Cape Fear 1000 Ride Report

I wish I was reporting my 1st place trophy but alas we will have to suffice with my 1st place DNF (did not finish).  

My plan was an aggressive 1250 mile route that, according to my scoring estimate, would yield me a negative score. [Unlike other rallies where high score wins, this year's Cape Fear was low score wins.] My route required a 53 mph average over the 24 hours available for travel (subtracting rest stop). This would push my ability but I had some bailouts that I felt would still keep me in the less than 500 point range. I officially started the rally at 1108 Friday morning at by 2324 had bagged my last bonus for Friday (we had to have 5 each day). My schedule was on track with current trip average of ~56mph.

Next up was Christy's Mission in Del Rio, TN and thoughts of the three hour rest bonus was foremost in my mind. Christy's was a foreboding bonus. Deep in the Tennessee mountains, our beloved rally master, Jim Bain, had warned us of the ingress route. Departing the main road towards Del Rio I watched my trip average slowly sink and began to think of how I might need to adjust my route if and when the average moved below 52. I need not have worried.

Jim had said the last 1/10th of a mile to the cabin was a goat track and we should walk it. Before I realized it I was ON the goat track and I stopped to see if I could turn around. Since another bike was coming out I decided to push on rather than risk a turnaround. It was not bad at all and I quickly spied the cabin. It was 0115, slightly over plan but still okay. As I tried to position the bike to put down the kickstand it tipped over on it's right side! Being up against an embankment I couldn't get under it far enough to get upright it on my own. Just then 3 other riders show up and help me get it up. I then realized that the ignition key was only powering the accessories, there is no power to the bike proper! We check fuses and disconnect the battery in the hopes of resetting something but this bike is DEAD. I send my helpful compatriots on to finish their quest and I stay behind for there is nothing that can be done. I am officially out of this rally. There is no cell service in this "holler" and very little civilization—it truly is Tennessee mountain dark as Jim had promised.

There was a house about a 1/4 mile back but I'm sure not going to go knocking on a mountain man's front door at 0200 [interestingly I would later find out that I could have and should have]. I am bedding down here for the night and survey the decrepit old cabin as an IronButt motel. The mattress on the porch looks like good bottom insulation and the covered porch looks like good dew protection.
I roll out my bed mat and settle myself in for a fitful night. At 0500 a rider's bright flashlight awakens me so I arise to greet them. I wave as the light flashes in my direction. It is Miss Kitty (Nancy Oswald) and when she gets within earshot I hear, "Holy crap you scared me to death. All I could see was the reflection from your gloves and didn't have any idea who or what was up there". This should give you a clue as to the insanity of the endurance rallier—the lure of a hard to reach high value bonus exceeds the fear of harm or death. Since it was late enough I asked if she would call Jim Bain and have him contact my wife, Patty and let her know I was okay. I knew she would awake soon and see that my motorcycle had not moved (I have a SPoT satellite tracker).

Little did I realize that Jim wouldn't call her until after she had gone nuts. [This was my most major mistake. In my stressed out state it never occurred to me to send the "I'm stopped for the night." message which would have gone to her.]

Dawn arrives and I dawdle until I think it is late enough to stir up life on Chapel Hollow Road. I gently knock on the front door of the nearby house, don't see any life inside, and decide to walk on down the road. About a ½ mile further on I see a vehicle approach and flag it down, it is Larry Meyers, the owner of the nearby house. He graciously invites me into his home, makes coffee, and provides me with unlimited use of his phone for all of my needs. He and his daughter, Deanna (pronounced Dean-ah) live in this beautiful backwoods paradise. As it turns out Deanna was awake at 0200 and Larry said I should have come on down, I could have slept on the sofa (and called Patty)! What wonderful people. There truly is a silver lining in every cloud and the Meyer's were mine.

After many phone calls and arrangements I finally get the bike towed to the BMW dealer in Greenville, SC. It appears that the ignition switch failed. I will know for sure later. During the four hour drive to Greenville I was lucky enough to have the pleasant company of Craig and Kathy from Rocky Top, TN. They moonlight with a tow truck on weekends. Craig really wanted to take me all the way to Raleigh but it was not his truck. What great folks.

I rode the bus from Greenville to Raleigh and when the bike is repaired will go back for it. More to come on its status.

UPDATE: Never, I repeat, NEVER wire headlights without a relay. It turns out I had all of my electrical accessories running through the ignition switch. Needless to say it burned up. Of course, this crap never happens at home but on a "Tennessee mountain dark" location.

Some folks I need to recognize for their support and contributions:

• The great guys (sorry I didn't get names) that helped my upright my bike at Christy's and stuck around to try to help it get power.
• Miss Kitty, for contacting Jim Bain and letting him know I was broke down.
• Larry Meyers (the owner of Christy's Mission) and his daughter Deanna, who graciously took me into their home and reinforced my belief in human nature. [He called me at home to make sure I had arrived safely.]
• Sal Terranova and his riding partner came along just after Larry had taken me into his cabin. Sal found my bike but no rider and spent a lot of time marshaling a search party and searching for me. My apologies to him for not leaving a note and my great appreciation that he was worried about me.
• Jim Bain for a couple of reasons; 1) finding my emergency contact information and calling my wife (even if it was 2 hours after she had already been calling law enforcement in 2 states and 1 county ). 2) Sending us to Christy's (a great location) with the admonition that this is 'Tennessee mountain dark' and the road is a goat track (even if he did omit the admonition that this is Black Bear country and one should NOT spend the night on the front porch of the cabin. [Craig, pointed out to me that there were lots of signs of bear (slides down to the creek, bear poop on the rocks). He said, "It was good it was a dark night and you are hard of hearing because I suspect you were surrounded by bear. But they don't usually bother you unless you are carrying food." When I asked Larry about it his reply in a heavy Tennessee accent was; Oh ya, thar's baarr out here but they don't bother you none. Well, I did have a dawg go missin' last month.]
• The CapeFear Rally Krewe, for supporting us riders in our insane quest for recognition and glory.
• Patty Langford (last but far from least) who, even after panicking upon waking at 0600 and seeing that my bike hadn't moved in 5 hours, still managed to support me in getting a tow and travel arrangements home. It is amazing that she still loves me in spite of my LD hobby.