Inspiration

Who was the Original Cannonballer?

What did he ride?

And how did the story begin?

Did he hold down a respectable job in the city, wear a Captain Chaos suit at the weekends, try his best to drive a Porsche Turbo like he knew what he was doing and pay 10k entry in an attempt to look cool?

Er, no. Read on.....

BEWare of bullshit

Everyone knows of the Hollywood produced Cannonball Run movies. Most people know these were based on the actual US coast-to-coast road-car races in the 70s.

But the story goes back much further with the original inspiration coming from the very first pioneer of endurance motorcycle riding back in the 1900s…..

A brief history of The Cannonball

Erwin G. “Cannon Ball” Baker was born in Indiana, USA on March 12th 1882. Baker purchased an Indian motorcycle in 1908 and in 1909 won the first race ever held at the newly built Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Away from the track Baker knew his talents lay in endurance. City-to-city blasts spawned records that soon evolved into all-out coast-to-coast runs. He had the brainwave to start racing trains on his bike when there were no paved roads to speak of and this soon earned him the nickname “Cannon Ball”, a moniker that was to stick with him the rest of his life.

As age crept up, Baker softened somewhat. The bikes made way for cars and his once fearless feats were reduced to economy runs to obtain the maximum MPG. Still, he died a hero in 1960.

Inspired by the great man and in defiance of the then introduced 55 mph US speed limit, rebellious journalist Brock Yates launched the “Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. Setting off at midnight on May 3rd 1971 they completed the New York to LA journey in 40 hours and 51 minutes.

An account of his tale in Car & Driver Magazine lit the Cannonball fuse. Four subsequent races were held, the culmination being the 1979 event – the fastest of them all - which attracted 26 entries and was won by David Heinz and David Yarborough who completed the entire course in just 32 hours and 51 minutes at an average of nearly 88 mph. The legend was established.

Of course everybody remembers the subsequent Cannonball movies. Whilst Yates was involved in the creation of the first, he felt the real spirit of the event was lost in the translation to film and professed his disappointment at the creative, if not financial outcome.

Things then went quiet for a while before our own good selves were invited to organize the European revival with the Cannonball Run Europe events in 2002 and 2003. Great events they were too. “Vanity mileage” targets on these events though meant unavoidable long motorway sections – long and fast but not particularly inspiring.

And so on that last event, on a rainy day and after the nth thousand motorway mile we found ourselves glazing over to the inert ramblings of a particularly boring berk driving a Skoda. And then it hit us. This was the Cannonball. And these were the wrong people, in the wrong vehicles, on the wrong roads.

In our opinion the Cannonball name was worthy of more. The event was not about Stuart in his Skoda whose sole reason for entering was to convince Brenda in Accounts that he was in fact quite interesting. It was not even about cars but in fact should be true to the original and back to two wheels. Back where the legend was born. And for sure it was not about endless motorways but rather the greatest back-road and mountain routes available.

Real riders, real intentions with proper machines and proper roads.

And so the wheels were set in motion. The simple aim being to create the greatest motorcycle road rally the world has ever seen. A whole new chapter in the story of the Cannonball no less. And so Ladies and Gentlemen, here it is…..

Cannonball Bike Run. A century of inspiration, a decade of experience, and years of detailed planning. Dip your bread.

Legal Statement: All trademarks are copyright of their respective owners. Cannonball Bike Run is operated by Wildside Adrenalin Sports Ltd, a proudly independent company with no connection to Erwin G. Baker, Brock Yates, Car & Driver Magazine, The Cannonball Run movie, Cannonball Run Europe or Stuart in his Skoda.