Official Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Rally photographer Michael Lichter has sorted through the thousands of photos he snapped while riding (backwards!) across the USA, and they really capture the nature of the Ride - the endless miles, the sometimes empty expanses of treeless roads, the excitement of mountain passes, the continual repairs made in motel parking lots. If you'd like to see the whole, annotated collection,
take a look at his website -
http://www.lichterphoto.com/client/m120901-mcr-all/index.html |
| Chris Knoop and his 1925 Invincible-JAP; that sidecar was soon ditched (along with his passenger) as the gearbox/clutch was simply not invincible enough... |
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| Do these fellows look nervous at the start of a 4000 mile ride? Well, yes they do. |
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| Group photo at the halfway point; Sturgis, SD |
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| Sage for luck, sweetgrass for hope... |
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| Happy at last to be riding The Mule! Caught scraping pegs over an 8500' pass in the Teton Range... |
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| Dramatic vistas in the mountains of Wyoming |
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| Josh and his Craiglist Indian...which made the entire journey. |
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| Bill Buckingham squeezing a little more speed through the mountains on his Harley JD |
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| Harley JD crossing the mountains into Yellowstone National Park |
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| Brad Wilmarth, the Cannonball King, on his 1913 Excelsior |
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| Lake Lodge, on Yellowstone Lake |
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| Claudio from Italy, and his Sunbeam 1925 Model 5 |
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| Jeff Decker |
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| It was 25degrees F in the morning at Yellowstone; water bottles froze solid, and ice formed on leather jackets. The coldest I've ever been on a motorcycle... |
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| Niimi on the 1915 Indian, freezing! |
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| After leaving Yellowstone, the sun warmed us, and by the time we'd reach the Grand Tetons, all was fine |
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| Michael Lichter making me look like a hero! |
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| Andreas Kaindl from Germany and his Excelsior-Henderson, in the Idaho desert |
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| A common sight; maintenance... |
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| Another common sight; burned pistons! |
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| Even the King must do maintenance... |
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| Now more Invincible, the Australian contingent carries on... |
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| Cool striped trousers, which we thought a wry comment on biker fashion...until we learned these fellows serving our dinner were prisoners on a limited work release! |
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| Joe Gardella making minor adjustments to his 21st century 1915 Harley |
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| Too many miles of this in Idaho... |
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| Yours truly photographing Niimi at a snake-infested rest stop |
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| Ah, California. Giant trees, twisty roads, warm weather |
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| All those miles, to end at this corner. A helpful tree stopped Darryl Richman's BMW from exploring the further woods |
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| The Shinya Indian crew shoving off before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge... |
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| Mike Vils and Jeff Decker share a happy moment crossing the Bridge... |
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| Shinya, happy to be finished! |
8:01 PM
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