Starting in 2009, the Smoke Out West is being moved to May. The 10^th Anniversary Smoke Out will be held starting Friday evening, the 8^th of May, with the usual music, wet T-shirt contest, and everything else that has become a standard at the Cottonwood, Arizona, classic. Saturday will be as Saturdays have been in years’ past: bike show, girlie show, vendor show, beer drinking, and tire kicking.

Now for the zinger. On Sunday morning the 10^th of May, after two days of non-stop partying, the crazies that want will saddle up their rides (Old School minimalist, no-frills hardtails, and featuring tiny to small gas tanks) to go for a ride. Big deal you say? This ride will go from the fairgrounds in Cottonwood to the Rockingham Drag Strip in Rockingham, North Carolina. According to the Google mapping device on my handy- dandy Palm Treo, that is 2097 miles due east. Estimated arrival time is May 14^th, in time for the Smoke Out East taking place in Rockingham.

They named this putt “The Long Road” with planned travel of some 350 miles-a-day and, to quote them, “with an insane party every night.” Along the route other similar-type rides and riders can join this pack of crazies for the remaining miles to be ridden. To commemorate those who complete the putt, a custom piece of jewelry is being created by David Barkhordari from BadAss Jewelry Designs in the form of a pendant that will be awarded to those survivors.

Now, there have been many cross-country events to set a record of one type or another. In 1971, famed automotive journalist Brock Yates invited some car nuts for a ride that started at the Red Ball Garage in New York City and ended less than 37 hours later at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. This was known as the “The Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash” (aka The Cannonball Run) and was recreated by Burt Reynolds on the silver screen as Smokey and the Bandit. If I remember correctly, a biker set a solo cross-country run on a Ducati some five or six years ago. I think his time for that transcontinental ride was around 35 hours.

So it seems to me that THE HORSE, Back Street Choppers sponsored run is destined to become a classic in its own right. For a “small” entry fee and a suitable ride, one can become a participant in this inaugural motorcycle event.

Am I going to do the ride? Fuggetaboutit! The first and last time I rode a hardtail was in the ‘60s from W 3rd St to W 109^th St in Manhattan.