Thursday, May 1, 2014

Cape Fear 2014 - The Dry One!

Cape Fear 2014

Another one is in the books.  It seems repetitive to say that after finishing our 8th consecutive Cape Fear Rally, but each rally brings something new to the table each and every time we participate.  So, 2014 brought lots of new and some of the same old, same old!

One thing we have always been able to count on with Cape Fear is the virtual guarantee that we will get rained upon, sometimes of biblical proportions while other times just the annoyance of having to ride in the dark and in the rain.  In seven previous rides, we ALWAYS have had rain at some level.  We were so disappointed when this year we failed to get our traditional dose of rain.  The weather was glorious…..sunny, clear, and warm.  Disappointed hell….it was fantastic!

Our start location this year was in Dyersburg, TN.  Others had the choice of starting in Crystal River, FL or Naples, NY.  Dyersburg was the logical choice for us so on Thursday we cruised up through North Alabama and Tennessee picking up a few Big Money Rally bonuses enroute.  

Our friend and riding companion, David Clark, was already at the motel when we arrived and after lots of discussion about which way do we go, we settled on a route that would push us beyond any prior accomplishment while at the same time garnering lots of points.  Our choices looked like this with red flags and squares high point values.  We settled on going south after seeing some nasty weather to the north. 



Seems counterintuitive to go from Dyersburg, TN to Mobile, AL to get to Wilmington, NC but that's where the points led us.  The projection was somewhere in the neighborhood of 1350 miles. 

The plan was to avoid Dothan, AL as it added more miles than we thought we could accomplish and take full advantage of the six hour rest bonus and lots of points that go along with it.  Remember this.....it will come back a bit later. 

With plan firmly in place, we had dinner with some of the other riders and settled in for a not so restful night anticipating what was coming the next couple of days.  Sometime during the night a vicious thunderstorm blew through Dyersburg, but Friday dawned crystal clear.  

To add a bit of a twist to the start sequence this year, you first had to get a starting receipt between 0950 and 1010 EST, text the appropriate starting information to the rallymaster, and then take a photo of Gen Strahl's Cannon located in a nearby cemetery.  Getting the sequence right was critical!

Our start receipt read 0958 EST, the right information was texted to the Rallymaster and off to the races we went.  The cemetery was less than 1/4 mile from our start so it was a cluster of folks trying to get the picture and on the road.  



Our next stop was Coffeeville, MS but first we had to navigate through Memphis.  There was a train of motorcycles all headed south as we successfully made it through without any issues.  

In Coffeeville, MS we had to locate a sign welcoming you to Coffeeville High School and to read the sign to determine what year the sign was donated.  We arrived at 12:51 PM and didn't even stop since Barbara read the sign and noted the correct information.  The train of riders thinned at this point since many had to stop and record the information.  Sometimes there is a benefit to having your scribe riding in the backseat!

Due south through Mississippi we went,  headed for the bustling community of SoSo.  Once in SoSo, we quickly found the SoSo Fire Department and took a picture of the sign as required.  Time is now 3:59 PM and we are 360 miles into our route.  We actually are 20 minutes ahead of schedule at this point.



Next stop is Mobile, AL for a picture of the entrance to Battleship Park.  We didn't plan to go through Bankhead Tunnel, but a missed turn forced us that direction.  My fault.....I knew better.  Traffic slowed as we merged onto I-10 but kept moving through the tunnel and out to the Battleship.  Arrival time 6:25 PM EST or 5:25 local - yeah rush hour!  We're now 34 minutes ahead of schedule and 492 miles under our belts. 



I-10 towards Pensacola is always a boring ride and we weren't disappointed.  We turned north at Crestview.  While sitting at a stoplight enroute to our next bonus, David pulls up alongside us and says that we have time and the he is going to Dothan for the 2010 point bonus located there.  His rationale was that we were ahead of schedule and would arrive at our scheduled rest bonus and have to wait to start our rest period.  Rest bonus couldn't start until 1201 AM.  We had discussed this at length the day before and decided to not add that bonus into our list.  My cheerleader on the back seat is all excited and encourages me to go for it.  Awwwhhhh hell, you can't win without going for the gusto so off we went.  This just added 42 miles into an already crunched schedule.  

A quick stop in Laurel Hill, FL for a photo of the sign in front of City Hall.  607 miles under our belts and 8:06PM.  We are 50 minutes ahead of schedule so maybe the Dothan thing will work out.  




Darkness is soon upon us as we go across country to Dothan.  We arrived at the bonus at 9:46PM.  It was a cool mural and a historical marker for Johnny Mack Brown.  Never heard of him before, but now we have.  My SPOT tracker was showing a low battery so we took a few frustrating minutes getting that changed while David took off and said he'd see us at the next bonus. 


We left Dothan on 231 headed due south back into Florida.  Dark country roads that probably would be a great ride in the daylight become dark tunnels of trees, sometimes turning into a canopy overhead.  

In Bristol, we had to find the Ranger Station and take a photo of the sign for the Apalachicola National Forest.  It was truly dark!



We were there at 11:13 PM and 760 miles into the rally.  Our original plan had us arriving at 10:48 so adding Dothan had cost us some time.  We had one more bonus to capture before taking our rest bonus in Thomasville, GA.  Off we go into the darkness once again. 

Jackie Robinson was born in Rocky Hill, GA and our bonus was to take a photo of the historical marker noting his birthplace location.  The HHM is in the middle of nowhere and when Jackie was born it really must have been nowhere!  We arrived at 12:21 AM.  We should have started our rest bonus 20 minutes before, but we still have to make the 20 odd miles or so into Thomasville.  We are 819 miles into the rally at this point.  



David has already arrived at the motel so we managed to start our rest bonus at 12:53 AM and after quickly doing some math, realized we had to cut the full 6 hour rest bonus down in order to make it to Wilmington before the 3:00 PM cutoff.  So we ended up with a rest bonus of 5 hours and 20 minutes.  Adding in the Dothan bonus and cutting our rest break netted us a grand total of 10 points and added 40 miles or so.  

We pulled out after the rest bonus at 6:13AM.   We have two bonuses left on the morning schedule before heading straight to the finish line.  GPS calculations say we would arrive with about 10 minutes to spare, but that doesn't include any stops for bonuses or gas or traffic or ???.  It's gonna be close!

As soon as we left the town of Thomasville, the world become engulfed in a thick fog.  It was so thick that water peeled off the windshield like it was raining and visibility sank to virtually nothing at times or as I measure it 3 white center lines.  We quickly lost David's taillight in the fog as we carefully negotiated the pea soup.  

In Moultrie, GA is a memorial to The Greatest Generation.  We had to have a photo with both of us sitting on a park bench with one of the Greatest Generation next to us.  We arrived at 6:47AM and luckily had caught David who snapped our photo.  It took several attempts since the fog was so thick the flash on the camera reflected and made the photo hard to see.  

It was a pretty cool bonus which I would preferred to see in daylight.  



One more bonus in Screven, GA was on the list and luckily as the sun came up it burned the fog off.  

We didn't know that there was a Quilting Trail but there obviously is from the photo.  Arrival was 8:53AM and 997 miles are under the wheels.

  

It is 387 miles to Wilmington and we have exactly 6 hours and 5 minutes to make it before being disqualified.  The GPS again says we'll have about 10 minutes to spare, but we have to stop for gas once and hope that the bladder doesn't scream stop again.  

I-95 through Savannah GA and then north was the route.  Traffic was very thin on the southbound side, but not northbound.  Bumper to bumper in both lanes with speeds going from slow to fast.  Why do people tend to get in the left lane and poke along?  Is there something in their DNA that prevents them from driving in the right lane?  Don't they see the line of traffic backing up behind them as the travel 1-5 miles per hour under the speed limit?  And don't even get me started on RV's and 18 wheelers that pass the vehicle ahead of them 1 mph faster.  Arrrrrggghh!  We are watching the clock tick down and getting more frustrated by the minute.  

During our one gas stop, luck would have it that there was a line for the bathroom so the clock ticked some more.  Full of gas and empty of bladder, the final push began.  Traffic thinned a bit and we were able to bump up the speed a little and make up some time.   Once we turned off I-95 for the final 100 miles into Wilmington, we could see we had it made and relaxed a bit.  

Last stop before the finish line was for a six pack of our favorite beverage.  We dashed in and out and crossed the finish line with a grand total of 19 minutes to spare.  

We had covered 1,384 miles in a bit less than 23 hours and 30 minutes!

Paperwork was quickly finished and we sat down for scoring.  No points were lost at scoring and our final tally was as predicted.  Showers, a couple of well earned adult beverages, and some tire kicking while we waited for the start of the banquet and announcement of final standings.  David has us beat in points due to the longer rest bonus he was able to take.  

Our names were called for a 3rd place finish with David finishing 2nd.  

In 2007, when we first participated in Cape Fear we finished 68th.  The subsequent six years saw finishes between 8th and 12th place so it was time for a top 3 finish.  

Rather than simply slog 600 odd miles home on Sunday we wandered around through South Carolina and North Carolina picking up some more Big Money Rally bonuses.   We got to see some beautiful scenery totally avoiding riding 
interstates.  

After a full meal in Johnson City, TN we crashed for the night at a highly recommended Red Roof Inn.  While we normally don't stay at this chain, if you are ever in Johnson City, this is one to pick for your stay.  Remodeled completely, very reasonable $55.00 a night rates, and a gracious staff made it a pleasant stay.  

Sunday night we turned the TV on for the first time since Thursday and watched the news about the tornado damage in Arkansas and the dire forecast for Monday through Alabama and Tennessee.  We had planned to go west for BMR bonuses, but once we hit Knoxville, we looked at the radar and decided to head for the house.  

We pulled in around 4 Monday afternoon without a raindrop.  

The route looked like:



The Aftermath!

As we got ready for bed Monday night, the legendary local weatherman James Spann was broadcasting full time watching the line of storms cross Mississippi and Alabama.  Everything appeared to be north of us, so we climbed into bed for what we hoped would be a peaceful night.  That quickly turned out to not be the case.  

Tornado's were popping up all around us!  The power failed so we watched the weather on my phone as thunder and lightning shook the house.  Reports had a tornado on the ground just west of our house when we lost cell coverage also.  It got real quiet and remained that way so the only option was to go on to sleep.  Power was restored sometime early in the morning but no cell coverage or TV and internet.  We had no idea of what had transpired during the night. 

I got in the truck and headed to a friend's house about 3 miles away to check on them.  The tornado had passed between us as evidenced by the trees down and damaged houses along the way.  Once at Gary's house, we realized the path of the tornado had gone less than 1/4 mile from his house.   This one followed the same path of the deadly tornado of 2000 when 13 people were killed.   Sketchy reports as I write this report one fatality in Tuscaloosa where a retaining wall fell on a house.  

Luck was with us!  We're safe with no damage.  A couple of quiet weeks and then we're off to Missouri and the Ozarks for a flower sniffing ride. 

2014 Spot Tracks look like this.  We've covered a couple of miles so far this year!  These trips include the 50CC, Cape Fear, and of course wandering around for Big Money Rally bonuses.