Sep18

Coast To Coast

by Train on September 18th, 2010
Posted In: Women Riders

Coast To Coast

Posted: Saturday, September 18, 2010 9:09 am

Hang on, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

One could expect a trek across the United States to be a little taxing, but making the journey on a pre-1916 motorcycle racing against more than 50 other competitors cross-country could get more than arduous – if the rider makes it at all.

The Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run, a coast-to-coast race on vintage machines, will make a stop in Fort Smith this evening as the riders break for food before heading into Oklahoma, according to Terri Hargrove, motor clothes manager for Old Fort Harley-Davidson, which will host a barbecue dinner for the bikers.

Hargrove said they anticipate the vintage motorcycles will start arriving around 4 p.m. this evening at the shop, 6304 S. 36th St., and be on display in the parking lot until 6:30 p.m.

“We’re expecting between 50 and 60 motorcycles,” Hargrove said, adding that some have not made it this far since starting the historical shore-to-shore run because of breakdowns or accidents.

The unique race began in Kitty Hawk, N.C., on Sept. 10 and will take the 58 entrants some 3,294 miles across the states before ending in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sept. 26.

Motorcycle Cannonball is named for the famed Erwin “Cannonball” Baker, who set 143 driving records from 1910 through the 1930s, according to information from the race’s website. Baker made a coast-to-coast ride in 11 days on an Indian bike. George Wyman was the first to set a transcontinental record in 1903, taking 50 days to do so.

On Thursday, Matt Olsen of Aberdeen, S.D., crashed his 1913 Sears motorcycle while riding the Stage 5 section of the race on day five of the 17-day journey. After hitting a pothole in the road and going over the handlebars, Olsen broke both bones in his left forearm, had numerous facial cuts and a “slightly broken nose,” according to race reports on the website. He underwent surgery and his prognosis is good.

Olsen’s challenges are among the ins and outs of a contest such as this with vintage machines. The route was specifically chosen by course master John Classen, taking into consideration the conditions and limitations of the classic motorcycles, which can often only reach top speeds of 30 to 40 mph.

“Our route was chosen in order to avoid having the riders enter a single interstate whenever possible,” Classen, a former Champion Navigator in the Great Race, said in a news release. “We’ll have 12 hours of daylight each day, and a goal of having every rider check in at the day’s ending point one hour before sunset.

“We don’t want anyone having to deal with the safety issues of meeting up with the local wildlife after dark, and we are expecting some breakdowns,” he added.

Hargrove said the classic motorcycles will be something to see, as most vintage models are only seen in museums – and they usually don’t run and are in disrepair.

“These motorcycles work,” she added. “It’s like a rolling museum. We are very fortunate they are stopping here.”

The competitors come from all walks of life – museum owners, authors, collectors, builders, mechanics and restorers.

John Hollansworth, the only Arkansan in the lineup, is riding his 1914 Indian in the race, along with a co-rider, Ron Blissit.

Hollansworth, 79, a former vintage race car enthusiast and Great Race participant who lives in Hot Springs Village, is making his first vintage bike ride as entrant No. 43. Through Stage 6 of the race, Blissit, from Norman, Okla., was shown to be in 18th place in the standings.

One of only two female riders in the race and the only American female, Cris Sommer-Simmons of Maui, Hawaii, has a celebrity as part of her support crew – husband Pat Simmons is a songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and Doobie Brothers co-founder.

Sommer-Simmons is no stranger to motorcycles. An eager passenger aboard her stepfather’s Honda 750 motorcycle at age 9, she rode her first motorcycle solo at 14 and got her first Harley, a 1977 Sportster, at the age of 19.

She nicknamed the motorcycle she’s riding – her 1915 Harley-Davidson Twin three-speed – Effie, in honor of Effie Hotchkiss, who along with her mother, Avis, became the first women to ride a motorcycle across the United States in 1915.

“The bike they rode is also the same make and actual model of bike I’m riding, but I will not have a sidecar,” Sommer-Simmons said in a news release.

The author of several books and co-founder of Harley Women magazine, Sommer-Simmons has received numerous awards and honors for her writing and motorcycle endeavors. She currently is helping to develop a women’s motorcycle exhibit for the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa, where she was inducted into the National Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003.

She feels she’s prepped her vintage bike and herself well for the endurance race.

“While I am an experienced long-distance rider, this ride will be like no other I have ever done,” Sommer-Simmons said. “I will have to challenge myself both mentally and physically.

“I really think I can finish the ride; I’m not interested in ‘racing’ anyone, I just want to finish,” she added. “To me, finishing is winning.”

Like Sommer-Simmons, Hollansworth and Blissit just hope they can finish the race, with the words of Tom McCray of Great Race fame in the back of their minds: “To finish is to win.”

On the Net

For race updates or more information, visit www.motorcyclecannonball.com.

Posted in Features on Saturday, September 18, 2010 9:09 am.
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