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Across America by Motorcycle

Published on 8/3/2022



Ready to Continue the Journey


AMCA Member Captain Mark Hunnibell - our former Forum Moderator - has been undertaking a "centennial tribute" to C.K. Shepherd since 2019. His goal: to recreate "Captain C.K. Shepherd’s journey one hundred years earlier in 1919 on the same make, model, and year motorcycle that Shepherd rode, a 1919 Henderson Model Z-2 Four-Cylinder motorcycle." This "epic transcontinental journey across America" covers about 4,500 miles through 16 states.

If you're a long-time reader of our magazine this may sound familiar to you. We had a short piece on Captain Hunnibell in our May/June 2019 issue (Vol. 58 No. 3, pages 20 and 21), before he started his journey. D
uring his 2019 quest, catastrophic mechanical failure waylaid him, and then COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary hold on his plans. Captain Hunnibell is now ready to complete the journey and the tribute.

Here is Mark's latest newsletter, providing a little more information about continuation:


The Conclusion Begins!

 

Newsletter No. 19

 

July 29, 2022

 

"At long last, I am in the final stages of planning and preparation to continue my tribute to C.K. Shepherd’s 1919 epic transcontinental journey across America on his 1919 Henderson Four. I originally began this tribute ride on the 4th of July 2019 riding my own 1919 Henderson (“the Red One”), but an unexpected and catastrophic crankshaft failure in Burlingame, Kansas, literally stopped me in my tracks. Although Mark and Loring Hill had the Red One back up and running by December 2019 and I planned to continue the ride in 2020, the onset of COVID-19 dashed those plans. Now, two years later, I have the bike and the plans ready to honorably conclude this tribute to a true pioneer “adventure motorcyclist,” Captain C.K. Shepherd.

 

I have assembled a dedicated team for support. Willie Fernandez is back. Willie drove the support truck in 2019 and has been pushing this little project along all these years. Lloyd Hill has also returned and is committed to accompany me on his own bike on some of the most challenging sections out west. One of Willie’s friends, Glen Pyle, will be shadowing me on his bike as an all-important safety rider for the entire journey.

 

Since it took us a few days in 2019 to get the daily rhythm down, we’ve scheduled a few “practice rides” over the next few weeks in August to nail everything down so the actual journey will be as smooth and enjoyable as possible.

 

In addition to the practice rides, over the next few weeks, I will be producing a detailed route schedule and map so that you can reliably see if you might be able to catch me as I drive by (or even join up for a bit!). If you can’t come out yourself, I’ll have tracking equipment with me so you can always see where I am with a simple click on the web site (I will be updating the web site soon with more information about the 2022 continuation).

 

Best Wishes,

Mark"


Mark's website has a wealth of information about C.K. Shepherd's original ride, Mark's 2019 progress, and more detail about his upcoming 2022 completion. It includes routes, his calendar, photos, biographies, and information to ride along. Click on his logo at the left to check it out, or visit https://acrossamericabymotorcycle.com/ 


Want to check out our original story on Captain Hunnibell? Log in to your AMCA profile and then head to our Magazine Archives to pull up the issue referenced above. If you're already signed in (your name shows up in the top right corner of this page) you can just click this link to be taken right there: 2019 Vol 58, Issue 3


Newsletter, photos, and quotes are from https://acrossamericabymotorcycle.com/.



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