It was a tough day…hard on bikes and bodies. Only 209 miles long but the afternoon took a toll. The morning started out great…cool and dry with quiet back roads through farm country. Although the Classes start out as groups of 10-20 riders, they quickly spread out. I prefer to ride with 1 or 2 people but really enjoy solo travel once away. I can set my own pace and make my own errors of navigation.
As we moved south from Ohio to West Virginia, the landscape began to undulate and the sweeping bends were great – until the course creators placed us on US 35. It might be a good road for cars and trucks but for these bikes on that day, it was hard and not pleasant. The temperature was now in the 90s and the traffic flow was 65-75. Cannonballers had to ride on the side of the right lane with trucks barreling down behind or alongside. There were some long uphill segments and it was hard for several bikes to maintain even 40 mph. This was particularly hard on the heavy Henderson sidecar rig driven by Wade and Kathy. The heat and strain was too much….a piston was holed. Game over. Cannonball 2021 finished for the couple from Wisconsin.. Riders shared their support with signatures:
The various adjustments we (Team Flintworks) made over the last several days have continued to work well as our Lydian is pulling strong and purring along. Best speed seems to be 48-58 mph with less vibration and you can hear the engine “come onto the cams”. Average fuel consumption is 35 mpg. We shall see how the next Stage unfolds as we have 260 miles to go with temperatures forecasted into the 90s as we arrive Danville, Virginia.
Earlier, I had mentioned how great most of the riders, crew and staff have been, I should also mention that some are very colorful characters. Over the next week, I can share some photos that capture their spirits. Here is one:
Additional content with photos and video is posted here if you are interested: https://m.facebook.com/motorcyclecannonball/