Get the dish from Andria on the Philly area's vintage Vespa scooter rally- The East Coast Classic. Read on for details....
Sourpuss Clothing (SPC): How did you come up with this event?
East Coast Classic (ECC):In 2010, the planners of various city rallies in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast region joined together to form a new planning group for the rally that would become known as the East Coast Classic. At that time and for many years prior to that, we were all throwing our own "city rallies" in our respective locales. However, calendars fill up quickly which affects rally attendance. So the original idea behind ECC was that instead of throwing 5, 6, 7 rallies on as many weekends, we would combine to throw one big one together.
Additionally, we wanted to develop an event that was emphasized as more of a vintage-centric rally, which our city rallies for the most part were not. While ECC does not exclude modern scooters, vintage or "classic" bikes are our focus, and we wanted to bring that aspect to the forefront.
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| Photograph: Mark Zimin. |
(ECC): This was the second year for the event, although the initial planning started in the summer of 2010. The first ECC was held in 2011, now 2012. We have held both year's events on the first weekend in June.
(SPC): Why is the ECC a unique rally and different from other scooter rallies.
(ECC): ECC is unique in several ways. 1st, for the past 2 years ECC has been held in Wildwood, NJ, a location which in and of itself is quite unique. From the preserved 50's and 60's beach town architecture, to the lime rickeys and boardwalk "culture," amusement parks, & the beach itself, there's a whole lot to see and do in Wildwood, even outside of scootering.
(ECC): ECC is unique in several ways. 1st, for the past 2 years ECC has been held in Wildwood, NJ, a location which in and of itself is quite unique. From the preserved 50's and 60's beach town architecture, to the lime rickeys and boardwalk "culture," amusement parks, & the beach itself, there's a whole lot to see and do in Wildwood, even outside of scootering.
So, as you can see, holding the event at the beach is another thing that it distinguishes it from other rallies, that are either held at campsites or within cities (with the exception of the Cocoa Beach rally held in Florida).Also, whereas the most common trend for rallies is for the the planning group to come from the same geographic location, while ours is disparate. Currently, we are from Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, and New Haven. And our host city for both years so far, is foreign to all of us!
(SPC): Where are most of your participants coming from?
(ECC): We draw a conglomeration of scooterists spread out over the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and even the South and Mid-West, rather than from just one geographic location. We've had attendees from as far as Atlanta, St. Louis, Columbus, and Boston.
(SPC): What is the furthest someone rode a scooter to get to ECC?
(ECC): So far, Boston is our record!
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| Photograph: Mark Zimin. |
