealous!  Sounds like a great way to spend a day. 

Trikester, hope to meet you along my trip out west!  We'll be in Orange County in early August.  I definitely plan to meet up with Harlan at Hollywood Electrics on August 10th when we are in Santa Monica.  Hopefully we can have a group meetup and ride.  There's nothing like riding with a group of Zeros!  (Wait, that doesn't sound right...)

[benswing]

Here is the list of cities and dates.  I plan to meet up with WOW Motorcycles in Atlanta, Hollywood Electrics in LA, & hopefully Mission Motorcycles in NorCal. 

We plan to arrive in each city in the afternoon and have a town party that evening around 6-10pm.  If you can bring your vehicle to meet up with us, please post a note to our Facebook page.

Hope to see you on the road!  These are the dates we will be arriving in each city:
3-Jul - Charleston, SC
4-Jul - Columbia, SC
5-Jul - Greenville, SC
6-Jul - Athens, SC
7-Jul - Atlanta, GA
8-Jul - Calhoun, GA
9-Jul - Chatannooga, TN
10-Jul - McMinnville, TN
11-Jul - Nashville, TN
12-Jul - Natchez Trace State Park
13-Jul - Whiteville, TN
14-Jul - Memphis, TN
15-Jul - Brinckley, AR
16-Jul - Little Rock, AR
17-Jul - Oden, AR
18-Jul - Ft. Smith, AR
19-Jul - Henryetta, OK
20-Jul - Oklahoma City, OK
21-Jul - Clinton, OK
22-Jul - Shamrock, TX
23-Jul - Amarillo, TX
24-Jul - Tucumcari, NM
25-Jul - Las Vegas, NM
26-Jul - Santa Fe, NM
27-Jul - Albuquerque, NM
28-Jul - Grants, NM
29-Jul - Sanders, AZ
30-Jul - Winslow, AZ
31-Aug - Flagstaff, AZ
1-Aug - Grand Canyon
2-Aug - Seligman, AZ
3-Aug - Kingman, AZ
4-Aug - Las Vegas, NV
5-Aug - Baker, CA
6-Aug - Barstow, CA
7-Aug - Big Bear Lake, CA
8-Aug - Corona, CA
9-Aug - Newport Beach, CA
10-Aug - Santa Monica, CA
11-Aug - Santa Barbara, CA
12-Aug - San Luis Obispo, CA
13-Aug - Big Sur, CA
14-Aug - Sunset State Beach, CA
15-Aug - San Gregorio, CA
16-Aug - Google Headquarters, Mountain View, CA

* If you live in Northern California, you can ride with us from San Gregorio, up to the Golden Gate Bridge, then back down to Stanford and finally to Google HQ.  The whole day will involve about 94mi of driving, and we plan to recharge during a stop at FIsherman's Wharf.

[benswing]

Just made it to Athens Georgia.  Check out http://www.facebook.com/ridethefuturetour for updates!  We're rollin' every day!

[protomech]

How do you pick what roads to travel on? Some of those scooters and bikes look like they're good for 30 mph tops.

What do you do when a dozen EVs arrive at two or four charging stations?

[benswing]

Yup, we have been traveling in two groups.  The Zero S and Nissan Leaf go ahead and the LSV's cruise together.  They electric scooters and ebikes all have removable batteries so they charge up at our destination and only the car and motorcycle have to charge at charging stations.
 
I tell you what, though.  Harlan's Elcon 2500W charger is saving my butt on this trip!  I would have to stick with the LSV's if I didn't have it.

Also, on the first day we all tried to stay together and my range predicted 143 miles!  It was tempting to try to do it all in one go, but we decided to speed up and it was more enjoyable for me to travel that way. 

Good questions! 

Met up with Doug Whelan from Zero and Tom Hodlick from WOW Motorcycles and had a great time chatting with them.  Hoping to meet up with Don again in Nashville and anyone else who can make it along the way!

[bigd]

Wow, went to McMinnville just to see the Zero in person. Thought the bike was cool in both looks and after talking to Ben, function. I will have to say though, if I do buy one, it would be because Benswing was a great salesman for the Zero (I know he isn't an actual sells rep but he sold me on the Zero) and I'm  really trying to get the boss to OK it . I really appreciated him taking about 30min. to talk to me about the bike. This was after he just got back from a radio interview. I'm sure he would have rather been getting a cold one . Thanks again Ben for the information and enthusiasm you have for the bike.

[benswing]

It was great meeting you, bigd!  Good luck getting a bike, you'll love it! 

Oklahoma turned out to be an exciting state to visit these past couple of days. 

Went noodling for the first time and caught a 40-45 lb catfish!  Noodling is fishing by finding a hole, putting your hand blindly into it and grabbing the fish by the mouth.  It was awesome!


On the leg to OK City we stopped by Moore to help clean up after the Tornado wreckage.  We saw stretches of town that were several miles long that were completely leveled by the tornado.  Not even trees were there because they had been uprooted.  We picked up rubble on the property where a house used to stand and found children's books, a shoe, a shirt and other things that showed people lived there recently.  Even though the tornado hit 2 months ago (to the day), there is a massive amount of work to do.  Just wanted to do my part. 

If you can spare some change and donate to https://servemoore.com/give/, I would really appreciate it.  I saw their operation firsthand and they are a well organized group of volunteers.

Here I am next to the wheelbarrow and pile of rubble we removed from the property so the family can rebuild.

[mehve]

Awesome work, Ben! Also, great catch! (Wow!) Did you guys release or cook it? 

Safe travels!

Cheers!
+m

[NedKelley]

Looks like an awesome trip and adventure Ben And as for the Noodling..good skills and hey...a guy needs a hobby eh??!!

[benswing]

This has been an incredible trip and now that we are in New Mexico, the scenery has become absolutely astounding! 

mehve, we released them although the redneck boys we hired as guides were ready to cook 'em.  (they normally release them, too.)

Had an incredible day riding up Sandia Mountain near Albuquerque, NM with Gavin!  Best ride I have gone on so far!  He was on his Brammo Empulse R and I was on my modified 2012 Zero S.  Thanks, Gavin for showing me a great time in New Mexico!

[NedKelley]

Thanks for the update Benswing  :)I am really enjoying following you and team here and on FB. Keep safe and enjoy the journey  Every blessing to you all..