By Deborah Speicher

[autoviewer id=”344″ width=”600″ height=”600″ ]

A rock star, an artist and a writer were riding their motorcycles cross country and…No, this isn’t the first line of a joke and, the truth be known, the rock star (Pat Simmons of the Doobie Brothers), the artist (Scott Jacobs) and the writer (actually a couple of them – Cris Sommer Simmons and Buzz Kanter) along with about 94 other Cannonball riders showed up in Daytona Beach recently for the start of the 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run.

The terms of the run are that all motorcycles must be pre-1937 and they must ride 3,839 miles from Daytona Beach to Tacoma, Washington by September 21. Motorcycles and riders came from the four corners of the world, and driving all makes and models of vintage motorcycles. The days just prior to the ride leaving, the parking lot next to the Daytona Beach Resort was full of bikes, riders and mechanics in preparation for the challenging long distance trip. However, the day before the ride, many riders took a break from wrenching and made a few laps around the Daytona Speedway.

Early morning Friday September 5, we watched all of the bikes stage right on the beach just before heading out for the journey of a lifetime. At the time of my writing this article, the results are unknown as the run is still in progress. But you can read more about this event at: www.motorcyclecannonball.com/

Godspeed to all!