// News Article
Mad Kitty wins Mad Bastard!
2009-6-18
It would be an understatement to say that the 2009 Mad Bastard Scooter Rally was a success. The weekend went off without a hitch, the rain held out, and riders participated in what has been called the best Mad Bastard Scooter Rally to date! Seventy-five registered riders, six media representatives and three KYMCO Canada staff departed the Four Points Gatineau hotel between 4:00am – 7:00am on a challenging yet picturesque rally route which took them through western Quebec and eastern Ontario.
The mad bastards: Monkeys, bananas, gorillas, fairies, an Elvis, Trekies, army generals, mods and pirates accounted for some of the costumes that earned riders “Mad Points”. Characters such as “Scooter Man” and “Toilet Man” were also featured (and it should be noted that Toilet Man didn’t finish the rally due to his scooter “crapping out”). Even media got excited about the event with maid uniforms (along with blow up dolls tied to their scoots) and a “man catcher” outfit (complete with G.I. Joe dolls webbed to her KYMCO and a sexy bra hanging from behind).
The facts:
- out of the 75 registered for the rally, 13 did not finish
- there were 4 minor crashes – thankfully all riders came out safe and sound
- six unfortunate scoots needed to be rescued by the sweeper truck; none of them were KYMCOs
- the oldest scooter of the lot was a Heinkel Tourist 175 from 1958 - one rider rode the entire rally with a fish (in a tank) strapped to the back of his scooter (both fish and rider completed the rally)
- 3 KYMCO Canada staff rode and finished the rally this year in record time:
2006 KYMCO Super 9 LC - Walter Heilman (President)
2009 KYMCO Sento 50 - Sabina Heilman (Director of Finance & Communication)
2008 KYMCO Frost 200i – Jasen Juric (Parts & Service)
The charity:
The most important “Mad Points” earned by riders this year were based on sponsorship money collected for the official charity of the event – Kids Help Phone. KYMCO Canada is proud to announce that between donations collected prior to the rally, as well as the funds raised through the charity raffle (which took place on Friday night during the Rider Registration banquet), participants raised an astounding total of $16,434.51. Volunteers from the Kids Help Phone had this to say about organizers and rally participants: “How wonderful to see such an independent, creative, and original group come out and make such a difference in the lives of kids! … All 75 riders and the organizers from KYMCO Canada that participated in the rally are true heroes and everyone at Kids Help Phone wants to thank you for helping us continue being there for kids”.
The winners:
So, in the end – who was the maddest of all the bastards? The winner of the 2009 Mad Bastard Scooter Rally, winning the grand prize of a KYMCO Super 9 AC scooter, was Ben Yu Schott (Straight Jacket Class), also known as “Mad Kitty”, and scoring 921 points out of a possible 1000. Mad Kitty dared to ride the MBS Rally on a 1963 Honda C100 (earning him major points for age of the scooter) and made it in just under the 23 hour mark. His average speed for those 23 hours: 33km/h!
Other rally winners:
By Class (winning a MBSR plaque):
- Douglas Penney in the Heavily Medicated class (total points 316)
- Richard Bergsma in the Therapy Required class (total points 599)
- Paul Penney in the Day Release class (total points 304)
Team Winners (winning a MBSR plaque and a 2/4 case of beer each):
- The team prize went to father/daughter team Murray and Rachel Pickard) with 761.5 points
Overall winners of the rally (winning an MBSR plaque, KYMCO Super 9 AC scooter [1st], $100 gift certificate to Studio Cycle Group [2nd], and a MCC jacket [3rd]:
- 1st – Ben Yu Schott (Straight Jacket Class) – 921 points
- 2nd – Rachel Pickard (Straight Jacket Class) – 773 points
- 3rd – Peter Schweitzer (Straight Jacket Class) – 769 points
Media winner of the rally (taking home a 2/4 case of beer):
- Andrew Meeson of the Toronto Star – 655 points
Congratulations to all who participated and organized this fantastic event – see you all in 2011!
