This was the headline from the July 5, 1917 edition of Motorcycle and Bicycle Illustrated. Those words got me thinking about what we judge to be significant within the context of our time and place. For Alan and his contemporaries, the natural world was to be concurred by the might of human engineering. This week, as we cross Montana and North Dakota at 75 mph, turbo diesel and 7-speed transmission purring without complaint, we look out at the magnificent prairie and consider a lone rider on a dirt trail 100 years ago-almost incredible. Much of the United States was without paved roads then….just sand, dirt or mud. We pay tribute to Alan with this Cannonball adventure.
Take a look at the map as shown in the Pacific Motorcyclist and Western Wheelman below:
