“Cannonball Run” reprise: Man sets cross-country electric motorcycle record from Redondo Beach
by Garth Meyer
A man riding an electric motorcycle set the record for a cross country trip – 111 hours from Redondo Beach to New York City.
The Charging Across America Challenge, with two riders starting from opposite coasts, followed the original 1971 “Cannonball Run” route.
Steven Day, of Team West, who won the race, left the Portofino Hotel at 3 a.m. April 18. At the same time, Robert Swartz, of Team East, rode out of New York.
Day beat the previous record by more than 66 hours – attributed largely to the proliferation of new charging stations across the country.
Swartz had to drop out of the race in the heartland as his support car was rear-ended by a semi-truck on I-80 and totaled in Morris, Illinois.
Changing lanes, the semi hit the back of the Team East car. The truck jackknifed, flipped over and slid across the highway. The two crew members in the support vehicle were able to maneuver free and stop. The semi-driver, after being pulled from the cab – upside down in his seatbelt – was taken to the hospital and listed in stable condition.
Day, coming from the west within 200 miles, pushed on, gunning for New York while stopping to re-charge, looking for Level-3 chargers, which can fully charge a motorcycle in 1-2 hours. Level-2 chargers take up to four hours.
Day and Swartz both hail from New England. The 2,096-mile challenge was set up for the finish to fall on Earth Day. The finish–point for the east was the Red Ball Garage in New York City. ER