Category: 2016 Cannonball Run
The final Stage 15 – Palm Desert, CA to Carlsbad, CA – 100 miles The last start on the last day. We sure got here fast. Like any intense event, time seems both to stretch in the middle like a rubber band and snaps back at you with speed at...
Stage 14 – Lake Havasu, AZ to Palm Desert, CA – 241 miles The morning was clear and comfortable. After reviewing the scroll chart directions, many riders opted to bring extra gas since there were, in some cases, more than 85 miles between gas stations. Most of these old bikes...
Stage 13 – Williams, AZ to Lake Havasu City, AZ – 232 miles It was a sunny but cold start this morning for the ride from Williams to Lake Havasu, Arizona. But anything is better than yesterday’s rain. We had a surprise visitor, Robbie, an old friend who also restores...
Stage 12 – Page, AZ to Williams, AZ – 195 miles Awesome views, high desert, canyons, and then unfortunately rain and fog for the main event — the Grand Canyon. Since rain was forecast several riders started out in rain gear, others thought they would wait and see. Cris was...
Stage 11 – Durango, CO to Page, AZ – 262 miles Bleak and dreary morning. The rain was pretty solid. However, Cris was still pushing to make the top 25, so she was up for the challenge. In the first photo below, Pat and Dave push Cris’ bike Effie to...
Stage 10 – Pueblo, CO to Durango, CO – 264 miles Yesterday’s challenge was made difficult by the sheer number of miles and the heat. Today’s ride is an insane climb through the Rocky Mountains on 100-year-old motorcycles. Altitude sickness was also a problem for some riders. Riders first encountered the La...
Stage 9 – Dodge City, KS to Pueblo, CO – 272 miles This was the longest, hottest stage by far. The morning started off with fog; a reminder of two years ago in Kansas for the 2014 Cannonball, but then the temperature was 37 degrees. The morning started off around...
Rest day is for wrenching, laundry and rest. Personally, I was running on empty and found myself sleeping until noon. It’s hot outside — 85 degrees with high humidity. Pop-up shade tents dot the parking lot where crews are working on bikes. The results are in for the first 8 stages...
Stage 8 – Wichita, KS to Dodge City, KS – 184 miles It feels like the old West: locomotives, old motorcycles, saloons, and lots of cowboy boots. The ride started at the hotel this morning, but as we arrived in Boot Hill it was like stepping (or rather riding) back...
Stage 7 – Springfield, MO to Wichita, KS – 250 miles The morning’s staggered start was the same as every day. I decided instead to photograph the variety of license plates on the motorcycles, because amazingly the riders came from all points of the globe — all over the US,...
Stage 6 – Cape Girardeau, MO to Springville, MO – 249 miles As we drifted off to sleep listening to the weather report, I heard something about wind, rain and possible tornados! I thought the next stage was going to be a disaster. As it turns out, the morning was...
Stage 5 – Bloomington, Indiana to Cape Girardeau, Missouri – 247 miles The Cannonball can be fun, tedious, grueling, surprising, challenging and exhausting. We all went to bed after midnight and woke to the alarm at 6:30. We felt confident about Cris and Pat’s bikes after the hours of repair...