By any account the Cannonball is a tough ride. Mark Hill told me ” you will never work so hard and have so much fun and be so tired as on the CB”. He is right. I met and became friends with many people. I am proud to have been apart of the CB14 and to have completed it. Being a member of the “3938” club is an accomplishment but only a minor part of the experience.

I want to thank everyone who supported and encouraged me. My Wife Sara was always there and my families patience with me not being around for the last 6 months. Dan Emerson’s friendship and patience and our crew Karen Emerson.

Here are the people who helped support me, Peter Rooney, Heidenau Tires, Spectro Oil, Green Mnt Harley Davidson, Bearing Specialties, The Vintage Garage in Stowe, Vic Collette, Bentley Vaughn, Whit Hart, Virginia and David Pennock, Sue and Ken Kermes, Carlen Finn and Vince Feeny, Jane Campbell and Ted Zillius. The people I work with at Sisler Buildres who have picked up the slack while I was away for 3 weeks. There are more but this is all I can remember at this time. Thank to everyone who helped me.

OK. lets talk about the bike and what happened. Below are photos of the bike I posted earlier and I will post them again as the bike is loaded in the Van.

My bike is a 1936 VLH that I bought in 2003. The motor and trans were restored when I bought it. Through the years it has been an “around the town bike” and I have worked on it each year but by no means was it ready to go coast to coast.While on the ride the rear brake rod broke and was welded, the inner primary cover had a baffle that got caught in the primary chain so I tore it out, the front primary chain oiler is not working and I oiled the front and rear chains each night and adjusted as need. The rear chain and rear tire were replaced, the kickstand spring lost its strength and was replaced with a bungie cord. I lost a gas cap and my water bottle. It is amazing what little work this bike needed. The bike was brought into service at 7pm Friday night, the night before shipping. It had no preparation. Hence the bikes new name is 7 O’Clock .

Present condition. The valves are tapping bad and I seized the motor once so there is probably some scoring in the cylinder. On Saturday I noticed the bike was rolling hard so I greased each hub that night. By the end of the day Sunday it was obvious the hubs need a lot of attention. I am not sure they would have gone another day.  Dan’s rear brake broke on the way from the LeMay to the hotel.