2015 Spring Meet (May) - Dragon Territory

Nix

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Ok so Ill update this as time goes on and more solid plans are made.

The known: May 15-19 there is a cabin booked. It is not at Fontana. It is not near the Dragon. There are hundreds of miles of better roads out there waiting to be explored. Some have been minimally examined and driven so far. They are, in my opinion, superior to the Dragon in several ways. The speed limit for one is 55mph not 30. This means you can really rip on it if you want to without risk of a ticket for going minimally over. Traffic is almost non-existent. The pavement is in excellent shape. I'm not saying where, what, or which roads yet. As the time gets closer Ill let you know more.

The plan is for this to be a longer more exploratory trip. There will be a couple Dragon runs made at some point so if that's all you want to come for, that's cool to. I want this to be accessible for anyone who wants to come along for the whole thing or just a piece of it. There will probably be from the 19th to the 23rd more driving in the Fontana/Dragon area.

Post questions/requests/suggestions. I know @SpartanML would like to hit the Dragon earlier in the month. If he and a few other people want to do a weekend trip I would not be opposed to swinging over and meeting up for that as well.
 
Hmmm. I am intrigued by your offer @Nix and the mystery around these roads. What kind of cabin are we talking here? I'm not much for sleeping on floors/couches. The only reason I suggested the early part of the month was a crowd issue. If we are doing other roads it's not the big deal it would be as we got close to Memorial Day.
 
East of Asheville NC. It's about 2 hours from Fontana. There are a few well known roads in the area and some not so well known roads. I drove 2 that were phenomenal. And they cut through extremely rural areas but lead into major thoroughfares with plenty of restaurants, hotels, gas stations. It's amazing. And the speed limit is 55.

That's only part of the trip though. It's going to include some Dragon time and most likely a stay at Fontana for a few days. Hence, people can come to all or just some of the driving depending on schedules and available time off. I highly recommend checking out this area though. You may find it superior to fighting with the Dragon traffic and police.
 
Ahoy mates.

The Mt. Mitchell cabin currently reserved (http://www.vrbo.com/59187) is best for 4, imo. Nix, Chase, Dennis and Dylan wanted first dibs (a couple months ago) so that cabin might be spoken for unless we shift gears. Like most small, reasonably priced cabins it's for those who don't mind a sleeper sofa or futon as part of the deal. While that location is superb, some will want more privacy or creature comforts. I'd recommend one of two options.

1.) Rent a larger cabin if interest is sufficient, with prices generally $300 - $600/nt. We'd need 10+ guys to pull it off financially.
2.) Find a nearby motel/hotel while using the small Mt. Mitchell cabin as a party place.

Let's see how much interest develops.
_______________________________
p.s. There is no limit to what's out there:

http://www.largecabinrentals.com/cabins/big-elk-lodge-brand-new/
 
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Indeed. A few of us have been talking about this since last year. We would ultimately like to rent a large cabin or house type setting over a couple weeks maybe so everyone could swing down for the whole time, or a few days and really make an event of it. It would of course depend on interest and people who think they can swing both the September meet and this one or could only do May over September.

There is a lot of exploring to be done to find the best roads. This is just a step away from the Dragon to see what else is out there. Some initial ventures proved to be very very good. There is always the chance that we drive a distance to a road and find out our entire planned drive is, well, crap. I think the plan that's being formulated currently includes some well known good driving roads with plenty of time for adventure.
 
Below is the first draft for Day 1. At 300 miles it needs to be cut down. We might also prefer to do The Snake (http://www.421thesnake.com) instead of driving the 88 through Jefferson to Mouth of Wilson. Tough decision. Near the cabin is the 226A "Diamondback" (http://www.diamondbacknc.com) which is like doing the Dragon at a 45 degree angle, which sounds a lot like Blood Mountain. How can that not be fun?

Here's the preliminary map for an unforgettable day:

https://goo.gl/maps/bjCuV

Just to whet your whistle a bit more, here is the first draft for Day 2, what Nix likes to call the Ultimate Loop. This rendition is longer than most but can be reduced by 90 minutes (?) by not doing anything south of the 64. Not surprisingly, both the 215 and 276 are local favorites.

https://goo.gl/maps/ydRfS

Another very dependable run is the Moonshine 28 south of the 74 to Highlands. It's all 55mph, by the way... if you can do it. The first 10 minutes are to die for... and the other 50 minutes will make you wonder why anybody bothers with that 30mph speed trap called The Dragon.
 
So basically it's the roads we've been talking about for awhile now and finally making a trip of it?
 
So basically it's the roads we've been talking about for awhile now and finally making a trip of it?
__________
Welcome!

Not sure which roads we're talking about... ??? ... almost everything west of Waynesville is somewhat familiar to at least 3 of us. East of Waynesville/Asheville there isn't much any of us knows, despite their popularity.
(BTW... the term "popularity" shouldn't be confused with tourist trap... the roads are simply recognized as world class driving challenges) See the above links to The Snake and Diamondback... and that's just the beginning.

What we're saying is that maybe it's time to explore that world -- the world outside the Dragon -- for at least a day or two. If we do have more time, we return to the Skyway, the 28, etc. for good times and even better ribs
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...orious_P_I_G-Robbinsville_North_Carolina.html
(at Deal's Gap)

Nice to have the Subies interested!
 
so the time frame is longer than the 19th-23rd, right? I may have understood that wrong
 
I'll wait for a little more of a coherent game plan. It's all jumbled at the moment, but it's still early in development. Honestly I feel all sorts of out of the loop, but eh.
 
I'm excited for it... Unfortunately my last final is on the 19th, I move to STL on the 20th, then I start my co-op on the 22nd so that weekend is basically shot. Ill see what i can do, but at least i'll be at the big meet this year. Definitely wanna go test these roads out at some point though
 
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I would love to do this if it was a different month but unfortunately all my focus/money lol is for boxer takeover with touge fighter at the moment. This sounds like a solid plan and a change of scenery is always a good thing!
 
We'll wake the Dragon for you. All 130+ of them are S2000's but they are still Momma Honda's babies.
 
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Yes, so starting the 15th most likely and staying through the 19th in the Asheville area, then probably packing up and moving towards Fontana for a few days and driving the dragon/skyway/N.Ga areas.

If there is enough interest and solid "yes, I'm going" then we can always upgrade the cabin to fit more people.

I'm definitely in. Not certain what days I can be there in total but if things work out I can most likely be there from Friday the 15th - Thursday the 21st. Maybe leave Friday morning the 22nd. It depends on my rotation at work but I'm pretty certain I can work this and only need to take one day off.
 
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