Author: Chris Tribbey

Well today was a exceptional ride today. Beautiful roads, some of the best so far! My bike was running OK today, not perfect but getting the miles. Scheduled ride was from Tunica to Arkadelphia covering 240 miles.

I had some electrical issues at mile 161. Did what I could do and thought I had the issue fixed.

Received a lot of help from the Cannonball staff as I tried to fix the issues. And I did and was able to ride another 32 miles until the engine locked up. Not able to fix this on the road, so on the truck and trailer I went.

After getting in with 193 miles I started to look at the bike while still on the trailer.

And once back at the hotel I continued to look at issues.

After a good looking over and some input from experts, it was determined to be more severe than I wanted to tackle in a parking lot. I decided to drop from the competition and repair the bike in a clean non-rushed environment. So it’s the end of the road for me.

Anything can happen to any rider on any day or minute. I will stay with the event riding with another support team helping others as I can. A sad day for our team.

This has been a wonderful event and I am thrilled to be part of it. Thanks for following along.

Today was a ride of 282 miles from Birmingham, AL to Tunica, MS. The day started out in mild temps and cloudy cover.

Class one bikes left at 7:00 this morning.

As a previous Class one contestant, I cannot emphasize enough how tough these guys have it. Hats off to them all.

I rode with Bob again today and we were caught off guard with a short rain shower early in the morning.

Suited up and on the road. Before you knew it, the weather changed to a bright blue sky and very hot.

Had a great ride after that.

Then a deluge of rain!! Terrible conditions. However we continued on!

Made it in with all miles in time. Me and John Bartman enjoyed swapping stories of the day.

Still have a perfect score. Tomorrow we are off with a 243 mile journey to Arkaldelphia, Arkansas. The mayor, Scott Byrd, is a cannonball rider, and has arranged for a street party to welcome us in. How cool is that?

I’m beat after a nice dinner with my crew Dan and JR. Over and out.

After all the rain we had, our day off was solid rain, and this morning it was still raining. The route was cancelled so we loaded up and trailered to Birmingham. Not much to report. A relaxing day.

Stage 11 this morning to Tunica, MS. 280 miles. Should hit rain about noon. Over and out.

We had a well deserved day off today. After the torrential rain, we are still drying off.

It rained all day! Luckily for us we had an offer we could not refuse: to use the shop of a great couple of friends. Inside shelter and a laundry room! We hit the jackpot.

We did a lot of work and maintenance.

Back at the hotel to socialize and have some pizza!

The sunset and Rainbow were perfect!

So it looks like rain for the next few days. Tomorrow we are off to Alabama with a 230 mile ride. I’ll keep you posted!

I’m writing this from the Grim Sweeper van. There are seven of us in the van and and eight bikes on the trailer. The first 80 miles were beautiful. Then the rain started around mile 130. And my bike started to run on one cylinder (again). A nagging issue.

So I had to really ride fast to keep the RPMs up to stay above 45 MPH. Heavy rain and fog. Terrible riding conditions. At mile 161 a bunch of us stopped at a gas station (and it was closed) to shelter from the rain. We were all concerned what to do. An hour later we were notified the event was called off the rest of the day due to rain.

So 16 bikes were loaded on so we could ride back the the ending destination. A lot of roads are closed due to flooding. Should be a long ride back.

My crew, Dan and JR, are looking for some parts for the bike.

The van and trailer made a stop so we could have a bathroom break and get some road food.

And that’s about it for the day. It will be late when I get to hotel. It’s still raining. No work to be done tonight on the bike. We will tackle it tomorrow on our off day. thank you for following along.

OK we will start with the facts. Today was 134 miles and I got them all! 1791 official miles so far. I moved up to 25th place. 45 (out of the 88 who started) have perfect scores. I’m still trying to get the people ahead of me to have some convenience store sushi!

Today started out with an extremely healthy breakfast!

Class one bikes all left first.

Even though it was only a 134 mile ride, it was one of the most stressful days I have had. Reasons being: extreme switchbacks, wet roads, thick fog, and cold temps.

However as I have said all along, celebrate each mile. And I did.

We were routed on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a great ride under better conditions.

It was cool to crest this milestone. My riding partner, Bob, is great! We had a perfect rhythm. He rides a 1925 JE.

We ended the official ride today th the world famous Wheels Through Time.

Now the sad facts of the day. On the Cannonball we all accept all risks. First my buddy Kevin riding an Indian missed a turn on the directions. Happens to all of us. However as he turned around to make his way back, something happened and he ended up in the culvert.

The other very unfortunate event was riding through the tunnels today. Well as we entered the tunnel from the bright daylight, into a pitch black tunnel, it was a total blackout for a lot folks. As you entered the tunnel you could not see the other end as it was on a curve. I entered the tunnel and my headlight illuminated the center double yellow line. I followed this center line and came out just fine. About a 1/4 mile tunnel. Many people crashed in this tunnel simply because you could not see anything! So so sad.

So we start the day tomorrow.

OK. I’m done! Bedtime.

Writing this at 11:30pm in Spartanburg. Days are starting to blur. Dates are already nonexistent. All we are concerned is what time do we start tomorrow and when can I get my route instructions. And where EXACLY do we start from!

First the good news. I got all miles today (259). Total of 1657 so far. Tomorrow will will cross the 1/2 way marker. Really no bad news and will cover this topic later.

Cool morning temps, and some beautiful scenery. Had a few hours or misting rain. Then the sun came out and it was quite hot again. All in all great riding weather.

One of my gas stops was at this country store. Wow what a treat! I could have stayed there for hours.

All the employees came out to “make a picture” of our old bikes. What a hoot. Memories. After I gassed up I changed the oil, as I am now doing during each gas fill. Clean oil = a happy engine.

I rode most of the day with my buddy Bob on his 1925 JE model. After lunch he was having issues and we got lost in city traffic. I was thrilled to see him cross the finish line today under his own power. He will have work to do tonight.

We ended the day at the Wickened Wrench for dinner. YUMMY!!

A nice crowd showed up to welcome us in.

The Grim Sweeper brought six bikes in tonight. Not sure if these can be repaired.

My uncle, Robert, asked my why I thought so many bikes were on the trailers every night. A loaded question! It could be an array of situations; not fully being prepared, no practice miles on the bike, poor quality parts that fail, improper machining during rebuild, or most likely, anything can happen on any day. You just never know.

OK now back to the beginning. Nothing bad happened today, however I could again tell my J was just not doing well after lunch, so I was able to drive it across the finish line, and the start to look the bike over. Ended up replacing the intake valve pocket assemblies.

Tomorrow morning we will adjust the valve lash and have a great day!

All is going great. Thanks for following!

Stage six brought us from Danville, VA to Myrtle Beach. An “easy” 238 miles, right? I was tense every mile as my bike was not running like it should have. I made all the miles am was very happy. However we had a lot of work to do.

We departed in very mild overcast weather.

As far as our destination it looked great!

Here is me and Dam Emerson who ran a single Excelsior in the past couple of cannonball events. Sadly Dan had major issues with his bike and was not able to stay in. He and his wife are on the way back home.

Loaded up the map as usual to start the day.

Lunch was at a Dealership. They had oil drip mats all laid out for us.

At 137 miles I stopped for gas and to start investigating why my bike was not running properly. The plugs indicated a very lean situation.

So I knew I must have an intake leak. So I continued on my way. Once at the hosted stop at the end we did confirm this was the case. We made a “Cannonball” repair (functional but not pretty). I’ll know today if we have it fixed.

Also had to install a “time sert” into the oil drain hole. Changing the oil at every gas stop means this little plug is out many times each day. And a steel plug into an aluminum case always means the steel wins.

JR and Dan set up the chase truck and my merchandise tonight and had pretty good sales.

The sweep trailers has a few bikes. Still sad to see.

Our rooms were ocean view. Nice to know we are as far east as we will be. Southwest the rest of the route.

Im still in 28th place now with 1398 official miles completed. 48 riders have a perfect score. Today we ride about 260 miles to Spartanburg. No hosted lunch or dinner so we will look for a nice place for a sit down mean tonight. All good. Later.

Today’s ride from Charleston, WV to Danville, VA began as most days do. Up at 5am, and out of the room at 5:30 to get a banana and OJ to start my day. We rode in the dark (led by Morgan Williams’ truck escort) over to the host hotel where we began the day. Once there re received our route instructions and loaded them into the holders.

The route today was 268 miles and I was on the bike about eight hours to make the ride. Total official miles are now at 1160. I have a perfect score so far. And have moved up to 28th place, sadly due to two riders ahead of me who had issues and could not complete the day. Some of my good friends are going home today due to bike damage they cannot repair here at the event. Truly sad.

Of the 88 initial entries, 51 riders have a perfect score. Here is the link to see the nightly scores: https://motorcyclecannonball.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/MC2021-Stage5Scores.pdf#zoom=110

Today was a very beautiful ride! Weather was cool and somewhat foggy as we began the ride. The cool weather was a welcomed relief from the intense heat we have been experiencing. Rolling hills and excellent scenery. Best ride so far in my opinion.

The motorcycle is running excellent. The daily maintenance JR, Dan, and I are doing is paying off.

Stage one leaving this morning. This group is diminishing each day.

Again the gas stops are a flurry of activities: social, serious work, roller dogs, and high fiving each other.

JJ caught this cool little video of me today.

We ended at the HD dealer in town for a great Mexican dinner they served us. Cool to talk to all the people who showed up.

And then the Grim Sweeper. The two trailers picked up seven bikes today. Some not returning.

Once back to the hotel we could do our work. All looking good!

Tomorrow we will ride to Myrtle Beach. About a 250 mile day. Should be another hot one. Thanks again for following along. Time for some shut eye!