To many it may seem as if a motorcycle museum is being transported across the country with each display being individually ridden from beginning to end.

But the long line of classic motorcycles riding across the country as of next week isn’t some two-wheeled version of Disney’s ‘Night at the Museum’ rather the event known as the Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run.

Named after the famed Erwin “Cannonball” Baker, who set 143 driving records from 1910 through the 1930’s, the event dares contestants to live up to the records set by men like Baker. Setting his first record on an Indian motorcycle in 1914, Cannonball made the coast-to-coast ride in 11 days. George Wyman was first to set a trans-continental record in 1903, taking 50 days to do so, and many other historical riders followed, blazing similar extraordinary paths.

According to the event’s website, riders taking part in this year’s event face some of the same challenges that concerned their brave forefathers: gas availability, machine’s performance and physical strength.

To qualify for the ride, the motorcycles must have been manufactured in or before 1916. This will bring a spectacular sight to fellow travellers fortunate enough to encounter the ride as it makes its way across the United States. Harley-Davidsons as old as 1911 are entered to take part with the granddaddy of the event being a 1907 JAP motorcycle. Entered by Katrin Boehner, rider and motorcycle will have a journey before the first mile is ridden in the endurance event with both coming from Germany to take part in the Cannonball.

The coast to coast endurance ride will start on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Kitty Hawk. With many of the motorcycle pioneers essentially being tinkerers that could find themselves modifying a motorcycle engine as easily as they would work on the new-fangled flying machines, having the vintage event start in the birthplace of aviation is considered by many as quite apt.

The event will finish some 3,300 miles later on America’s other coastline at the Pacific Ocean beach in Santa Monica, California, a suburb of Los Angeles

With the key of any road trip being planning, the route was the responsibility of the events ‘Cannonball’s Course Master’, John Classen. Not only has he ‘painstakingly mapped out a route for the hearty men and women motorcyclists that squarely address the particular nuances of this ride’, but this won’t be the first time Classen has ridden down these roads.

In March he drove the shore-to-shore course for the Motorcycle Cannonball in the first of two pre-run trips to produce precise driving instructions for entrants and to smooth out any wrinkles along the way.

"Our route was chosen in order to avoid having the riders enter a single interstate whenever possible,” Classen is quoted as saying on the event’s website.

The route will take the participants through the southern states on a fairly flat route as it winds its way through several scenic National Parkways, follow some sections of historic US 66 and have an overnight stop in Hot Springs National Park.

The endurance ride that will test the riders certainly as much as the machines is scheduled to start in Kitty Hawk on Friday September 10^th and finish in Santa Monica two weeks later on a Sunday travelling a total of 17 days with 16 of those on the road.

As with anything to do with motorcycles, first and foremost organizers looked to safety during the event with the rural route bringing its own considerations.

“We’ll have 12 hours of daylight each day, and a goal of having every rider check in at the day’s ending point 1 hour before sunset,” notes Classen, “We don’t want anyone having to deal with the safety issues of meeting up with the local wildlife after dark, and we are expecting some break downs.”