For the veteran riders, seeing the beach and coast at the end of Stage six today feels like what should be the start of the Motorcycle Cannonball, but for this event we have deviated from the norm of travelling East Coast to West Coast. Nonetheless after being on the road now for six days it almost feels like a small miracle that you can see in riders as we have arrived in Myrtle Beach.
The day started with 76 riders on the start line in Danville, Virginia. There have only been a few riders that have experienced catastrophic failures and unable to continue the journey. And there are still people in the pits working feverishly to get back into the race.
Judging by the reaction of the riders, today’s route was a peaceful welcome after the grueling elevation and twisties that they endured yesterday. Today’s route was beautiful country and small rolling hills with only elevation changes of about 500 feet. Riders are finally getting more settled in and figuring things out as sweep trucks were relatively quiet and only picked up five bikes over the course of today’s 265 mile route. Tomorrow’s route of 260 miles takes us into Spartanburg, South Carolina where we will be welcomed by the Legends Chapter AMCA and The Wicked Wrench.
And then there was one! Class I motorcycles take a hit again on fifth Stage of the Motorcycle Cannonball as leader #199 Todd Cameron competing on the events oldest motorcycle, a 1909 Indian, suffered a heartbreaking bottom end failure on the single cylinder motor. Just coming off a back-to-back Cross Country Chase victory, which is another event put on by the Motorcycle Cannonball, Cameron was favored to dominate the leader board. This leaves #64 Dave Currier the sole Class I rider that has maintained a perfect score putting him in the top position with his 1911 Harley-Davidson Single Cylinder. This also moves a few more Class II bikes up in the standings. When the day started, we had 53 riders with perfect miles, completing Stage 5 we now have 49 bikes that can still claim that. Other than lots of movement on the scoreboard, the Cannonball took one of the most scenic routes on the trip skirting along the Blue Ridge Parkway between last night’s stop and tonight’s Hosted Stop at Thunder Road Harley-Davidson in Danville, VA who greeted us with a Taco Tuesday feast. Back in the parking lot of the hotels the riders prepping their machines are still chatting about the twisty turnies of today’s route and are anticipating what kind of two-lane magic we will show them next!!
This morning the Cannonball train packed up and left Dayton, OH. The word around the morning breakfast table was that of late night wrenching and parking lot machining miracles. Several teams worked into the wee hours of the morning getting machines prepped for today’s ride that would take us over the Ohio river and into West Virginia. Riders were anxious and on edge knowing that today we would start seeing some elevation changes so they wanted to make their machines ready for upcoming challenges. It seemed as if all was good because sweep trucks were completely empty for over half the day. Then chaos: at mile 104 the lead sweep truck picked up a Class 1 bike #75 Dan Emerson who was in 3rd place overall. Emerson endured a catastrophic failure that wasn’t able to be road side repair. Not even 3 miles later sweep picked up #114 Stuart Garrison who was leading Class 4. It wasn’t over from there, it seems the elevation and increased heat also claimed #84 George Banks who was also a rider ranked in the top 10 of the field, along with those the sweep trailer also saw 3 more competitors on the trailer. As of now there are only 2 riders in Class I that maintain a perfect score and Class II lead by #5 Jeff Tiernan riding a 1912 Henderson has moved up to 3rd place. And at the end of Stage 4 there are still 55 riders that are maintaining perfect scores. We expect the event to see some changes tomorrow as riders will make their way into the Appalachian mountains with elevations from 600 to 3,300 foot above sea level. You can catch us tomorrow at Thunder Road Harley-Davidson in Danville, VA.
As the weather warmed up on Stage 3, so did the excitement and drama of the Cannonball. It was an early start for riders as we departed Battle Creek, MI. Class 1 riders departed at 7:30 this morning and at the time six riders tied for first place. This was short lived as #77 Richard Asprey who was in 5th place overall had a magneto failure at about mile 80 and not much later down the road 4th overall #50 Steve Andreasen seized the motor on his 1915 Harley-Davidson Single. Unfortunately, both had to get on the sweep truck. Riders were greeted this afternoon for lunch at Napoleon Harley-Davidson in Napoleon, OH with a huge crowd of onlookers and enthusiasts eager to learn more about the Motorcycle Cannonball. More drama ensued after lunch with the last hundred miles proving difficult on both man and machine, both sweep trucks ended up completely full. Whether it was due to the weather that creeped up into the mid 80’s, the gusty winds, or the machines showing their true colors, ten more riders ended up on the sweep trailer today. There will be lots of movement on the leaderboard. We are now in our second state of Ohio on this journey with a destination tonight of the Rip Rap Roadhouse in Dayton, which is subsequently owned by a Cannonball Rider Jason Wadzinski. As Riders crossed todays check-in line they were greeted with one of the biggest crowds that we’ve seen on this event to date served with a generously delicious meal from the Rip Rap Roadhouse. Many riders we’re reluctant to leave but they knew that they needed to get back and prepare in the pits to be on the starting line in the morning. Hopefully those broken down today can make the necessary repairs and get back on the road and join their fellow riders in the morning.
Riders have now racked up exactly 450 miles as they ended Stage 2. Today’s route started the riders from the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City, Michigan and zig zagged them 256 miles through the middle of Michigan on some of the best two lane roadways that this area has to offer. Riders ended up in Battle Creek, Michigan at Battle Creek Harley-Davidson with a sea of people to watch these archaic machines cross today’s finish line. The day wasn’t all rolling hills, tall trees, lakeside passes and old school navigation for some of the riders. Right out of the gate at mile six Cannonball veteran #25 Scott Byrd lost compression on his front cylinder and after an hour of wrenching determined that a road side fix wasn’t going to happen so he was loaded up on one of the two sweep trailers on the course. It wasn’t but two miles later that the same sweep crew came upon rookie rider #112 Dennis Peterson from California who was experiencing some of the same problems, and was quickly loaded. The rest of the morning was quiet for sweep operations as the one sweep truck had two bikes and the other sweep truck was empty. Hoping they would make it to the hosted stop empty, they came upon #83 Jon Szalay at mile 134 with a half dismantled Indian four cylinder that appeared to have a melted piston. Only two more riders #42 Mike Bruso and #30 Keith Kardell with minor problems were loaded not much further down the road. Battle Creek Harley-Davidson put on one great event tonight for the riders. Spirit and confidence is growing and looks like there will only be a few people that will be working into the night to be ready for the start tomorrow which will land us at the Rip Rap Roadhouse in Dayton, OH.
Scores posted at www.motorcyclecannonball.com
Please join us as The Wicked Wrench, along with the Legends Chapter of the AMCA will be generously hosting riders at the end of the seventh stage. Riders will begin to arrive between 3-4pm and be on display until 6pm.
The Wicked Wrench is located at
50 Fairview Church Rd
Spartanburg, SC 29303
Until now riders have been experiencing cold, windy, and rainy conditions as we have been preparing for our trek across the country. But, as riders lined up this morning at the Museum Valley Ship in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan in anticipation for the epic journey that was about to start, the weather Gods shined down on us with beautiful weather. After conducting the final group pictures with anxious riders, the Stage 1 green flag dropped and riders made their way towards Traverse City, Michigan for a hosted stop of longtime Motorcycle Cannonball Sponsor Hagerty Insurance. Eighty-eight motorcycles crossed the starting line and within a couple miles some were already experiencing problems. A few of the Class I favorites were showing temperaments and eventually by the end of the day nine motorcycles of all Classes ended up on the sweep trailer. For the lucky riders that stayed off the trailer they got to witness crossing the Mackinac Bridge, weave through the Tunnel of Trees and traverse around Lake Michigan ending the day with 186 miles on the dial!! Tomorrow riders will again take the challenge of Man vs Machine and hopefully make all the miles of the next leg which will end at Battle Creek Harley-Davidson where riders will begin to arrive approximately at 4pm and be on display until 6pm.
A lot more photos and live videos on our social media pages
Facebook: @motorcyclecannonball
Instagram: @mc_cannonball
Today marked the start of the 2021 Motorcycle Cannonball which started from the historic town of Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan located on the St. Mary’s River which is also the border to Canada. One of the themes of this year’s event of being a 3 flags run the riders that will depart the Canadian border, make their way to the Mexican border with a final destination of South Padre Island, Texas seventeen days later. Eighty-eight riders from all over the United States, and one rider from Germany, Juergen Ullrich from Bavaria, started the days activities that included a Rider Safety School, and a gathering of all riders at Aune Osborne Park which included group photos and a sendoff of the ceremonial green flag that took riders on the Prologue through the host city and the scenic locks. Today’s thirteen-mile ride was no walk in the park as the quick little shake out saw three riders have issues and lose scoring points. They are now out of contention to win the prestigious bronze award entitled “Open Road” sculpted by Chris Hennegan of England, and the title of Overall Winner of the 2021 Motorcycle Cannonball. Tomorrow riders leave for the 17 day journey where the first stop will be Hagerty Insurance in Traverse City, Michigan. Scores are posted daily under the SCORES tab at www.motorcyclecannonball.com
Please Join us at the Museum Ship Valley Camp in Sault Ste Marie as riders begin their journey on Stage 1 of the 2021 Motorcycle Cannonball,
Official Start Times for Classes I, II, III, IV,V,VI;
9:30; 9:40; 9:50; 10:00; 10:10; 10:20 AM
Museum Ship Valley Camp
501 E Water St
Sault Ste Marie, MI 49783
Please join us at Aune Osborn Park for the Official Panoramic Photo and as Riders take the Ceremonial Green Flag. Riders will begin to arrive 1pm to set up for the photo.
Official Start Times for Classes I, II, III, IV, V, VI;
3:00, 3:10, 3:20, 3:30, 3:40, 3:50PM
Aune Osborn Park
1225 Riverside Dr
Sault Ste Marie, MI 49783