Rider died within sight of the Tree Of Shame at Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort, and nobody noticed. No comment by CROT.
"After a fun week-end tragedy strikes the Dragon. Details are sketchy, but apparently the body of a rider missing since Monday was found down the bank at Wheelie Hell corner on the North Carolina side of the Dragon. The body was discovered when another biker wrecked in the same corner and saw the wreckage. This is the first fatality of the year near the Dragon. Technically it was not on the 11-miles of the Dragon. Please ride safe."
-TailOfTheDragon.com, August 3, 2010
"No major incidents that I'm aware of until Monday, when a rider went off at the top of the hill in front of the resort, and wasn't found until the following day when apparently another rider went off on the same (first) turn and saw the previous wreckage. Please be careful out there and remember to let your tires warm up and get sticky before riding your usual pace, no matter what kind of vehicle you're on/in."
-Killboy.com, Update 4 August 2010
ETR: Body of Missing Rider Found - "I'll quote from unnamed sources. According to what I was told the dude left at around noon on Monday headed up the hill to make a run. He never came back and they started looking for obvious signs of someone crashing, I.E. skid marks, scratches in the roadway etc. They never located him. He was with a group staying at the CROT and they said he mentioned maybe taking a ride somewhere else. They also said he had a video recorder on his bike and may have filmed his accident. It was also stated he had some sort of issues with his brakes recently and maybe he could not stop. They also said he has been on the Dragon several times and one would think he knew that corner turned left. They reportedly called Blount county sheriffs office to report him missing but no one really knew where he could be so no extensive search was implemented at that time. Also as far as I heard there was no other accident at that scene that caused someone to see the wreckage and call police. One of the workers at the CROT just went and looked over there and found him. *This is what I heard* It does not make it fact....."
BCSO has no knowledge of its search for missing rider
Fatality CONFIRMED by The Dragonator
Graham County Sheriff Office confirmed the death via telephone call. Graham and Swain County Sheriffs have a mutual aid agreement. Blount County Sheriff Office and Swain County Sheriff Office Communications depts had no knowledge of the crash. NCHP worked the crash and told the Dragonator the rider was Michael J Cupp of Middlestown, Ohio. NCHP crash report only listed the bike as a 1999 Kawasaki. Whether a cruiser, tourer or sportbike is unknown. Trooper Aaron Ammons knows the answer. VIN JKAZX4G18XA02 matches a ZX600-G.
Troop G, District VI
Swain County
US 19 North
Bryson City,NC 28713
(828) 488 - 2184
(828) 488 - 2185 fax
UPDATE - Missing Rider Information
Hi guys/gals of ETR. My name is Ike. I am the organizer of the annual meetup of "motorcycle videographers" at Deals Gap/Tail of the Dragon. This was our fourth annual meetup at this great location. I'll do my best to describe what happened.
We lost Michael J. Cupp around mid day on August 2. There was a rain storm move in at CROT and TOD shortly after Mike started to make his third or fourth run up the mountain from the resort. He was alone and was not trying to catch or keep up with our small band of riders who set out 20 minutes or so before Mike ventured out. He chose to remain with another rider back at the resort, and decided to make another run before the rain came. Our group waited for Mike's return, but knew that he was a safe and excellent rider and had been on the dragon many times. Not only with our group but on his own for many years. We thought in the first couple of hours that he might have chosen to check out Happy Valley Rd in lieu of riding TOD in the pouring down rain. We thought that he might have bike problems and was left stranded, and worse case, run off of the road in an attempt to return to CROT. My last conversation with him was regarding how we were going to measure the sag on both of our bikes and make some tweaks that night if necessary. We had enough hands there to make that a pretty easy task that would give us something to do with one of our evenings hanging out at the resort.
Anyways, we waited for the weather to pass and for the road to dry, but trying to conduct a search during peak time is near to impossible as many of you know. My girlfriend and I made a run out to Happy Valley Road to look around out there for Mike, also with no luck in finding him. We called the Blount county sherriff department, and the dispatch said that they would send an officer out and keep an eye out for Mike. We started our extensive search after night fall with flashlights along the entire road for any sign of someone running off. Looking for turned up gravel or any signs of a motorcycle leaving the road at all of the cliffs and especially close to those where no trees or mountain side would have caught him. We looked until around 3AM on the TOD. No sleep that night for those searching. We were all hoping for the sound of Mike coming down the mountain to the resort with a tale of getting stranded somewhere over in the GSMNP and having to get a tow.
With no luck in our searching, we called Blount county again on Tuesday morning from the DGMCR store, and we also were able to get Brad involved. He was getting everyone organized for an extensive search with the mule along the trails below the common places where riders have "disappeared". Ten minutes after that search was conducted, Mike's lifeless body was found in the corner at the top of "wheelie hell" by one of the DGMCR staff. The bike was upright in a balanced position between two trees. Mike was found lying on a large rock lying face down. One of our guys searched 20 feet from that particular spot in our attempts to find Mike on our own, and could not see him because of the brush. There was not a mark or a skid on the road or in the gravel where the bike left the pavement. However, there appeared to be a fresh tire skid coming down the mountain crossing the double yellow intersecting the line at which Mike was taking to make the corner. It appeared that he may have uprighted the bike to avoid striking someone crossing that line, but of course we are not sure.
His father and brother left Ohio and arrived to get Mike's pickup truck on Thursday morning around 9:30AM at DGMCR. His father asked that we leave a memorial on the tree of shame.
Don't take life for granted, each moment that we are given is a blessing.
Pirate attacks Corvette with lack of countersteering skills, same week as this fatal crash
The link to the obituary
CUPP, Michael J. Age 39, of Hamilton, died August 2, 2010 in Swain County, North Carolina. He was born August 11, 1970 in Hamilton, Ohio the son of Larry and Paula (Combs) Cupp. He attended Fairfield High School. He was employed by Pjax Inc. in West Chester, Ohio. He loved riding motorcycles and working with his hands. He is survived by his mother, Paula Cupp; father, Larry (Sue) Cupp; brother, Wayne (Jenny) Cupp; grandparents, Alpha (Donnie) Hume; cousin, Paula Cupp (Randy) Romer; nieces, Amber Cupp and Emily Cupp; nephew, Christopher Cupp and many other family members. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Robert and Mildred Cupp, Pearl and Georgia Combs and aunt, Kathy Cupp. Funeral service will be Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at Weigel Funeral Home, 980 NW Washington Blvd., Hamilton with Pastor Dale French officiating. Burial will be in Rose Hill Burial Park. Visitation will be Friday, August 6th from 5-8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers the family request donations to your favorite charity. Online condolences are available at www.weigelfuneralhome.com
Reports on fatal crashes appear to be public records in NC, though some crash reports are still secret if NCHP caused the crash.
Map of fatalities on the Dragon - One previous fatal crash at Wheelie Hell curve, a deceptively spooky left-hand kink up the hill in front of CROT, if a rider doesn't already know how far he can lean without scraping. Note that 99.999% of riders don't wheelie on Wheelie Hell Hill, which is actually the first Beginners End. Perhaps a decreasing radius, or a right/left whip rather than a 45-degree kink, looking at the satellite photo.
USDOT's Hurt Report proves that 90% of riders don't know what Countersteering is, since all state police censor that word from motorcycle rider tests, thanks to greed by MSF's cop-run riding schools. That would explain why this dead rider didn't leave any skidmarks to find him by. Failure to countersteer feels like the handlebars are welded straight. Bikes steer in the opposite direction of a curve, in order to make the bike lean. Bikes steer in the opposite direction to cars and trikes.
Order your Countersteering Warning stickers from the Dragonator today!
Did this this death result from the ban of Blount County Rescue Squad this month?
At least one other TN rider crashed there, riding a wheelie up Wheelie Hell straight. He broke his leg and lay there for several hours, undiscovered. A very skilled sportbike rider, with a little ADD on prescription speed. Just tried to ride the wheelie too long. He lived to tell the tale, and continued to ride long wheelies on 129.
Looks like this corner needs a yellow ribbon tied between the old oak trees, as previously done at Rocket Corner at Calderwood Dam, after that undiscovered fatal crash nightmare.
REALITY CHECK
MOTORCYCLE CRASH FACES OF DEATH - Not even safety gear can help you survive Uncle Scam's defective highway designs, and automobiles built for roadkill.
Crash victims who die as a result of medical malpractice are still listed as dying from a crash. Medical doctors murder over 2-million Americans every year, the leading cause of death in USA, equivalent to six jumbo jets falling out of the sky every day. Ambulance crews are now murdering crash victims to harvest their organs, which can only be harvested from living bodies, at a gross profit of $500,000 per murder victim, whether or not the victim was gullible enough to sign an organ donor contract.
Stick and ball sports kill 200,000 healthy young Americans every year, from sweating.
Only 4,000 to 5,000 bikers die per year in USA. This proves motorcycle riding is one of the safest things you could ever do.
"For decades, speed was the subject of the most widespread slogans drummed into the public. 'Speed kills' and 'slow down and live' are familiar ones peddled by the National Safety Council. The findings showed a more complex picture of the role of speed than had ever been assumed before. Accident involvement rates are at a minimum at speeds between fifty and seventy five miles per hour. Although obviously the severity of accidents is greater at higher speeds, the study revealed that considering accident frequency rates and severity, the number of injuries per vehicle miles traveled is at its minimum [up to six times lower]. The law embodies an invincible rationale: 'He had an accident; therefore he violated the law.' No distinction is made between responsibility for the accident and responsibility for the injury due to unsafe vehicle design or construction. Manslaughter charges are filed routinely against drivers; there is yet to be recorded any similar charges against the manufacturers for vehicle defects. A typical police traffic accident report has a list of 'contributing circumstances' which the officer is to check off: 'Speed too fast; failed to yield right of way; drove left of center; improper overtaking; passed stop sign; ran traffic signal; improper lights; had been drinking; and other improper driving.' Thus the driver is heir to all the dangers created by the automobile designers, not only in terms of bodily injury but also in terms of legal exposure. The result of this drastic imbalance in the law is the very poor quality of accident investigation in this country. Consequently, enforcement of the law brings no pressure on the car makers to increase the safety of their vehicles."
-Ralph Nader, attorney at law and presidential candidate, from "Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile", quoting David Soloman in "Accidents on Main Rural Highways Related to Speed, Driver and Vehicle," FHwA (1964). Nader forced GM and VW to start using CV joints, anti-sway bars and proper independent suspensions that don't roll over at 20 mph.
"One hundred forty years ago, the Royal Society in England warned against the railroads, claiming that at speeds over 30 miles per hour, the air supply to the passenger compartment would be cut off and people would die from asphyxiation. And the college of physicians in Munich, for its part, warned that at 30 mph, travelers would suffer headaches, vertigo and possible lose their sight because of a blurring effect. Over 30 mph great catastrophies were predicted, because everyone knew that even a twig would shatter the wheels."
-Jules Burgman, ABC News, NASA Langley Research Center, The Impact of Science on Society, NASA SP-482, NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1985
The illegal speed limit on the Dragon is 30 mph... The reason it's illegal to set low speed limits is they put drivers to sleep, causing a 600% increase in crashes according to USDOT. The only legal speed limit is set by measuring the 85th-Percentile Speed, based on the average speed of traffic, during daylight, without rain or fog, at the end of a straight, not counting trucks or slow vehicles, without a police presence. This is literal democracy in a republic.
However, not setting any speed limits at all is even safer, according to USDOT, since that forces drivers to pay maximum attention. Driving 212 mph on the curvy German Autobahn at night in the rain in 130 mph commuter traffic is safer than 55 mph on a straight interstate in USA. Seems Mother Nature's DNA survival instinct is more powerful than a Police State, and the Constitutionsal right to travel is more powerful than the Communist Manifesto.
"Government control of communications and transportation."
-Communist Manifesto, 6th Plank
THE DRAGONATER WINS IN TRAFFIC COURT AT DEALS GAP, RAISES SPEED LIMIT TO 65 MPH ON THE DRAGON - NOLLE PROSEQUI BY BLOUNT COUNTY ATTORNEY GENERAL. NO TESTIMONY, HEARING NOR TRIAL WHATSOEVER. 60 MPH SPEEDING TICKET DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, COSTS PAID BY THE STATE, IN BLOUNT COUNTY GENERAL SESSIONS COURT WITH JUDGE BREWER. THP TROOPER RANDALL HUCKEBY ADMITTED ON VIDEOTAPE DURING TRAFFIC STOP THAT ALL SPEEDING TICKETS NORTHBOUND ON US129 AT MILE MARKER 0.5 ARE FEDERAL JURISDICTION, NOT STATE JURISDICTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). HUCKEBY WAS ALSO CAUGHT ON VIDEO SPEEDING AT 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON, WITHOUT THE MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS AND SIREN REQUIRED FOR IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). TDOT ADMITTED IN WRITING THAT THE MANDATORY TRAFFIC ENGINEERING SURVEY SPEED AUDIT WAS NEVER PERFORMED, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, THUS THE POSTED 30 MPH SPEED LIMIT ON THE DRAGON REVERTS TO THE DEFAULT 65 MPH IN TN CODE. THE DRAGONATER ALSO MADE VIDEO OF TROOPER HUCKEBY SPEEDING UP TO 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON IN A 30 MPH ZONE, WITHOUT MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS NOR SIREN, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, AND PERJURY IN HIS PERSONNEL FILE, WHICH SHOWED HIS $100,000+ SALARY. 2007 TDOT SAFETY AUDIT REPORT CONFESSED THAT THP'S JOB IS TO BAN ALL COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES ON THE DRAGON, SO THP TICKETS INCREASED 11,400% IN BLOUNT COUNTY. THP'S STALKER RADAR OPERATOR MANUAL CONFESSED THAT RADAR CANNOT MEASURE THE SPEED OF VEHICLES WITHIN 18 MPH OF ACTUAL SPEED. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FULL EVIDENCE FILE. UPDATE 7 MARCH 2011
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