Cross country scooter trip comes through town

As part of the Historic US Route 20 Nonprofit Organization, Alex Simon of Las Vegas is crossing the country on electric scooters traveling from Massachusetts to Oregon.

For Simon's inspiration for doing this epic journey, he said "My dad was an agronomist in Brazil. He spent his life dedicated to the preservation of the environment. He passed away in November of 2020. When he died, I started thinking about my own legacy and what I was doing for the environment.

I decided to cross the United States on electric scooters and I was going to promote micro-mobility. It's essentially replacing cars with smarter alternatives on short distance trips. So, if you're going down to the coffee shop or the park or visit somebody between zero and three miles instead of taking a car, maybe taking an e-bike or an electric scooter or an e-skateboard. Mainly this pertains to major cities where there's traffic issues and pollution and noise and in downtown areas where people can hardly move around, not necessarily in cities like this [Thermopolis], I don't know, you could, but that is what it's mostly for."

The trip has generated a lot of publicity including many interviews, TV features, newspapers, radio, all throughout the country spreading the message.

Simon said, "I am in Wyoming because I took the historic US Highway 20 all the way from Boston all the way to Newport, Oregon. Which is the longest road in the country. We came to Wyoming, it's been beautiful. I have never been to Wyoming before, it's one of the highlights on the trip. It's magnificent. We saw bison yesterday, Wind River Canyon. The canyon was just incredible. I come from the southwest and have spent most of my life, it's just amazing and I am meeting a lot of people who have never seen these scooters." 

Simon describes his challenges in traveling across the United States on an electric scooter. He said, "It will take me 30 days and I have a support crew of one, Bryan Farr. I ride about 100 miles a day. I use between four and six scooters. They give me a range of about one hour, 20 or 25 miles. So, depending upon the range that I am getting, which is based upon several factors, including weather, I get 20 to 25 miles. I ride at the speed of 20 to 25 miles per hour. So it's about an hour. So If I am going to cover 100 to 120 miles per day I would need between four to five scooters. The scooters weigh between 70 and 100 pounds. I have several different types and speeds go up to 50 miles per hour. The faster you go the shorter the battery life gets therefore I needed to find a sweet spot of speed and range. After the batteries come to an end Farr follows me in a car with a trailer and switches scooters and continues on."

Bryan Farr, from Massachusetts, is Simon's support road trip partner who follows along with a vehicle and trailer containing the other scooters and supplies. He is also a representative of Historic US Route 20.  

While on the trip, they charge the scooters in their hotel rooms. Simon said, "The use obviously isn't a 100% clean solution, but it uses a lot less electricity and energy than a regular car would. If it was rigged enough, you could have solar cells on top but that's in the future. We charge five scooters at a time in the room, plus our phones, it doesn't take a tremendous amount of energy."

Simon and Farr acknowledge that Wyoming is a state with an industry funded by mining, coal and gas and when asked, how do you guys work together? Simon said, "That's a great question. I don't work with them, but I am trying to provide somewhat of a solution. Completely going electric is at this point is unfeasible. My thing is, short trips, reduce traffic and pollution in those areas and noise. That's what I do. I am not necessarily promoting the end of oil or coal.

He was asked, do you not want the fossil fuel industry to go away? He replied, no I do not. "My thing is about the short term where there are more issues than just pollution. Traffic is a big one. Moving people around, commuting is an easier way, a faster way, cleaner way."

Historic US Route 20 is a non-profit organization that promotes the small towns, communities, and small businesses all along Route 20 from Boston to New Port, Oregon, which is the longest highway in the country. Its aim is to get people back off the freeways and to take Highway 20 as an alternative to Route 66. Farr said, "People are looking for an adventure. Especially now people are looking for ways to stay local and not get on an airplane.

"When you think of a road trip, 'oh we'll do Route 66,' well here you can take one road all across the country like Alex wanted to do. He wanted to take just one road and here we are. We're working with every community. Howie Samelson of Discover Thermopolis did an amazing display. That's what we are kind of looking for, a little outpost of our organization where people can stop, get information, and travel Route 20. 'Wow, we didn't know this went across the country, a cross country highway and all the sites to see on it.' Whether you do it by car, bike, hike, people have done everything. Now we can say we've done a scooter ride on it. It's been good and we are trying to support local economies. We come into the towns, shop local, eat local, stay local. We go to the local coffee shops, the diners. That's what I am all about is supporting these local communities," added Farr.