Angels and Demons 2013

Angels and Demons Rally 2013

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Into every life some rain must fall

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Don't leave home without it!

Ever since Cora completed a Saddlesore 1000, she has been dying to complete a real rally.  Scheduling is a challenge between her work and school but I managed to find a 10 hour rally that worked into the schedule so it was to come to be!  The Angels and Demons Rally for 2013, hosted by Ray King, was to start and stop in Brooksville, Florida around 600 miles from home.

Rally books arrived on Wednesday the 30th so Cora and I worked over the book trying to determine a good, high scoring route.  We ended with 2 choices with similar mileage and points.  One would take us into north Florida through Jacksonville (a ball game weekend) or south into the Everglades and back through Tampa (always a mess).  We watched the weather with great interest and decided on going south which we thought would avoid the worst of the rain for the majority of the day.  Oh how silly of us.......to attempt to follow one of the virtually iron-clad rules of the Iron Butt Association - Plan your ride and ride your plan!

Rather than dashing 600 miles to Brooksville on Friday we opted to break the trip up leaving Thursday afternoon to spend the night with my sister, Alison, in Panama City and then take a leisurely ride along the west coast of Florida into Brooksville on Friday.  We made quick work of the trip to Panama City and spent the evening catching up with Alison and Steve.  We were off early Friday morning and headed down the coast.  Old Florida is a joy to ride through....Mexico Beach, Port St Joe, Appalachicola, Carrabelle....all have the flavor of old fishing villages not tainted by high rise condos that block the view of the Gulf.  A pleasant ride.

Into the Apalachicola National Forest we rode occasionally meeting a car or two.  We saw signs for Tate's Hell State Forest and were intrigued by the name.  At a lunch stop in Perry, we did some research and discovered an interesting story.

1885    A tale that has been told for many years recounts how Tate's Hell Swamp got its name. Local legend has it that a farmer by the name of Cebe Tate, armed with only a shotgun and accompanied by his hunting dogs, journeyed into the swamp in search of a panther that was killing his livestock. Although there are several versions of this story, the most common describes Tate as being lost in the swamp for seven days and nights, bitten by a snake, and drinking from the murky waters to curb his thirst. Finally he came to a clearing near Carrabelle, living only long enough to murmur the words, "My name is Cebe Tate, and I just came from Hell!". Ever since, the area has been known as Tate's Hell, the legendary and forbidden swamp.

Now down the coast through Crystal River and Homosassa Springs and into Brooksville.  We arrived early afternoon and relaxed, visited, and got ready for the rider's meeting at 6:00 PM.  Our esteemed Rallymaster went over some details of the rally, handed out our packets and a final piece of paper detailing changes to the rally book.  Wild cards bonuses (finding something related to an Angel or a Demon) had their point values raised.  The killer was the inclusion of six MANDATORY BONUSES required to be a finisher.  This was a game changer if there ever was one!  Cries of indignation, anger, and disgust filled the air!

Quickly glancing over the six, we realized that neither of our two very well planned routes would work.  Time to start all over!  Now this normally would not present a big challenge - simply drag out the laptop with mapping software and re-do the route.  However, and a big however, I had opted not to load all that stuff since I had two very well planned and documented routes available.  So, no laptop, no mapping software, no cables for the GPS.  We did have a road atlas that at least showed major roads.

Let me pause at this point to simply say.........I am not in favor of  nor nor am I a fan of last minute changes to a rally that cause such dramatic changes.  Why even give a rally book in advance so you can plan your ride???  Frustrated, angry, and muttering obscenities, we headed back to the room to try and salvage the rally.

I quickly realized the atlas did not have sufficient detail so wandered to the front desk and the angel behind the desk has a real Florida state map.  With note cards and rally book pages scattered around the room, we used our phones and my Ipad to generally locate and mark the  mandatory bonuses on the map.  We filled in the locations of other known bonuses and tried to make sense of a route.  We had the choice of running clockwise or counterclockwise in a circular route that included Orlando and Disney World.  We tried to guess the weather patterns to determine which route would keep us out of the worst of the rain.  We opted to run counter clockwise thinking we would avoid the rain.  We remade note cards leaving lots of blanks to fill in during the day.  Ha!  This is what our plan looked like.  Note that we had no idea of timing, total mileage, just a general idea of where to go.

After breakfast and a final rider's meeting it was time to go. The Rallymaster apologized profusely for screwing up everyone's planned routes realizing the impact that the mandatory bonuses had on all riders. It was certainly to late to change the game again at this point.  We would ride what we planned last night.     Of course, it was raining.....big old Florida raindrops and at 7:00 AM it was still dark as pitch!

First bonus planned was south of Groveland and a photo of the Green Pond Cemetery.  It's 7:39AM and rain is still coming down.

We were headed to Sanford to find Angel's Soul Food and BBQ - one of the mandatory bonuses.  Watching the GPS, we saw a bonus pop up just off our planned route.  We quickly snapped a photo at 8:04 and were off.

Sanford has lots of old brick/cobblestone streets which are not only rough, but slick when wet.  We luckily missed construction detours and found our goal at 8:56.  One mandatory down!

Enroute to Daytona we found the All Saints Episcopal Church in Enterprise Florida.  Not scheduled but we grabbed the bonus at 9:12 and were off again.

 The Devil's Chair in Cassadaga, FL was a mandatory stop.  Legend has it that if you put an unopened bottle of beer in the chair it will be there the following morning.....empty but unopened.   No one had tested the legend the night before since the chair was empty.

n Daytona, we were to take a picture of the Angel and Phelps Chocolate Factory located on Beach Street.  Daytona is always busy even when it is not Bike Week.  As we approached Beach Street, we noticed a couple of closed streets and detoured around them.  Beach Street was also closed with a full blown street fair in progress.  The streets were filled with people, vendor tents, and other distractions, not to mention nowhere to park.  Realizing precious time would be wasted, we opted to continue on without the bonus.

On to the next mandatory bonus which was the Ghosts of Bulowville.  The ruins of an old sugar mill were on the "Loop".  A nice ride with old oaks covering the road it would have been very pleasurable if not for the rain and that incessant ticking of the clock counting down the hours and minutes left in the rally.  At 10:35 we grabbed the photo and we off.  We still had no concept of being ahead or behind - we were just riding as hard as we could considering the conditions.

 I am horrible with names so apologies in advance.  While at the Sugar Mill, a young rider was there on a Suzuki DL1000.  He asked us if we had a compass and which way was west.  I looked that GPS and pointed in the direction of west.  He thanked us and we were off.  After returning to the finish line, I was chatting with same rider and discovered that he had not only plotted and planned on paper and Google maps but finished the rally WITHOUT the aid of a GPS.  Evidently his Google map directions said head west from the bonus, hence the question about direction.  Kudos certainly should go to this rider!

Back to the beach area for a photo of the Devil's Elbow Fishing Resort.  This was another of the cursed mandatory stops.  We were actually thankful for the rain at this point since it certainly kept beach traffic to a minimum.  11:12 AM now and we are 216 miles into the rally.  Hmmmmm, maybe we are about half-way, maybe not.

Another bonus we had figured we could fit in was the lunch bonus worth 2,000 points.  The requirement was to take a photo of your lunch and stay in one spot for 30 minutes verified by a start and stop receipt.  I also figured we could gas up at this point and not have to worry about a another fuel stop.  Lunch was one of those gas station/Hardee's operations in Palatka, FL.  It is very frustrating to sit for 30 minutes without a schedule.

 While we were waiting for our 30 minutes to run it's course, I did manage to get the remainder of the bonuses sorted out and in the GPS for a route of sorts.  Thank goodness it said we could finish on time!  We spent 31 minutes at lunch!

Next bonus was less than 1 mile away for a historical marker photo and then on to Angel's Dining Car, another mandatory bonus,  which was also nearby.  Didn't dawn on us to eat lunch there!  We hit the diner at 12:32 and ventured towards Gainesville.

Enroute to Gainesville we saw another bonus and zoomed in.  Campville Ghosts.  The house is over 100 years old and looked it too!

 Into Gainesville we went at around 1:30.  Thankfully weekend football was out of town in Jacksonville.  The Devil's Millhopper is a huge sinkhole in it's own geological park and a mandatory bonus.  Time is 1:43 and we are 306 wet miles into the rally.  Looks like we'll make it to the finish!

We knew the next bonus was right off I-75 and was called Twin Angels.  Cemetery bonuses are always a worry since you never know if it will be a small or gigantic cemetery.  Luckily, as we approached the entrance we saw the bonus through the fence.  Other riders came in from a different direction and evidently spent a good bit of time looking for the angels in question.

One more mandatory bonus and we elected to chase down a bonus in Ocala worth a lot of points first.  Time is 2:43 and it really isn't that far now

Last bonus is a sign at the entrance to the El Diablo Golf and Country Club.  Some folks evidently didn't follow the instructions and took pictures of a very similar sign NOT at the entrance.  It's 3:25 and only 46 miles to the finish line.  

We did find:

 We hit I-75 running hard to the finish line.  As we exited the interstate, a Florida State Trooper was sitting right as we exited.  Thankfully we were being lawful citizens at this point!

At the finish line, we grabbed our last and and last Demon photo.  Valerie did have an angel on her t-shirt.

 On the other hand, the Rallymaster received an honorary demon rating for his antics with the mandatory bonus locations.  Sounded good to me!

Cori and I noticed the lack of bikes in the parking lot even though less than 15 minutes remained until DNF time.

We sat and quickly got our paperwork in order and headed to scoring.  We kept wondering why there wasn't a line at scoring.  We sat with Larry Meeker who went through our bonuses and approved them all - even the Rallymaster as a Demon!  We had ridden about 430 miles in some very trying conditions in less than 10 hours.

Supper was delicious as we chatted and enjoyed dinner.  The results were announced!

Until the official results are published I am not exactly sure of our overall standing.  

Bottom line:  Planning and operating off a paper map will work in a pinch.  For a first time rally rider, Cora did a marvelous job and finally got pretty good at figuring time/distance on the fly when we realized we just couldn't make the last high point bonus we wanted and still make it in on time.  

We rested and made a wonderful 550 mile ride home Sunday.  The skies were perfectly clear, temperatures hung around the low 60's, and traffic wasn't bad.  Why couldn't it have been that was Saturday?  

I remain convinced that if I say the word rally in a sentence then it shall rain.  Maybe I just need to go into the rainmaking business!   The 2013 rally season at least ended on a positive note.  No more big rides are planned at this point.  Who knows what 2014 will bring.  Just for fun....this is what the 2013 riding year looked like from a SPOT viewpoint.  This certainly isn't everything but does include all the big trips and all rallies!

Big Tex Rally 2013

After the whirlwind tour during The Void and taking a quick day off to wash and repack, it was time to head off for the 2^nd running of the Big Tex Rally.  David Clark from Athens was coming over for the ride out to Texas, encountered tire problems outside of Atlanta but made it to the house for supper and rest before heading off to Huntsville, TX where we were spending the night with an old friend, Chris Stallings, who would be riding with us during the rally.  

Off early and west we headed.  There is always the obligatory stop in Jackson, MS for breakfast and gas – I do love Cracker Barrel breakfast!  Spitting rain the followed us the rest of the way into Huntsville.  Of course it would rain, we were going to rally!  We spent a pleasant evening with Chris and Nancy resting up for the next few days.  Of course we kicked tires and compared motorcycle stuff.  I am continually amazed at the number of devices we use to navigate.  Between the three motorcycles, there were 8 different GPS systems which would often provide eight different ways to get somewhere.  We normally just went with majority rule.  

We were starting the rally in Victoria, TX, one of the four start locations for the rally.  Enroute to Victoria, we stopped in Brenham to tour the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory.  It is an amazing operation that takes the milk of 30,000 cows per day to keep up with demand.  Of course, we enjoyed the free samples at the end of the tour and the obligatory picture of Barbara posing in her Blue Bell Ice Cream hat.

We made in to Victoria without incident making another almost mandatory rally stop at Wal Mart to finish out our supplies for the upcoming rally.  There was a loosely organized dinner that evening so we enjoyed our dinner and beverages before settling in for an early morning start.   Rider’s meeting started at 5:30 AM with us finishing paperwork, sealing driver’s license and insurance information into a envelope (worth lots of points if you didn’t have an encounter with one of the fine law enforcement officers of Texas), and last minute instructions and admonishment from the Rallymaster to be safe. 

We kicked off the rally at 6:00 AM sharp and headed off to our first bonus of the day in Tilden, TX for a photo of a boot hill cemetery.  After our superb planning during the Void, we were fairly confident in our timing and routing.  This soon proved to be quite untrue!  South Texas is undergoing an oil boom so we had to deal with oil field traffic and construction.  Scheduled arrival at Boot Hill was 7:41 and we didn’t arrive until 8:05.  Not a good way to start, but figured we would make up the time in the long run to Brownsville.

Well, that didn’t happen either.  It wasn’t traffic, we weren’t going slow, we just kept falling further and further behind.  I can’t really blame it on the butterfly/dragonfly migration that was happening since all that did was make a mess of helmets and bikes.  Something was happening to our timing and we were at a loss to figure out why.  Scheduled arrival at the Palmito Battlefield historical marker was 11:04 and we arrived at 11:51.  Yep, losing more time with each bonus stop. 

There was but choice but to soldier on at this point, so we pointed our bikes north towards the City Hall of Rio Grande, TX.  There were 12 options to pick up Texas Icons at some point during the rally.  Anything from a photo in front of the Alamo, cactus, armadillos, rodeo grounds, etc could all be claimed at any point in the rally.  One of the icons was a posted sign from the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.  These distinctive blue signs could be found on any number of ranch gates.  We just kept going by them before finally spotting one and turning around to get the bonus. 

Scheduled arrival into Rio Grande was 12:57 PM and we finally arrived at 1:55 PM.  We were now an hour behind but snapped our picture and got out of there as quickly as possible. 

Laredo is the next stop for a photo of a granite bench dedicated to a Texas statesman.  Laredo sits directly on the Mexican border with several crossings into Mexico.  The GPS has us headed for one of the crossing for some reason or another.  Having absolutely no desire to cross into Mexico, we picked our way through a maze of one way streets to the bonus.  

Scheduled arrival was 2:47 and we arrived at 4:11.  We are 583 miles into a planned 1530 mile route and are almost an hour and a half behind schedule.  Something soon had to give and it was to be scheduled bonus locations!

We made the next bonus in Catarina at 5:33 still over 1.5 hours behind schedule.  Then we  off to Crystal City, TX for a photo of Popeye.  Crystal City, TX claims to be the Spinach Capital of the World and what more fitting monument than Popeye.  The statue was erected in 1937 in front of City Hall.  We snapped our picture of Popeye at 6:07 PM still over 1.5 hours behind. 

We consulted a bit and decided that we had to drop bonuses in order to catch up.  We didn’t drop a high point bonus outside of Leakey so that’s where we headed.  Now it was dark, we were in the Texas Hill Country full of curvy roads and a deer population as thick as fleas on a stray dog’s back!  Of yeah….we should mention that it started to rain.  Not a gentle spitting rain, but rain driven by a fall Texas thunderstorm!  Oh the joys of rallying!

We had gotten separated from David at some point but were all going to meet at the selected motel for out rest bonus.  As we approached the coordinates for the historical marker for the massacre of the McLaurin family by renegade Apache Indians, we found nothing even closely resembling a historical marker.  Road signs and an entrance to a ranch yes, but no historical marker.  We eased a bit further down this very dark, narrow, wet road and saw a sign that said the historical marker was a mile ahead.  We also found David who was quite frustrated at this point having searched the area for over 20 minutes.  Sure enough, a mile down the road was the marker so photos were snapped and off we went.  It is 7:55 PM, we are 897 miles into the rally and way behind schedule.  David went one way…..we went the other thanks to Ms. Garmin who has been known to take strange routes at times. 

It is raining, the temperature has dropped 20 degrees in the span of minutes, and it is 123 miles to our motel in Brady where we had made advance reservations.  There really was no option but to hunker down and  roll on through the storm.   We rolled into Brady and started our rest bonus at 10:04 PM.  Quick trip to McDonalds for some supper and soon were snoozing planning to take full advantage of the big points available for taking a full 8 hour rest bonus. 

We dropped 3 more bonuses in an attempt to get back on schedule for the 2^nd day of the rally.  We’re off to Luckenbach, TX – population 2!  

It’s a quite chilly morning with temperatures in the high 40’s and seeing the sunrise was very welcome.  Arriving at Luckenbach at 7:44 AM, we quickly found the required license plate, took a photo, and headed to Dead Man’s Hole.  And oh look, and armadillo too!  

One of the Texas Icon bonuses was to take a photo seated on the back of a Texas Longhorn cow.  Too early for the cow so that one was missed. We later learned the longhorn arrived about 15 minutes after we left. 

Dead Man’s Hole was a cave almost 200 feet deep filled with toxic gas.  A large oak tree stood over the entrance – perfect as a hanging tree.  The story goes that as the doomed man was hung and started to struggle, the rope would be cut, dropping him to his fate at the bottom of the cave.  The hole has long since been covered, but a historical marker commemorates the site.

We headed into Bastrop for the next bonus.  Ardys Kellerman, a legend in the long distance motorcycle community, was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident earlier this year at the age of 81.  Ardys didn’t start riding until she was in her 50’s but had documented riding over one million miles on BMW motorcycles.  Ardys was a joy to be around and always had a ready smile, a cheerful attitude and was best known by her nickname - Queenie.  Prior to her passing, she had mentioned to the Rallymaster, Wayne Boyter, that the statue would make a good bonus for a rally.  Named in her honor, Queenie’s Request, was a statue of a fireman saving a small child.  We were honored to include it in our route. 

The next stop in our tour of Texas was Auditorium Shores Park in Austin for a photo at the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue.  The rally instructions stated that at exactly noon a photographer would take one photo of anyone present.  You and your rally flag had to be visible in the photo.  We arrived a bit early, found a place to park and made our way across the park to the statue.  Everyone clustered around the statue trying to ensure they would be visible in the photo.  And exactly as stated, at noon a photo was taken and everyone scattered to the winds. 

Due to the horrible schedule of the previous days exploits, we modified our plan and headed to a big point bonus outside of Belton, TX.  Somehow Chris got separated from us as we followed David on a grand tour of downtown Austin and the state capital building.  We finally made our way to I-35, when David announced his rear tire was going flat again.  Knowing there was nothing we could do at the point, we waved and left him on his own.  We zipped up I-35 to Belton where we would find the next 2000 point bonus.

At the Golden Ranch, we would have the chance to fire a handgun at our rally flag.  In order to score the points, you had to hit your rally flag with at least one shot.  Obviously, everyone who had left Stevie Ray Vaughn has the same idea and the line to shoot was quite long.  We waited over an hour to shoot and I quickly managed to put all three shots into my rally flag. 

The deadline to be at the finish line was 6:00PM.  We still had to make our way to Stephenville, TX for a mandatory bonus at the Hard 8 BBQ where we had to sit down and eat a traditional Texas BBQ meal.  I-35 was shutdown north of the shooting bonus so we plotted a course avoiding the interstate and headed to Stephenville.  Thank goodness for the high speed limits on Texas two lane highways.  Often 75mph, we took full advantage and zipped into Hard 8 for some BBQ.  Slow service made us a bit nervous as the clock was definitely clicking down.  Grabbing gas for the final run into Dallas, we were off. 

We managed to check in at the finish with 15 minutes to spare!   We did manage to find a car with horns on it!

Scoring time now.  We got our paperwork in order and turned everything in to be scored.  While we waited, we relaxed in the bar/restaurant and spent time chatting with other riders.  Just so happens Auburn and Texas A & M were playing and the TV was on.  Being a big Auburn fan and fueled by a couple of margaritas, Barbara certainly let everyone know her allegiance as Auburn managed to defeat A & M and Johnny Football. 

David rolled in a bit late with a new rear tire courtesy of a very accommodating Kawasaki dealer in Austin. 

Scoring as horribly slow as a couple of the scheduled scorers had emergencies and couldn’t make it.  We enjoyed a couple more adult beverages, a delicious Mexican buffet, and good company for a long time.  We finally got our chance to get scored and it was a painless process as we always try to make sure we don’t leave points at the scoring table.  Scoring continued well into the late evening.  Knowing that we didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of being in the top tier, we gave up and headed to the room for a shower and bed.  We still had a 600 mile ride home Sunday morning. 

The hotel had some difficulty getting a rather meager breakfast out on time but we finally were able to eat and hit the road.  The weather was nice and cool, the interstate boring as usual but we made the dash home in a bit over 10 hours.  

After a 2^nd place finish the weekend before, it was quite disappointing to finish at the bottom of the list, but we did finish.  Overall, it was a great rally with the chance to see parts of Texas we had never seen.  We’ll be back next year with a much greater appreciation of planning a rally in the great state of Texas!  East coast planning doesn't work in Texas!

Riding the Void 8

For the first time in 6 years I participated in a rally without my loving co-pilot, Barbara.  Her week was spent on the beach as I prepped to ride solo.  This meant I had to revisit the process since my secretary wasn't going to be in charge of keeping up with the bookkeeping!

Adjustments were made and I was sure I had a workable solution before leaving early Friday morning on October 11th for Brunswick, GA which was the selected start point for this years rally.  It was an easy ride only complicated by the intense fog and spitting rain I encountered in Montgomery which made me miss a turn and take a scenic tour of some of the less than desirable areas of the capital city.  Arriving in Brunswick around 4 PM, I got settled into the hotel and enjoyed an evening socializing with other riders at a nearby watering hole.

Rallying with another rider has certain benefits.  The main one is there is someone along who can help you pick up the pieces if you crash and burn in the middle of nowhere.  You are totally on your own collecting bonuses, keeping records, getting lost (which seems to always be the case when the GPS leads you down some winding goat path), and making other mistakes.  I would be riding along with good friend from Athens, GA - David Clark.  You'll have to ask him for his views on the rally outcome!

The scenario for this year's Void was a bit different from years past.  The start would be on a Saturday rather than the normal Friday due to some scheduling conflicts with the host hotel in Fredericksburg, VA.  Starting at 9:00 AM on Saturday, we had 31 hours to be at the finish line on Sunday.  A mandatory 3 hour rest break fit in there somewhere and in order to avoid penalties, we had to be ready for scoring by 2 PM.  The plan was to make it into Fredericksburg in plenty of time to avoid those penalties.

The theme for the 8th running of the Void was music so every bonus location was in in some way related to music - from bonuses about the Allman Brothers to Led Zeppelin and everything in between.  The planned route would encompass Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia.

Starting with a time of 0852 and an odometer reading of 26271, the first bonus was a photo of a YMCA about 1/4 mile from the gas station.  I texted my start information in to the designated number and it was on the road!  I would later check to make sure I got an OK back ensuring the information had been received.

Next on the list was a photo of The Music Store in Bloomingdale GA.  Music stores certainly fit the theme.  Photo snapped at 0957.

About photographs!  For some reason photos wouldn't transfer from the cameras SD card to computer so this is a photo-less ride report.  Sorry about that!

Bonuses fell in quick procession as the day went on.  Photographs of statues of the likes of James Brown, pictures of gun stores and florists in honor of Guns and Roses, symphonic performing arts centers, Buffalo Wild Wings, Greenwood, SC and on.

Around 7:00 PM we had made our way to Hiltons, VA and the home of the Carter Family Fold.  Dedicated to the preservation and performance of old time country and bluegrass music, it has been operating since 1979.  Johnny Cash played his last concert there in 2003 only a few months before his death.  This evening was performance night and the place was packed.  We had to photograph a large record mounted on the side of the building.  Maneuvering between parked cars, buses, and pedestrians was a challenge, but photo accomplished it was off to the next bonus.

The Crooked Road:  Virginia's Heritage Music Trail winds through the mountains of Southwest Virginia and I do mean winds!  Aptly named Crooked Road, as darkness fell we arrived at 1957 with an odometer reading of 26858.  10 hours into the rally and 587 miles under the tires.

Into Kentucky and the Van Lear Coal Miner's Museum in Butcher Hollow honored in the song by Loretta Lynn - Coal Miner's Daughter.  Buried in the hills of eastern Kentucky, the museum was seeing double duty as a Haunted House as evidenced by the crowd of teens and young adults lined up on the doorsteps.  I convinced a young lady to hold my rally flag for the obligatory photograph and soon it was off again.  Time is 2242 and the odometer reads 29686.

Weaving through Kentucky and Ohio snagging bonuses brought us to Cross Lanes, WV which is the home of country music star Kathy Mattea.  Cross Lanes also claims to be America's Largest Unincorporated City.  A photo of the sign proclaiming it to be the home of Kathy was snapped and then across the street for the start of our rest bonus.  Time is 1:00 AM odometer reads 27111.

Behind schedule a bit at this point, the rest bonus was going to be 3 hours only.  Sleep temporarily escaped me since it does take a little while to calm down from the frenetic pace of rallying, and way to soon the alarm announced it was time to get moving.  Coffee cup full, it was off to the capital of West Virginia - Charleston for a receipt.

At the pump next to me was a group of taxi driver's frantically trying to render aid to one of their passengers - a scantily clad lady who appeared to be either having a panic attack or maybe a little too much pharmaceutical fun.  Rather comical in a sad way as she was laid out on the back seat of a taxi breathing into a bag as the Three Stooges played paramedic.  I have no idea what the outcome was since we quickly rolled on.

Into every life some rain must fall is the old saying and today was not going to be an exception to that rule.  Rain started falling around daybreak and would be the theme for the remainder of the day.

Bonuses in honor of Hank Williams fell in quick succession enroute to Winchester, VA and a bell tower with a plaque honoring the legendary Patsy Cline.  It is now 1144 and we are 1200 miles into the rally.  Fredericksburg is not that far away now but the rain continues to slow our progress.

The Rainbow Road was the site of the filming of “Sweet Dreams” the story of the life of Patsy Cline.  Located in Rippon, WV, it had the appearance of a true honky tonk complete with a neon rainbow across the top of the building.  1215 and the clock is really starting to click down.

One more bonus stop - Cracker Barrel.  We had found one near the finish line and had to take a photograph sitting in one of the rocking chairs on the front porch along with a picture of our motorcycle with the Cracker Barrel in the background.  It’s now 1415 and sadly penalty points have started to accrue.

Finish Line!  2:25 and 1317 miles under the wheels.  Quickly gathering what is needed to complete scoring, I sat down and completed my tally sheet listing all 38 bonuses to be claimed.  Reviewing it before turning in my envelope for scoring I discovered I had left a bonus out and had to rewrite the entire thing!  More penalty points!  Anyway, I managed to turn my envelope in at 1519 incurring a total of 49 penalty points.

We hung around and waited to be scored.  Sitting down with the scorer, we quickly ran though the list without losing any more points.  You never know where you stand until the final tally is announced at the banquet.

Shower, quick nap, and then off the banquet for socializing, dinner and the awards ceremony.  The dinner was plentiful and delicious as we waited for the final announcement of awards.  A bit of a computer glitch delayed the announcement as Scott, the Rallymaster, tap danced a bit killing time.

Finally it was awards time.  As the top finishers were announced, I was surprised to hear my name called for 2nd Place among the Brunswick starters.  1829 points was my total score.  The winner from Brunswick - John Bailey - finished with 1847.   Penalty points had cost first place!

With only 3 hours sleep in the last 40 hours or so, bed and blissfull sleep soon claimed me.

Early alarm clocks are evil when you are tired, but home was still over 700 miles away.  Breakfast was gobbled, the bike loaded and homeway bound I soon was.  It was still spitting rain as I made my way to the interstate for the boring slog home.  Dense fog covered the hills of eastern Virginia slowing the pace a bit.  At one point, visibility dropped to virtually nothing as I crossed the mountains.  Near Bristol, VA the sun came out and the skies were bright and clear.  745.7 miles by the GPS and I made it in only 3 stops.  11 hours and 46 minutes total time to get home averaging 63.2 mph.

Tuesday would be a day of rest and maintenance before leaving for Texas to ride in the Big Tex Rally - another story in itself.


This is the route from home.....through the rally......and back home again.

2013 Cape Fear Rally and Annual Bike Wash

Cape Fear 2013

AKA 2013 Cape Fear Rally and Annual Bike Wash

Yes, another ride report.  I spend the time to create these not only to share with folks who might be interested, but just as importantly, to help my failing memory keep track of who, what, when, where, and how.  This was our seventh consecutive Cape Fear Rally and in all honesty, they start merging together.  If we've been to a bonus before, I remember that - but when is a totally mystery.  Anyway, on with the show.  

The fun and games this year would kick off in Union City, TN located in the northwestern part of the state just a stone's throw from the Kentucky border.  Weather in the Southeast in the springtime is always interesting to say the least.  The Weather Channel becomes omnipresent as rally time approaches.  This year didn't appear to break any molds as rain, storms, high winds, etc. were forecast for just about anywhere we might venture over the weekend.  

We made the ride up Thursday April 18th without incident having made our way to this part of the country many times.  Storm clouds were gathering as we arrived at the motel and we quickly unloaded and got the bike covered. We rested for a while and piddled around with our projected route.   Possible bonus locations were scattered over a 10 state radius from Pennsylvania to Georgia.  Dinner was at a nearby restaurant where the riders gathered to share stories, poke fun, and issue good natured challenges.  Just as we left, the rain started in earnest and continued well into the night as the front passed through.  Of course, the TV was glued to the Weather Channel!

The object of the game is simple.  Travel from your start location in Union City, TN to the finish line in Wilmington, NC in the allotted 29 hours and garner as many points as possible.  Failing to reach the finish in the allotted time means you have DNF'd or classified as Did Not Finish - not a good thing!  Of course, the further from a direct route the bonus is, the more points it is worth.  Lots of big point bonuses were located in places like Mobile, AL, near Cleveland, OH, north of Pittsburg, PA for example.  The only drawback to getting these big points in getting there and to the finish line in time.  They all turned out to be more miles than we wanted to tackle.  A more circuitous route was picked that would let us see lots of Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina.  

One of the priorities in our route selection was to avoid walking as much as possible.  Still in recovery from some recent Achilles Tendon surgery made hiking a no starter!  So every bonus we chose was based on the need to ride straight to the bonus without a hike.  Fewer points in some cases, but doable!  The planned route has us riding 1189 miles.  

We always tend to cajole and poke a fellow rider from Athens, GA with route selections.   Sometimes to see if he has a better solution, sometimes just to jerk each others chain a bit.  Regardless of this good natured banter, once the clock started it was game on and may the best rider finish higher!  We compared notes this time and he happened to like my solution better than his.  

Start time was 10:00 AM EST on the dot!  The odometer read 154493 and game on!  We absolutely, positively, had to be in Wilmington, NC by 3:00 PM EST the following day.  28 hours, 1189 miles meant we had to keep an overall average speed of 41 mph.  Easy since the first 600 miles or so were all interstate.  But wait....there is a monkey wrench.  There is a mandatory rest break that must be started between midnight and 6:00 AM.  4 hours minimum up to a maximum of 6 hours which garners the most points.  So, 6 hours of rest now means our average speed must be 51.6!  Still no problem since we have so much interstate riding at higher speeds.  

One of the wildcard bonuses was to document your visit to 4 public libraries along your route.  Since the nearest was less than 2 miles from the start, that became our first bonus stop.  The Orion County Public Library - which I think every rider from Wilmington grabbed on the way out of town.  



 Next on the agenda was a photo of a pyramid shaped tombstone in a cemetary in Nashville, TN.  Directions were pretty good so straight there we went.  We arrived at 12:35 PM with an odometer reading of 154673 .  180 miles down.  



Well, finding this grave wasn't quite as easy as we thought.  A huge cemetary with a maze of roads!  How hard can it be to find a tombstone shaped like a pyramid guarded by two sphinx statues?  Harder than we thought as we zigged and zagged sorta following a fellow rider.  We see him parked and off the bike so we pull in behind and jump off to start looking.  We spot it - a nice little hike away across semi-rough ground.  My foot started barking loudly immediately while Barbara stepped in a hole and face planted in the grass.  A photo opportunity missed!  But we found our bonus, took a photograph and somehow negotiated the maze back out of the graveyard.  I do dislike graveyard bonuses!

Next stop is Spring City, TN for a photo of a memorial to the children lost in a horrific school bus crash in the 50's.  We arrived at 3:18 PM with 154820 on the odometer. 327 miles down and we are still on schedule.  



Now it is a 300 mile slog across Tennessee into Virginia.  It is chilly and damp but no rain yet.  Heated gear is wonderful as we manage to stay mostly warm.  Our only stops so far are bonus and gas.  

The rally book warned us that in getting to our next bonus the GPS may route you along a dirt road.  It was absolutely correct!  Although we had yet to directly encounter any rain, we continued to see evidence of wet roads and standing puddles of water.  It is now dark as we turn off onto Buffalo Road headed to the Blue Mountain Church reported to be in Laurel Fork, VA.  Rough, wet muddy roads and 1000 lb Goldwings are not a match made in heaven.  We slipped and negotiated our way to this beautiful isolated mountain church.  Would love to have seen it in daylight, but we snapped a picture and negotiated the slippery parking lot.  

 

Time is 8:22 PM odometer reads 155121.  628 mile - almost halfway through and on perfect schedule at this point.  

Luckily we routed out of there without having to suffer the dirt road again.  Mountain roads in Virginia in the dark are never fun and tonight was no disappointment.  Still no rain which is a blessing.  Somewhere on the way out, we got behind a local pulling a trailer with a 4-wheeler on it.  He obviously knew the roads and was flying through the curves and switchbacks so we did the obvious thing and just fell in behind him.  He also made a very good deer catcher!

Somewhere around Danville, VA and 10:00 PMish, we caught the front that had been moving ahead of us all day.  Intermittent rain at first before settling into a steady drizzle.  Oh, the joy!  Since we both wear waterproof clothing it is simply a matter of hunkering down and making miles. 

Next stop is Halifax, VA for a photograph of a junkyard sculpture of a dinosaur in front of the library.  Expecting a T-Rex, instead we found this!



Disappointing!  But we did get a photograph of the library for our 2nd library.

Time is 11:08 and the odometer reads 155250.  757 miles in!

More mountain roads continued rain enroute to Alberta, VA for a picture of a plaque in memory of some fellow named Sonny Johnson.  Alberta is a very small ghost time at 12:41 AM.  We saw no other living beings anywhere and not a lot of anything else.  We grabbed the picture and took off with the odometer at 155326 - 833 miles in.  Now begins the real fun and games.  

It is time for our rest bonus which we have preplanned in Roanoke Rapids, NC.  My brain tells me to head east, hit I-95 south and get there fairly quickly.  All 3 of our GPS's had different ideas.  Well, it is dark, rainy, and we are starting to get a bit tired so we chose to follow the GPS.  HA HA f***ing HA!

Once we crossed I-95 where we should have turned south, and off on some circuitous route known only to the idiots at Garmin, the rain which had to this point been simply an annoyance grew to biblical proportions.  Not just rain, but horizontal rain coupled with wind gusts that would send you from one side of the road to the other.  And of course, curvy, hilly, 2-lanes!  Thank goodness there was little traffic.  What should have been a quick run to a nice warm motel room became an odyssey that Noah would have avoided.  
We started our rest bonus at 1:55 AM.  Now that we are so far behind schedule we chose to cut an hour off of the maximum of 6 in an attempt to regain some time.  4 hours and 55 minutes later we are back on the road at 6:50AM. 

The good news is the rain has stopped as we head for Seaboard, NC and a photo of a historical marker. 

Now a series of quick bonuses fairly close together.  

A photo of the Halifax Resolves monument. 


A bonus honoring Veterans.



The 4-H Club

Now off to Edenton, NC for two bonuses only a few feet apart.  Thank you Rallymaster!

First is a Civil War Trails Placard for the Battle of Albemarle Sound.



Followed by a photo of some cannons and chimneys!



Time is now 9:25 AM with the odometer at 155515.  We are at 1022 miles.  Even with the rain and rest stop we've managed over 1000 miles in 24 hours.  

Another cemetary is on the list in Roper, NC.  Thank goodness this is a small one!  We had to find the marker for Burl C. Swain.  



Chocowinity, NC and a Blue Painted Crab Statue. Time is 10:57 AM odometer is at 155586.   



Havelock, NC and a photo of an A-4 Skyhawk.  Time 11:49 AM odometer 155637 or 1144 miles.  



The clock is ticking down and we are watching our arrival time in Wilmington.  It's only 101 miles by the most direct route, but that isn't the route we are following.  Anyway, we keep a watchful eye on our arrival time since we are headed to the coastline.  It isn't a pretty day - cloudy and cool so our hopes are the beachgoers have stayed home alleviating the traffic problems. 

Now it's Moorhead City, NC and a picture of the Carolina Sounder monument.  The instruction are specific - photo must be taken from the water side looking face to face with the fisherman.  You gotta read the instructions since it would have been easy to snap a picture from the street and roll on out.  

  

12:29 PM and odometer is at 155659.  1166 miles.

Traffic is starting to pickup at we head to Swansboro, NC and a photo of CPT Otway Burns.  It's in a small park by the bridge.  Well, there are lots of bridges and we managed to go right past the "small park".  So now it's turn around in traffic and turn across traffic into the parking lot.  The clock is ticking!

We had two more small point bonuses that would have taken us directly along the coastline.  With traffic increasing and the clock ticking, we chose to skip the last two and head for the finish line.  

One final stop to pick up another wild card bonus which is a 6-pack of your favorite beverage.  Of course, stores are never on the same side of the road so we found one, crossed traffic and got our last bonus.  

We hit the finish line with about 20 minutes to spare.  Had we gone to the last two bonuses, I think we would have been late.  

Gathering everything necessary for scoring, we waited in line comparing notes with everyone.  Our friend from Athens managed to get the full 6 hour rest and grabbed the last two bonuses.  He had a great ride and the difference was he didn't listen to the Garmin bitch and hit I-95 enroute to the rest bonus.  You have to let common sense and your own internal compass override that voice from the Garmin bitch sometimes!

Scoring was painless.  One of our goals during the rallies is never leave points at the scoring table by properly documenting everything.  We left no points at the table.  

Loads of delicious BBQ at the banquet as usual.  Jim Bain, the Rallymaster welcomed us all the the 2013 Cape Fear Rally and Annual Bike Wash.  In seven consecutive Cape Fear Rally experiences, we have yet to complete one without rain.  Don't know how he manages to do it, but he does!  Sometimes it's just a light rain, other times involve tornado sirens, torrential downpours, and the famed storms of biblical proportions.  You never know!

We finished in 8th place which was just fine with us.  A good night's sleep was sure to follow.  Had we managed to ride the route as planned,  it would have been a tie for 3rd place. Oh well, there is always next year.     

We took our time leaving Wilmington and had a very pleasant ride towards home.  A stop for a big mid-day breakfast and painless transit through Atlanta made the ride easy.  

UNTIL Lincoln, Alabama - 93 miles from home.  We had been hearing a different sound over the last couple of days from the rear of the bike.  I had checked several times and could see nothing amiss.  Maybe just a brake pad slightly dragging.

When we stopped in Lincoln at a very nice Pilot for a potty break and cold drink, I noticed the rear brake didn't seem to have much stopping power as we exited the interstate.  Getting down to take a look, the entire rear of the bike and tire are covered in 90W oil and the final drive is hot to the touch!  Yes that is correct - a Honda Goldwing with a failed final drive.  After over 156,000 miles who would have thought it would break down!

Anyway, a call to my son at home got him on the way with my truck and trailer.  After 7 faithful years and loads of miles, the final result was to rest on a trailer for the very first time.  Oh the shame!


Postscript to the whole story!

I will admit that I have been suffering from NBF (New Bike Fever) for sometime now.  I've looked at, test rode, sat on, drooled over many different new motorcycles ranging from a big adventure bike such as the Yamaha Tenere, the Triumph Explorer or BMW GS to the new Yamaha FJR, The BMW K1600GTL, or the new Triumph sport tourer.  All have a certain appeal!

But, I have yet to find one will do everything the Honda Goldwing lets us do.  Unlimited accessories, tons of storage, comfort beyond anything else we've tried, and that good ole Honda reliability.  With that said........ this followed me home last weekend from Texas.  



2008 Honda Goldwing with lots of bells and whistles already in place and very low mileage.  The bike had 14,305 miles and was a one owner.  Barbara had already said no more red motorcycles so this fit the bill.  

Now I'm in the process of making this one our rally/touring bike.  Many accessories will direct swap, others will be replaced, and we'll reorganize and make this one even more efficient that the old one.  



Next adventure is in June.  We are headed to Salt Lake City, UT to participate in the final running of the Utah 1088.  Going to do a lot of flower sniffing on the way out through New Mexico and Colorado.   So stay tuned!