Cannonball!

This year's Cannonball we are honored to dedicate to our friend Bud Ekins. Aside from an accomplished racer and stuntman, Bud loved pre-1916 motorcycles and rode them every chance he got. He always encouraged me to make the cannonball a reality. He was a pioneer, a hero, and just one of the guys.

Pope, Sears, Flying Merkel, Excelsior, Henderson, Indian, Triumph, and the Harley-Davidson¹s Silent Grey Fellows. These are but a few of the vintage, pre-1916 motorcycles that will be thumping their way across these great United States for the Motorcycle Cannonball endurance run in September 2010. Riders will virtually dip their tread in the salty waters of the East Coast¹s Atlantic Ocean as the officials wave the green flag, then come to rest some 3,320 miles later, at the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean¹s West Coast.

Usually on display in museums, private collections, or in Harley-Davidson dealerships, packs of antique motorcycles will leave their prestigious perches and hit the road, being put to the test during this grueling coast-to-coast pursuit as their riders navigate the back roads and byways of our great nation. Some motorcycles will be built specifically for this challenge in accordance to the event¹s stringent qualifying rules. Many may not complete the ride and the drama will build as the course determines how many will, indeed, finish. Following along the paths of their forefathers, each of the riders and their machines will be pushed to the very limit as the procession rolls from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to Santa Monica, California, during the two-week odyssey. Over the river and through the woods

Cannonball¹s Course Master, John Classen, has painstakingly mapped out a route for the hearty men and women motorcyclists that squarely address the particular nuances of this ride. "Our route was chosen in order to avoid having the riders enter a single interstate whenever possible. We¹ll have 12 hours of daylight each day, and a goal of having every rider check in at the day¹s ending point 1 hour before sunset. We don¹t want anyone having to deal with the safety issues of meeting up with the local wildlife after dark, and we are expecting some break downs." Click to see the proposed route.

Classen is well aware of the ins and outs of these types of contests. With over 20 years experience directing various motor sport competitions, a long-time member of the Sports Car Club of America, and having personally competed as a navigator in the Great Race for five years, where he won the title of Champion Navigator for the race in 1984, John knows his way around a route. In March, he will personally drive the shore-to-shore course for the Motorcycle Cannonball in the first of two pre-run trips to produce precise driving instructions for entrants and to smooth out any wrinkles along the way.