Day 7

I am sorry it has taken a few days to write this. So much has transpired in the past few days alone that I feel I have been gone for a month. Some of it I am comfortable writing about and some I am not, as it affects other people and I feel discretion is in order. I will share what I can, and that by itself is plenty, without affecting others negatively. The one thing that happens on these rally?s is significant bonding. It?s almost like Stockholm Syndrome where semi normal (nobody is really normal) people let loose and do things that otherwise they would never do. When the rally ends , people turn back into pumpkins and should not be judged for seemingly aberrant behavior over a week, but rather their behavior over an extended period of time. It is somewhat like having an alter ego for many where they can let go of their daily frustrations and just let loose. For example, most people who do not know me well do not have any clue I own the cars I do and I try to make an conscious effort to keep it that way. Most people could not understand the need for such excess, and I admit I have had to reexamine the excess myself periodically, when so many people had so little in comparison. I then go on the rally?s which I could not do without such vehicles, and it reinforces the fact that such events are not about cars or flaunting wealth, but rather are the common denominator for such a wide range of eclectic people.  I personally can not see any other type of event putting together such a wide range of people in one place in one place. From Billionaires, Trust Fund Babies, stock promoters to eccentric Entrepreneurs, to models, actresses, con artists, porn producers, CEO?s of Nasdaq companies,  poseurs who are all talk and no game, adrenaline junkies how can rattle off every statistic about every exotic car without even thinking, certified geniuses, these eccentric people in these events run the full gambit.

 There is nothing like hiding in the bushes in the middle of a cemetery for two hours to avoid arrest as a bonding event between the CEO of one of the most significant exotic car tuners in the country with the editor of one of the top auto magazines in the world, with the wife of a fund manager to bond otherwise very different people, that probably would not ever get together normally under any circumstance, let alone break the law. Or maybe the scenario of a film actress running with us on a whim to South Beach for a couple days on a whim after very little interaction (would could have been raving lunatics), combined with a race car driver and track tester for Lotus, combined with the son of the CEO of Ralph Lauren, combined with a 17 year old aspiring professional photographer, who  skipped a week of school (with his parents permission) so he can pursue his dream of working in the auto and photography industry . It?s a crazy dynamic, and one that is hard to explain and articulate. You need to be there to understand. I have in the past, and currently made life long friendships as a result of these events and if the price if admission is a quarter of a million dollar car, it is still a no brainer from my perspective. It takes a special type of person to do what it takes to even get to the starting line, and with few exceptions, they are all great people of substance in one way or the other.

On a separate note, I appreciate the feedback from all my friends and family who get these emails or read about it on the web-site. This all started with a very small email list back in 2004 when I did the Gumball 3000 in Europe and has grown to a significant point, where we have a full fledged web-site with a fan base, chase vehicles, back up cars,  a race semi with full garage, professional editors for the video footage,  professional photographers etc. Darkcyd Racing which started out as just Tara and I has grown now to a 7 car team, and there is tons of logistics associated with it. It honestly feels like running a small company and it is tons of work and sometimes frustrating, and overwhelming.  I do it because I love it and for no other reason. Tara often says I am too hardcore about it, since I am so anal retentive about everyone on my team having a good time,  and making sure every little problem is rectified somehow. Few people even if they have the financial means could possibly do such an event, and my payment for all the work is the feedback  I get from people so they can live out such an experience vicariously through us. I know some people are waiting for that email to hit their box which  before they start their day because they tell me so, and that is why with the exception of the last day I stayed up to 4:30 in the morning writing it up. I don?t think most people would do that if you paid them. That is also why, I want to reiterate I am aware of how bad the grammar and punctuation is. When all I can think of is sleep and have only a couple hours to sleep before the next stage, I have no time or desire to spell check or grammar check what I write. Each email usually takes at minimum of one hour to write, because I have to think about all the events that have transpired, and do my best to get them down on paper in a semi cohesive manner. It also gives the reader an idea of how tough the event can be,  by seeing how tired I actually am at some points. So for those that cringe when reading the emails from a grammar perspective, I apologize but it will probably not change. My wife was en English teacher, so nobody cringes more than her, but as a person who does these rallies with me, she understands and it stunned I have any energy to write at all. If she can put up with it, so can the reader.

So we left off at the Ritz Carton in Miami, after a crazy nite at the Versace mansion where all kinds of fun filled events occurred. The next morning I was stunned to find out Patrick never returned to the room because sometime in the night he got decked and robbed while I was near the Darkcyd Race Semi, that had to be parked by the convention center because of its size. He was robbed of all his money but they left the wallet, and a nice mark on his nose. He woke up on the ground, when someone asked if he was ok about an hour before we launched. I quickly asked if he was ok to drive, and his response was all that really hurt was his bruised ego. So I gave him some cash and we headed out for the launch.

After such a fun nite it was determined that since this was a short stint I let Adrian my best friend from college go with Tara in the Darkcyd Murci since he had not driven in the car yet. Alex and Danyell had to leave the rally early and we said goodbye to them the night before. I was to do the Key west Leg with Gauthem, and his lovely wife Karen from Montreal would go with Tara so they two pretty girls could roll into the finish line in the Lambo in style. The first checkpoint was Clause Etensberger new Multi million dollar Tuning facility in coral Gables, coincidentally just blocks from my High School coral Gables Gables Senior high. Minutes before the launch I realized I myself did not have a ride since there was a camera man in the Darklcyd Navi. So running around to quickly find a ride, I grabbed a ride in the Newly indoctrinated and  honorary Darkcyd M6 driven by Frakie?s boys Stevie and Mattie, with Lynn Frankie?s fiancée in the back seat, who was the same Lynn who jumped in the pool with our two Brits Sean and Paul whom are collectively referred to as SEAN PAUL. We launched and I think most people just cruised to the shop since this was not really a stage. While, we were checking out clause?s new place, cars were being positioned for what was truly the last leg of the race. I did a little recon and knew determined what the last hotel was but also learned that the final checkpoint was somewhere else. Knowing Miami like the back of my hand, I informed the rest of the Darkcyd team that few people would be aware of . When the entrance to Key West starts there is a parallel road right at the entrance called Card sound road. If you do not choose it right at the end of homestead you will miss it, and although it is about 10 miles longer, it is much faster due to few tourists knowing about it. I informed everyone that this was the key to a good place and the other strategic maneuver was considered controversial.. because of our location , I personally choose to take Old Cutler which was right where clausse?s shop was to 152^nd, take 152^nd direct to the Turnpike, and the turnpike to the entrance for Key Largo, where Gauthem and I running in the 612 Scaglietti, would save many miles although it was technically a slower. Road. The key to this, was pushing hard and if done properly was certainly faster based on traffic and police that were aware of the final stage. A corral gables police officer was also working on a Police escort to control the Mayhem that was about to be unleashed.

I did not care about the escort and preferred my route. So while we were getting ready to launch it was curies to notice Team Reike had their CL65 pointed in the wrong direction, and we would learn why in a about 2 hours. They intentionally told Bill Wu who is about as competitive as they come not to follow them , and he eventually learned why the hard way. I was also pleased to have an old high school buddy Dake Schwarte visit us before the launch to check out the cars and see the action. It?s great seeing people you don?t normally see for years, and even though he is the CEO of a newly formed company in the medical conference profession, he lied to his boss about going to the post office to see us. I get that just reinforces the point that everybody answers to somebody.

So the time comes and Dave starts throwing out route cards from the balcony. And racers bolt on foot almost a block to reach their cars why the cop tries to block traffic to prevent the Minimize the body count. The Darkcyd Navi was one of the first out of the gate, and Gauthem and I got a bad exit position and made our way to a old cutler road. The girls in the Darkcyd Lambo got a terrible exit position and although my phone was going nuts with Text Messages , including Patrick who left ahead of us to do a bear check., Clausse was curiously silent. Although we had a fiar amount of traffic, I was convinced , my route was a good one even though I was told by Dake ?Your Fucked?. We made Card sound road in good time and that is when I realized Gauthem was not quite acclimated to rally mode. As this was his first rally, he was  a little conservative and I kept saying ?push push? until my new indian friend looked over at me quite sternly and in his best APU voice said ? I AM THE CEO OF A NASDAQ COMAPANY AND CANNOT PUSH ANY FURTHER?, he also said I must not realize the smooth ride of the Scag as this  Ferrari is often referred to since we were doing 130 according to him. I simply responded that I would shut up now and did. It was also about this time I received a text from Clausse wanting to know where we were at and since only I knew about our secret route, I responded ?I?m not telling you silly German?. Little did I know he had a secret too. We still made ok time, and by the time we reached Key Largo the rally was decided. From Key Largo on there was literally 22 police cars between the first Key and our checkpoint in Marathon. There were no positions to pick up other then our own Darkcyd DTM and the Bullrun RV. We thought we were assured a strong top ten finish and learned the NAVI came in thrit. Within our arrival 5 minutes later our position was relegated to 20^th. It was at this point we learned the interesting news. The Reicke Team charted a cargo plane and literally raced to Opalocka airport to lad the cars and fly them over. Bill wu who never listens, did follow them to the airport only to realize he was screwed and hearing a Chinese man shout obscenities over the Cb is a funny site. Clausse who had his own secret charted a helicopter to the checkpoint and my Mexican friend Joachim was the actual driver of the Porsche Cayenne to the checkpoint. I noticed the helicopter along side us but simply assumed it was a film chopper only.  So officially or unofficially depending how you view it , the Darkcyd Navigator claims victory on a stage once again. This being the most competitive stage of the 07 rally is quite an accomplishment, so Kudos to Geoff and Aaron.

We then all took boat rides while we waited for a police escort to Key West. I decided to run the last stage with the boys in the Navi since that car simply does not get the respect it deserves. When we arrived to Key west people ran out of there cars just like the ,movie to clock in first just like in the movie in Cannonball run, and me knowing this was really just for show, I ran for something different. I ran to the Haagen Dazs and demanded the girl serve me NOW as I was in a race and had no time to waste. She then started asking me al these questions like I was trying to option out a new car just to get ice cream. I simply yelled get me fucking chocolate with  two scoops and you decide how to do it. Just get it done now! She quickly geared up in rally mode as I through a 100 on the counter and race out to catch the Navi. I gave Geoff his cone and started attacking mine in the back as I was driven just like in a limo to arrive at the final checkpoint in proper style. On the way a lady ran after me who realized we were in the rally, and said she knew I would need napkins and threw them in the window. Thanks to her the Leather will not have to be treated-lol

So the rally ended as we rolled to the checkpoint having the times of out lives. I smashed the balance of my cone in Adrians face and then proceeded to walk back to the Hagan Dazs to get more and add a milkshake. This time the boyfriend manager was there and was not so amused that I was back and made a point of kissing the girl in front of me as if I was trying to steal her away. I thought this funny and commented how unprofessional his conduct was and he soon left in frustration. I don?t think he need to worry since his girlfriend was about 16 and I m no pedo, and happily married to boot.

We then teams and fans rummaged about at the southern most point in the united States and recounted the many stories over the event. I saw Tanake and my favorite Japanese Camrea man who worked for a magazine and trashed Gothem ?s Porche and informed them of the GPS alert I learned about from Noah one of the owners and how he could not believe all the alerts he was getting. Tonaka face went from happy asian man to worried Jap man, and this may be the reason they never returned the car and simply abandoned it at the airport. I feel for both parties and the poor Japanse guys first had tire issues, then had the car impounded , then got arrested , then had a brake failure issue. I did get a great picture with Tonaka and Koshi giving the camera man the bird as he shouts Fuck AMERICA!.  He was simply fed up.

The whole crew later drove the hotel for the great final party. It was a blow out and fun was had by everyone. We then went to the party on duval street which was just for us, and Gauthem showed us his famous dance moves which resemble the Elaine dance on Seinfeld. I love it and cannot get the image out of my mind , with him commenting the whole time that he knows what a good dancer he is.  Tara whom did not want to go to bed since she was pumped on adrenaline, after all the pressure of the rally, could finally let loose. She insisted I stay with her while everbody chatted by the pool till 4 in the morning. I fell asleep on the pool chair, while Sean and Geoff decided the pool was too fun to be without and had everyone jump in again. I have much more to write about what happened after the party , as we decided to head back to South Beach for our own blow out party, but I will save that for tomorrow night.  More more info about the 2007 Bull run rally and previous write ups please visit www.darkcydracing.com

Cheers,

Robb

PostRally

So we left off after a long night ending at about 5AM for us with half the Darkcyd crew in the pool, some with too much clothing, some with too little. As I reflect , I guess they were wound up from a long night that even included Geoeff (who we now call (G-OFF) and Sean (our silly half off the SEANPAUL clan)  an honorary Darkcyd member breaking up a fight by jumping a fence where some poor slob was being pummeled to the ground and getting his head stomped in on Duval street. Thanks to our guys, this drunk avoided brain injury I'm sure. Alcohol just makes people so stupid, and yet people wonder why I don't drink-Ha!

 

So the next morning after only about 3 hours sleep I had a massage set up by the pool for me and half the Darkcyd crew which probably pissed off some others since I booked all the slots, as soon as I learned what hotel we were staying at. Proactivity pays off once again. The massage was good but the view around the pool was better. Anyway, since this is being Key West instead of just going back to my room and changing into clothes , I just went to breakfast in my robe to meet the rest of the Gang. Everyone was just recounting countless tales and figuring out the game plan. We were planning to chill for another day in Key west but Frankie had a better idea. Key west is nice but a little to slow. South Beach is better-much better and more our style. So we canceled plans and I worked the phones for rooms at the last minute, which I quickly determined was almost impossible. So I do the next smartest thing, and called my good pal Willy who lives on south Beach and gets us the hookup on some rooms right on Ocean which is completely booked. That works and as I text him the number of rooms we need, we get a visitor at the table which is Lexie from Bullrun. I admit I did not like this girl much at first because when I was dealing with all the problems with trying to get my cars across the border before the rally started , and both Grace and Chris at Bullrun were busting their ass trying to get me letters for customs, and official documents, she was just screwing around. If she had worked for me I would probably have fired her on the spot. She did redeemed herself at the last minute when she apparently was the only one to get the printer working when I needed the documents, so clearly she was not entirely useless. She also redeemed herself in Staunton Virginia,  the place where I expect there to be a BullRun reunion in a little less than 9 months and made herself quite popular with everyone when her and Grace did an amazing show in police uniforms for everyone at the club. That and the British accent are strong redeeming qualities for me-lol. So on a whim I invited her to join us, while we were figuring out the game plan. We also got her flipping out by saying her show was already on You Tube, which was not true (at least to my knowledge).

 

Meanwhile, Sean and I were making plans to switch it up a bit, and since he is a proper race car driver and test track driver for Lotus, I wanted to see what the Murci could do. So the plan was to load one of the now infamous Crossfires ( the insurance company is probably calling the police after seeing the video on You Tube, which won't work since our two Brits are now several thousand miles across the pond) that had a demolition derby contest the night before, on the Darkcyd Race Semi. The Darkcyd crew would run back to South Beach in a caravan and once on Card Sound road it was Everyman for himself.

 

We cruised in a convoy and I'm sure was a pretty cool site since people we passed kept giving us a thumbs up, except for the few police cars we saw. I was making fun of Sean who kept asking me if there was a problem with third gear since he grinded it so frequently. My responce was yea user error, and he just laughed and said not to talk when he was shifting because he had to concentrate. Pretty funny for a race car driver. To be fair he is used to right Hand drive,  so he was not completely at fault. but also joked when I said to him he says "Yea alot", he joked I said "Eh alot"and then we had some funny private conversations where we just looked at each other and just said "Yeeaaaaaaaaaaaaa when we agreed", you had to be there to get the joke.

 

Anyway we hit Card Sound road and it was off to the races. The Darkcyd 430 and the other cars simply had no chance with the Darkcyd Murci in full Evil mode and Sean the Mad Brit Race Car driver who had been dropped on his head one too many times as a child, behind the wheel. Posting speed numbers numbers is ill advised, but our GPS verified numbers that would have expected us to fly.  Lets just say it got so bad that Sean for no reason blurted out that if we crashed now we would die for sure, and I simply responded, "well I'm actually little scared" and the bloddy Brit just keeps going, and later commented he thought that's what I wanted. O boy-bloody wars.

 

Since we made such good time and Sean had never been to America before, I decided to take us down Old Cutler road to show him the Multi Million dollars houses, and we made a stop into Gables Estates which is about as exclusive as it gets for Miami. There is a Guard gate and they won't let people in , but as the Murci rolled in all stickered up with Sean behind the wheel, I simply said he was a football star with Manchester United and was looking for some real estate, with him going "Yeaaaaaaaaaa -in a strong britsh accent, and poof-the gate opens. I showed him the famous Wackenhut house which is probably worth about $35 Million, got a nice picture of him in front with the Murci and he is checking with his accountant on an offer.

 

By the time we got to downtown there was some Haitian Festival going at the Miami Heat Arena and traffic was backed up for Miles. It took 20 minutes just to get to Bayside. from Brickell Ave. Tara, Adrian, Lexie, and Aaron were ahead in the Darkcyd Navi, and from the intel I learned I was glad to not be in there car. They had their own festival with 80's music with Tara and Lexie as the lead performers trying out for American Idol, Adrian breakdancing in the car, and Aaron throwing out fake dollar bills to the crowd as many of the thousand of people walking to the festival ran for the money too soon learn it was only paper money.  I surprised they didn't get jacked.

 

I commented to Sean that I was concerned we were going to get jacked in such an expensive car in a rough neighborhood, he looked at me and commented somewhat truthfully "bloddy Hell-where would they go". I also got a snap of a girl with the largest butt in history, and she must have been the inspriation for the sonf Baby got Back, because the darkcyd Navi also claimed they saw the same girl. she was quite poular at the festvial fromwhat I could gather.

 

 

We arrived on Ocean and had only a few minutes for the crew to quickly change and meet Gauthem and his wife at Nemo's one of the best seafood restaurants on South Beach. When we got there they and Peter and his lovely wife Petra already had a great table for us outside, and I got to meet Gauthems father who must have thought all of us were nuts. The gods must have thoughts the same, and it started pouring rain , so we ran inside. Dinner was spectacular, the bill even more so,  and we all could not stop joking about everything, including the fact that there was a pool inside the courtyard of the restaurant that was too close for comfort for me, since Sean is strongly attracted to water. We all got a picture by the pool, I cannot believe nobody went in , but this is when it really started to get crazy.

 

Keep in mind that normal people sometimes go a little crazy and you should judge them by their behavior as a whole rather than a night or a week.I repeat this to drive home the point.  Anyway's, certain individuals wanted to go to the Hustler store on Collins, and boy did that lead to trouble. First off we Packed the Darkcyd Navi with 12 people reminiscent of how many clowns you could fit in a VW bug from the 70's with Mattie the enforcer driving after a quick Chinese fire drill because I was concerned of getting pulled over. He than guarded the car as a good body guard should, while almost the whole Darkcyd Crew minus our resident German, Turk, and honorary members from Montreal Gauthem and Karen parted early having no idea what they saved themselves from.(which was probably a good thing for them).

 

I demanded a repeat show of the Police uniforms from Staunton and after a little coaxing, the girls obliged and the entire Darkcyd crew was outfitted like only a picture could describe, and which will probably never be seen -lol. Adrian took the cake with a Pimp Hat, Boa , and robe, but even our resident 17 year old photographer got a Baseball cap with the words HUSTLER on it (I'm sure his parents would be proud). It was really just all in good fun and the most shocking things was it took two hours for everyone too get outfitted.

 

We then rolled like only the Darkcyd Posse could, to Mamba's on Ocean Drive where we were stars of the show and had the best tables in the house to watch the girls dance. We even got our 17 year old photographer in (no he was not allowed to drink), and fun was had by everyone as I handcuffed Lexie and Tara as they danced. Yes they came off later, and no nothing happened.

 

Before we knew it was almost 4AM and some could not last while others made one last stop to the diner on Collins for an early breakfast. Sean never heard of grits and needed an education, I personally needed a vacation, and the rest of the crew needed reeducation. It was a funny site regardless and at just before 6AM we officially called it a night. Although some minimal level of discretion is in order about this night I want to reiterate nothing really naughty happenned, so nothing to worry about. Although Sean and I did look at each other more than once and simply said "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa.".

 

The next morning, the girls went shopping, Frankie and I got another massage, and the rest of the crew went home. Aaron forgetting his was no longer on Bullrun almost got arrested for speeding in the Darkcyd Jag on the way home, and I was both spooked and mad at him for such stupidity while he texted me his concerns as the police figured out what they wanted to do, also forgetting the valentine 1 was in the glove box which if he found it would have saved him a lot of grief, and although it was one of the best weeks of my life, the event ended on a sour note for me. An important Darkcyd member Bart Colson, who had to drop out of the event at the last minute because of his father, informed me of his fathers passing on the last day of our adventure. I met his father who loved racing and even did race school with me and Bart at Bob Bonduarant. This was a man who lived life to the fullest, built an empire from nothing, and somebody I know was quite special and respected to the fullest. My heart goes out to him and his family for their significant loss.

 

Last I wanted to select a few people to thank to make this adventure possible. I know I am forgetting many people but here goes small list. Jimmy Lowry for one- for handling all the car prep, Linda and Patrick in the Darkcyd race Semi without which I would not have had a spare car and been able to fix the Murci on a moments notice, Ben at Wheels Boutique who got me the spares I needed, Bill at Lincoln for prepping the Darkcyd Chase, and handling arrangements in Vermont though we didn't end up using it. Big thanks to Rob Ferreti and Steve at Milano motors for getting the Murci fixed in 48 hours when others said it simply could not be done, Grace and Chris at Bullrun, who handled every single request of ours with top priorityand without complaint, making the event the best I have been on. to the expanded Darkcyd Team which now includes honorary members Frankie and Lynn in the Darkcyd 430, Seivie and Mattie (the enforcer) in the Darkcyd M6, Peter and Bulent in Darkcyd DTM, alex and Danyell Fima in the Darkcyd Gallardo. G-Off and Aaron in the Darkcyd Navi, Gauthem and Karen (Honarary members in the Darkcyd SCAGLIETTI), and SEAN and Paul who collectively are called SEANPAUL who started in a 550HP 1800 pound rally car, but ended up racing in twin crossfires. Lexie (Alexandra Dreyfus) for the great South Beach adventure and voice mail. Jason Thorgalson for the photo shoot and great photograpahy in general. Adrian Minor my best friend from college who I convinced to do the last leg of the rally with us iun the Darkcyd Navi. Big thanks to My Mexican friend Joaquim for keping th Dackcyd Murci on the road and both of us out of the pokey with his Mexican drivers licence, and the M3 boys for the escort down to Orlando. Clause Ettensberger, the mad German who does not ever quit, or take no for an answer, and last and most important to my wife Tara. This all started in a huge fight back in 2004 when I announced my intention to do they Gumball in Europe that was supposed to be a once in a lifetime event. Well 5 events later she still put us with me and I in turn have made her into a pro Cannonball rally Navigator. Not exactly something she envisioned when we got married over 10 years ago, but something to be proud of none the less, earning her The Claus Ettensberger Navigator award- which includes a bent up rim from the TechArt Cayenne.

 

Pictures will be posted soon, as soon as we sort out the ones that are better left offline. Till the next event, which will probably be the Players Run from Calgary to Cabo, and then my repeat participation in the 06 baja 1000 on the way to my ultimate dream to take on Dakar.

 

Until then

 

Cheers

 

Robb

 

P.S I just received by fax the final result from the Moroso speedway, and am proud to announce that both PeterKolb, Alex Fima and I all reached the top ten in fastest times never being on the track and allowed only one lap for time recording. so the darkcyd team is strong. All of us were in the 1:47 area. .On a separate note, our times were within a second off top 3. The award for the hot lap went to Nick Frankel who broke the track record that day for a stock car.