Cannonball Run for motorcycles

[haven]

A group is commemorating the cross-country motorcycle trips of Erwin "Cannonball" Baker. Baker set his first record in 1914, riding a motorcycle from coast to coast in 11 days.

Participants in the present-day rally are riding a course from Kitty Hawk NC to Santa Monica CA, about 3300 miles, in 16 days. That's about 240 miles a day, which doesn't sound too taxing until you learn this factoid:

All motorcycles entered must be built prior to 1916!

About 50 participants have registered for the event, riding machines built by Excelsior, Pope, JA Prestwich, Birmingham Small Arms, Indian, Premier, Sears, and, of course, Harley Davidson.

The rally is in its 13th day today. The remaining segments are from Gallup NM to Flagstaff AZ, Flagstaff to Laughlin NV, Laughlin to Victorville CA, and Victorville to the Santa Monica CA pier.

Follow the events here http://motorcyclecannonball.com

 

[RHINO]

maybe my dates are mixed up, but isnt that only a couple years after horatios drive that took him a couple months due to lack of roads? i know he drove more north, was it lack of pavement on his route and a southern route (rt66) paved then?

 

[haven]

On the 1914 record-setting run, roads were poor, and very few had any sort of paving. Baker encountered very hot conditions in the West, and very wet/muddy conditions in the East. Here's a more complete story
http://www.motorcyclecannonball.com...s-the-road&catid=36:history-stories&Itemid=58

Looking into this issue, I learned that Baker was an ExPo member at heart. In 1912, he rode his Indian motorcycle from his home in Indiana south to Florida, then took a ship to Cuba, later Jamaica, then Panama, and finally shipped his motorcycle on to San Diego. It was an 11,000 mile adventure, and set the stage for the record-setting trip in 1914.