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2012 Fall Dragon Run thread-10th anniversary! (10-11/10-14-12)

Klasse Act

I pee with gloves on!
Joined
May 28, 2000
Messages
5,115
Location
Palatine IL, USA
Even though its about 9 monthes away, its that time once again, time to get the annual Fall Dragon thread up and going Because this is the 10th annual it deserves some extra time to get things going and since its the 10th anniversary, its going to be epic! Now for a little bit of history about the run before I get into the "do's and dont's" of the run.

It all began on the CEG (www.contour.org) back in the summer of 2003 when I first heard about this road by a fellow CEG-er, so I thought I'd check it out. I got in contact with 2 forum buddies, Eric and Josh because they live down there and knew the road pretty good, so that made it easier knowing how to get around down there. My first time down there was breath taking to say the least, I'd had never ever seen any roads like that in my life and up to that point the curviest roads I had been on were in West Virginia, tame compared to the Dragon and Skyway for sure. Once I was done with my trip I made the decision to make this a yearly thing and started planning for next year right away and have not missed a year since then, actually got to go there twice in one year (2009) but due to the rock slide that happened that year the Dragon was closed down during Easter, so all I got to do was hit the Skyway and "try" and see how far I could get, yeah "try" because of the time of the year, check this out. My then boss flies me down to West Palm Beach Florida to pick up a modded R53 Mini, so ofcoarse I'm already thinking about taking this Mini out there. After breakfast I start out, outside temp was 54 degrees but once I started up the Skyway I began to notice this white stuff on the sides of the road that I've never seen before, we call it snow, not sure what they call it down there seeing they don't really get that down there. Further up the road there was more and more of it on the shoulder and when coming around the corner right before the North Carolina state line I hit a 25 foot patch of slushy snow on the road, didn't expect this at all and got on the brakes and the rear end did a little "shimmy" but I kept it straight but turned around, well after taking pics! I turned around because I knew about the 9% grade that was awaiting me further up the Skyway and there was NO WAY IN HELL I was going to attempt that in this car, its not even mine and even if it was, NO WAY IN HELL! This is one memorable story about a trip down there, we've all got many to share for sure, that's what the trip is about and when doing so in safe manner, you're able to come back year after year and share more with the group, inspiring others to make the trip out! There is a certain amount of common sense that MUST be used out there, physics come into play as well, so PLEASE READ the rest of the opening thread closely, its in YOUR BEST INTEREST!

The trip begins with the Cherahola Skyway, a 57 mile road that goes up to over 1 mile elevation at the Santeetlah Gap (5377 feet) and like the old saying goes "what goes up, must come down" and it does with 9% grades, so your brakes and tires MUST BE IN THE BEST SHAPE, PERIOD! This can't be stressed enough as everyone who's been out there can attest. Remember this, your NOT the only one out there, it is a public road afterall! The scenery is breath taking, the road is smooth and there's sections to pull over and take pics, catch your breath or change your underwear!! There are parts of the Skyway were people take it upon themselves to spray paint the letters S L O across the road, when you see this, pay close attention, its there for a reason, trust me, there's turns out there that never seem to end so if you think its about to straighten up and it doesn't, your in BIG trouble for sure! Also once making the trip down to the Skyway there's parts of the road where there's shade and thus, the road can be and is damp from the morning dew and because its in the shade is still wet, enough to ruin your day if your not paying attenion, this too needs to have great attention paid to it as well. The last part of the Skyway snakes you through some VERY narrow roads with alot of trees on both sides, the road surface is different too, very, very smooth asphault and with the trees, again, can be damp and you'll wanna exercise a bit of caution here because there's no room for error, remember, its a public road, there's always people coming the other way and with so many of the turns being "blind turns", well, you don't see them until your entering the turn and it could be too late for corrections, just pay attention out there. Finally you'll come up to a sign that says 129, you turn left and your onto another journey, THE DRAGON!

The early stages of the Dragon are pretty tame and we'll just call it route 129 until we actually get close to the Dragon. This section is about 15 miles long and has nice, sweeping turns w/o any measurable elevation changes, so you can just "warm up here. There is a gas station before you get there, so its a good time to gas up if need be, use the bathroom, get something to snack on and/or drink and get your Dragon stickers/patches/etc here, its all right there. When your in the parking lot there's a sign across the street, well this is what it says...

img1318777941775.jpg



The above sign is to detour semi's from going on this road and I just found out that its illegal for trucks over 30 feet long to go out there from the N.C side, now we just Tennessee to follow suit and we'd be all set, the exception being the tanker truck that delivers gas to Deal's Gap, for that they should and would get an escort from the local police, atleast that's the way I think they should do it IMO. So now you head out of the gas station and pass that sign and continue along and you'll come to bridge and on the right you look up and see a huge dam and you make a right turn where the road basically goes straight up, YOUR NOW GETTING CLOSE! Follow this around and you can clearly see the road starting to get VERY twisty with dips in the middle of the turns, this is about to get interesting!!! Continue down the road and you see Deal's Gap motorcycle resort and the "Tree of Shame", a place where bike and some car parts are hung to remind people this road IS NO JOKE AND TO BE CAREFUL, IT DOES BITE AND BITES SOME VERY HARD!! From this point its only about 3/4 of a mile to the Tennessee border and you'll need to make sure not to be going too fast because alot of times there's a Tenn state cop sitting there waiting for you but once you get to the state line, ITS ON!!!!! There's 318 turns in 11 miles awaiting you with dips, elevations changes, hairpins and so many turns you'll lose count so don't even try, JUST DRIVE! There can be lose gravel on the edges of the road sometimes so you need to watch for that, along with bikers warning you about a potential accident, they will usually motion their hand down like they're dribbling a basketball, so again, PAY ATTENTION, PLEASE! Not to freak anyone out but every year the Dragon claims a couple lives, usually a heart attack or a biker dumping his bike and getting hurt from doing so, its just a fact out there and although I'm not a biker myself I wouldn't wanna see a car coming into my lane so heed this STAY IN YOUR LANE AND TRY AND STAY TO THE RIGHT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, THIS GIVES YOU SOME "WIGGLE" ROOM IF YOU SHOULD MAKE A MISTAKE! Even a car as small as a Miata looks huge to a bike, so give them a break out there, you don't wanna be "that guy" out there! So turn after turn and turn after turn you finally get to the end of the Dragon but route 129 continues all the way to route 411, there's a paved clearing on the right and rock wall on the left, right before a bridge, this is where we take a break or others turn around and have at it again right away! This is the ONLY straight road on the Dragon and its also where alot of cops like to park and hand out tickets too, so when coming up to this, WATCH YOUR SPEED

So now you've just done the Cherahola Skyway/Dragon run and your excited to do it again and you will but there's a 3rd road, route 28 aka "Moonshiners" road. This road is right next to Deal's Gap and is really a hidden gem out there, has parts like the Dragon and parts like the Skyway, sans the elevation that is. This road less traveled than the Dragon so it makes for a great drive for sure. While on this road you can follow the signs for the Fontana Dam, the largest dam this side of the Mississippi River, true story. Its really something to see inperson and if this is your first time out, you'll wanna check it out for sure. This basically sums up the roads for the most part, now let's talk about lodging.

Our homebase every year, except one, is Caney Creek Village www.caneycreekvillage.com These cabins are only 3.5 miles from the beginning of the Cherahola Skyway, so its very convienent for us. The cabins vary in price and ammenities but have everything you need, a bed, shower, stove and fridge, even A/C if it would ever be that hot but at the time of the year we're going, this isn't an issue. Prices are anywhere from $30-80 (that's for seperate bedrooms and room for 6) Many of us share the cabins to keep the prices down, so this is something you guys may wanna do. If for some reason there's no room left, there's other places to stay locally and worse case scenario you can stay about 25 minutes away at a more typical motel. To this day we haven't had to put others in those locations but that could change this year so look for the seperate thread for cabin reservations (probably will be set up around April sometime) Now, I know there's some who wanna stay closer to the Dragon and that's fine but after lots of discussion, this is where we're staying due to price, location and room, gotta have room for all the cars. Because of our repour with the owner, Dixie, we've never been bothered by the staff and pretty much do what we wanna do when we wanna do it and for how long we wanna do it, this is why its always important to call and make your reservations early (sometime in April) Again, because of the repour we've got with there, you don't even need to pay inadvance, you just call Caney Creek and tell Dixie your with the group that's with "Roger from Deeetroit" (even though I live in Chicago now) and your all set. Now, things come up down the road and you may not be able to make it, just call Dixie ASAP and let her know so we can get someone else into your cabin, we like to try and keep as many of the Dragon Slayers together there, the more the merrier there, trust me. Now as far as the cabin are concerned, well, they're mostly single room cabins with everything you'd need if you were staying there for the day but we're not, so that's not the most important thing here, what is is the fact that we've got somewhere to sleep, its cheap, close to the Skyway and close to downtown Tellico Plains. This is NOT the Marriot but its not the slums either and again, like I said earlier, for what we need, its perfect. As the monthes go by and we need to make room for others we can do that, people are usually willing to share their cabins for a fair amount or like I said, there's other places to stay locally, some close and some further away but even the ones further away are VERY EASY to find and get back to meeting up with us, but let's cross that bridge when we get to it.

The "offical" dates for the trip are Oct 11th thru the 14th (Thur-Sun) but some are able to come down a day early and take advantage of the off day (Thursday) to get some quality driving time in. The weekend is very busy, especially Sat and Sun, Friday is hit or miss actually, so this is an option for you as well. I plan on coming down a day early this year, first time for me doing this and hearing how much fun everyone had on the "off day" it sounds like a plan

I would be remissed if I didn't talk about the cars and owners we've got going. This run has a "core" of people who've been going with us for years, some have come out 4 years in a row, while others have been out with us 2 or 3 times and there's always a noob to our run but sometimes not a noob to the Skyway/Dragon itself, so you just never know until the list is made up. Last year we had a grand total of 16 cars, the previous year netted 26 cars, so you just never know. Large groups take more planning, hence why I'm setting this up so early. There's also the people that say "if I had known sooner I would've gone", well, this is soon enough. Speaking of going, how much does all this cost you may ask, well, I've got an answer for you, kinda. I took $500 with me last year and came back with about $75.00, it all depends on what you spend while your down there and how much gas your car uses, those are factors I can't say is the same for everyone but understand this, while on the Skyway and Dragon the car uses ALOT of gas!!! My old R56 Mini was getting 18 mpg out there (hwy mileage was 3 so you'll have to guess on that one. Its pretty easy to figure out how many miles the trip is from your house and you should know your mileage, so that takes care of that, the cabin prices are known, guess on food and drink and you'll have your number. "Roughing it" in the cabins (bringing sleeping bags and sleeping on the floor or someones couch) is an option too, something that can be worked out with those who've got the cabins but you can even bring your tent if your into that, that's $10.00 a night or free sometimes, just never know.

The cars that have gone out there are all over the place, one year we had my 1.6L Mini and Billy's 6.1L SRT8 Cherokee, RWD, FWD and AWD are always represented in our run, that's what makes it so much fun. Because of the different cars/skill level/nerve we usually break into like minded groups, noone wants to be stuck behind "Captain Slow" (Me) unless your a noob and wanna see the sites or drive at a nice, brisk pace (on the Skyway) but understand, the Dragon is different for different cars, your not going to be able to do what you do on the Skyway on the Dragon, each car has its strong and weak points...DRIVE YOUR OWN DRIVE, DON'T FEEL PRESSURED AND DON'T PRESSURE ANYONE! I know it can be frustrating out there once you "get in the zone" (even I get to that point on the Dragon) but there's no need to get like this, its a public road and you never know when your going to come up on site seerers or a trike (hate them) Its been proven already that a stock Miata with small mods can hang with anything out there, even driven by someone who's only got 1 year of experience under his belt. This is NOT to say you know the road, YOU DON'T! Unless you drive it a couple times a month, you just don't know this road like your route to work, trust me/us on this!

The car owners are a diverse group made up of different backgrounds, job titles, ages, ego's, personalities but we all try and have a good time. The past couple years have had the joking get a bit out of hand and I've been PM"d afterwards that although they had a good time they didn't like the endless ripping, especially when you don't really know the person (this was brought up to me by noobs) I know its all in good fun but when you don't really know someone just take it easy on them until you have a feel for them, ok Many of us look forward to this run as soon as we get home from the previous run, it can be that contagious! Once your bit by this bug, there's NO CURE!!!!! I don't wanna scare anyone off by all of this, just bring up some concerns passed along to me over the past 2 years, that's all, its not like anyone got THAT mad or anything

Finally this thread and what its for:

-questions
-answers
-pics
-general banter
-polls
-whatever

These threads may seem to get off track but its NO biggie, just the way it goes and when you factor in that its 9 monthes away, any general discussion keeps up your interest over the upcoming monthes. Also don't forget that this thread is going to be on the Contour site, the Fit site and the CR-Z site as well. As always, if you wanna invite someone who's never been, great, there's nothing like sharing the experience with a noob, its a great thing! Speaking of the other sites involved, the Fit Freak members showed up HUGE last year, netting a total of 7 different cars, a great showing and really and truely great enthusists for sure! I've got no idea how large the run is going to be this year but its going to be a good one for sure. It looks like a couple surprises are in store for us too, basically the type of cars that are going to be showing up, there will be some cool FIRSTS for sure!!!

So, the thread is up.....HAVE AT IT!
 
Im exhausted after that.

Yeah I know, its mostly for the noobs out there, gotta be complete and cover all the bases! Now Josh, you GOTTA make the trip, I consider you and your car the "star of the show", so put in for the vacation time now if you can, ok! Not sure if I can get Terry Haines to make it out but if you and the Daytona show up, that would make this run epic, especially since your one of the originals and you've now got your dream car and all!
 
Yeah I didn't read all that. I reckon by this run, I'll have my car running, broken, and hopefully running again by fall. ;)

With all the work you and Josh did to that engine its not breaking down anywhere Eric and it goes without saying that for this 10th anniversary, you and Josh MUST be there for sure!
 
As i said in the xceed thread. I'm in. Stay up to date with my project log, still exciting stuff happening.

Here's what it looks like now.

DSC03954.jpg



Should be done by spring (if i ever get my damn MS), spend summertime cruising, tuning, and working out the bugs, then slay the dragon come fall!
 
^^ When I come into town Dillon we might need to have a little get together at your place, I'll bring my bags and get "MS. MIATA" looking her best. I think its awesome that you've run with the "girl car" jokes, people just don't get it when it comes to Miata's....until they jump up and bite yah out there! I can only imagine what that things going to be like out there now! Do you plan on new rubber to compensate for the added power?
 
That thing uses to much fuel roger. I'm not sure if i want to start doing a little body work on it. I have patch panels, and a new fender that's the wrong color for it. If i start doing that kind of work on it once it warms up, doing any waxing or polishing will be useless. Until i have it painted that is. Which probably won't be for a while yet.
 
That thing uses to much fuel roger. I'm not sure if i want to start doing a little body work on it. I have patch panels, and a new fender that's the wrong color for it. If i start doing that kind of work on it once it warms up, doing any waxing or polishing will be useless. Until i have it painted that is. Which probably won't be for a while yet.

That was Josh that posted the V8! Although the "Monster Miata" is surely alot of fun the idea of the turbo on the Miata makes good sense and cents! But this is also coming from the guy who suggested to Josh that if I had a Cobra replica I'd have either a Cosworth 2 litre N/A in it or an SVO modded 2.3L turbo in it but hey, that's just me being me. Imagine a 300 hp 4 banger with so much less weight on the nose, can you say BALANCE!?

Ok, flame suit on, bring it!

Oh yeah, there's 266 more days to go, there, something "Dragon" related too!
 
I think I have more work than anyone to get done if I want to make this run.

how the VR4 sits right now.

IMG_20111103_130153.jpg


and the reason its down, stripped output shaft. maybe im crazy but I figured I might as well rebuild the trans and engine all at once. :crazy:
IMG_20111103_133125.jpg
 
Ha, roger. Didn't even realize who posted that. facepalm

I think brown might have a chance in "furthest from ready" right now. :D Not sure though.
 
I'll post a bare engine bay pic tomorrow. I has nothing lol.

yeah but you at least have a complete (or mostly complete) engine and trans. I still need to send my trans to CO to be rebuilt and the engine to the machine shop to have the heads redone and the block cleaned up. other things that need to be done before a dragon run can happen include new rear brakes (have shiny new front DBA rotors and HPS pads) and a new steering rack. ideally new struts and springs as well but those arent necessary.


btw, If anyone wants to upgrade their brakes before the run let me know. I can get PowerSlot, DBA, and Brembo rotors and EBC or Hawk pads. I can also get StopTech and Brembo big brake kits for those that think upgraded stock brakes still arent enough.
 
Might have to ride shotgun this trip. SVT going up for sale just as soon as the front bumper cover and a few paint chips are fixed. This way the car will be absolutely perfect...for the next owner.
Gonna keep the Lightning. Its a damn good work truck :).
 
Might have to ride shotgun this trip. SVT going up for sale just as soon as the front bumper cover and a few paint chips are fixed. This way the car will be absolutely perfect...for the next owner.
Gonna keep the Lightning. Its a damn good work truck :).
Got plenty of guys going...don't see it being a problem!
 
Might have to ride shotgun this trip. SVT going up for sale just as soon as the front bumper cover and a few paint chips are fixed. This way the car will be absolutely perfect...for the next owner.
Gonna keep the Lightning. Its a damn good work truck :).

Dont tempt me with that car being for sale!
 
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