3715 Miles of Back Roads

This Cannonball breaks from past coast-to-coast events in that it conjures up the “three flags” of the past. When competitive motorcyclists of the 1910s and 1920s wanted to show how good they or the manufacturers bikes were, they would ride from Canada to Mexico to claim three-flag victories. Henderson riders were no exception; the first was done by Roy Artley in 1916.

Jason and the MC organizers have chosen a route that will provide great scenery, intense weather and some iconic places to stop. The trip is not short…3715 miles divided up over two weeks or so. Here is a high-level view:

In my universe of all things vintage motorcycle, two of the stops represent perfection: Dale and Matt Walksler’s Wheels Through Time museum in Maggie Valley (https://wheelsthroughtime.com) and the Barber Motorcycle Museum (https://www.barbermuseum.org) in Birmingham. I would encourage anyone with an interest in motorcycles (no matter what your bike inclination) to go and visit in person, you will not be disappointed. In fact, visitors are welcome to see the Cannonball bikes and riders at these stops as shown in the above schedule. If you get to visit Barber’s, allow for more than one day if possible!

Weather wise, we are still in peak season for some storms. The intense rain, heat and winds of 2021 will likely have a big impact on our riding. Hopefully no floods to shut down roads, no hail to batter faces and no triple-digit heat to cook engines! Fellow riders prepare for this in various ways from ride in the same jacket, jeans and boots everyday no matter what vs a full selection of hot/wet/dry/cold riding options. Most riders fall somewhere in between the two extremes. I think heat is the most common element to battle and I will be using one of those evaporative vests to keep cool. They are made of a special fabric which retains a fair amount of water from pre-soaking. While riding, a controlled rate of evaporation (done via jacket zipper opening) provides a nice cooling effect of your core. Our start tomorrow looks like partly cloudy with slight chance of rain…not bad for Michigan. Today will be spent going over nuts and bolts of Lydian, adjusting things as needed and replacing the copper fuel line with a rubber line with inline filter plus some test riding.