Amerivespa 2010: Day 1

It’s become a recurring theme: I couldn’t go to Amerivespa 2010 in San Antonio, Tex. Luckily, I know someone who could—our man Lorenzo is on the spot! Here’s the first of his daily reports:

• Amerivespa 2010 kicked off with a group ride to the Alamo and the reading of a proclamation by a member of San Antonio’s City Council. I’m guessing over 100 scooters at the meet & greet at Vespa Alamo Heights, and I’m hearing over 200 registered.

• The Weather Channel reported a high temperature in San Antonio of 94ºF with 66% relative humidity. It was apparent the heat and humidity were getting to everyone… people were even taking off their helmets! (Ewwww! —Ed.)

• Once again, Kymco and Genuine Scooter Co. have a bigger presence than Piaggio. Kymco introduced its Downtown 300i maxi to the U.S.; they’ve already shipped about 10,000 of them to Europe.

Its most noteworthy feature is interchangeable seats for short and tall riders. It’s also going to be pre-wired for your favorite GPS navigation device.

Kymco Downtown 300i

• The long-distance riding award will go to either Randy Hicks, who rode his GTV from Seattle, or Bumpstart Karen Giezyng, who rode with Randy from Portland (and will be riding a loaner scooter after hitting a chunk of concrete on her GTV).

• Chris from Germany, one of the guys who was doing the ride to Cuba on the 1954 Hoffmann Vespa, is here. But he’s riding a Stella. Michael McWilliams of HeinkelTourist.com is here, riding a silver Tourist this time. His wife is on a Stella, too.

• There’s been a lot of buzz about Amerivespa 2011, which word on the street says will be held in New Orleans. The official announcement will be made later this weekend, but there’s a big NOLA contingent here.

More tomorrow! _Lorenzo