jruhi4

It's something we don't get here in South Florida: Leaves on the trees that change color from green to reds & oranges in Autumn. Leaf watchers are people that drive these roads at 5 mph admiring how pretty the leaves look. Sure, it's a nice sight, but not the right time for a mountain drive for people like us that like to drive fast.

jruhi4

BTW, last year, when I was there, there was talk of the Cherohala Skyway being another great road in that vicinity, but I don't think we actually drove it. Is it worth including in this year's drive?

cdawg

Hey, didn't mean for it to come across that way. The problem is usually that in late September and Octobert you get a tremendous amount of bicycle and sightseeing traffic, plus the Dragon calendar gets kind of full and you have a bunch of bikes and car clubs trying to all do the same weekend.

The best thing to do is probably to post up a poll and just let majority rule; I'll go whenever it is.

jiggafett

Sure it is!

We'll drive at night!

Then we'll see who's really a good driver, and who the punks are!!!!

The real life Initial D would be in effect!!





j/k

k3turbo

^^^LMAO

///MDex

Understood Chris. But here’s the rub (…and I discussed this with Dave briefly yesterday):

Whether there are 1000 or 10 cars in the area, it only takes 1 to slow down the group.

Last weekend, I took a day trip with several other BMWs to the Chimney Rock area. It was probably 80*F out. It wasn’t a high traffic day, and we had good portions of the trip, but still, there were a gaggle of slow tourists, trucks with horse trailers, and blue hairs out on the road commuting between the small mountain towns.

Again, all is takes is one to slow down the group, so let’s not have everyone get bent on the idea that any weekend other than ‘leaf’ weekend will be perfect. The dragon is pretty busy year round, except for the purely cold months.

Believe me, I want the event be a success, but scheduling is always the most critical component of planning for this event. Keeping our options open will benefit everyone.

You're right though, whatever the majority, or Dave ( ), decides I'm sure will be fine

As a side note, I look forward to pushing the envelope more so with you guys this year now that I've accrued some good seat time

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Not sure what you mean by that since I didn't float the date and don't really have a strong opinion... I'm personally fine with CDawg's date suggestion and am certainly open to other alternatives. I do agree that just one car can (and will ) slow down the entire group, but having 300 slow cars in the area certainly increases the odds that you're going to get behind one.

I've sat in stopped traffic in the Smokeys during leaf season FOR HOURS in the past, which is why I'm personally so against making the meet too far into the fall season. As you know, it can absolutely ruin an otherwise great trip (we ran into that some with our Maggie Valley Spring Fling). Other than that obstacle, the last couple of years we tried to schedule the event around

- other enthusiast events in the area (motorocycle or auto)
- school season startup for our college-bound members
- college football season for major games

I'd say if we don't get any other negative feedback to the August 20, 21 and 22 dates we go ahead and lock 'em in!

jruhi4

Even that can vary quite a bit from school to school. Last year, for example, I was dying to bring my son & my nephew along for the ride, but, alas, I couldn't, since University of Florida (Gainesville, FL) classes started that following Monday.

I understand all the scheduling/traffic concerns, though, and will go with the will of the majority.

bluelex

sorry 4 silly questions but when u say "slow the line down" what do u mean, u guys race around the curves of the dragon? is this more of a meet or more of a raceing up and down a curved track thing, i would love 2 meet u guys but i'm not going race or try 2 keep up with guys raceing around the curves..not 2 sound mean, just asking so i know whats its about....

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

A - we do both driving and more traditional 'meet' type stuff where we walk around and check out rides.

We'll have different groups for safety / comfort of the driver and there is absolutely no need to speed / drive aggressively if you don't want to. Others want to push their cars a bit more on this amazing road. This is not a race, but the road is very challenging and will let you know how your suspension mods are working.

Website hasn't been updated for this year yet ( http://www.lexusdragon.com ), but check ouy the writeup we did on safetey and groups to help ease your mind. We'll be big enough that we need to do a better job enforcing these next year.

http://www.lexusdragon.com/general_meet_info.html#comm

VVT-i

I'm fine with August 20-22 or any date and I will cancel whatever I have to do that weekend...

bluelex

thanx 4 the info dave.....i was just wondoring....

jiggafett

Bluelex, thats the really good thing about the way these guys set up this "outing". Last year there was a guy from Canada with his wife and two kids, so you know he wasn't "slaying the dragon". On the other hand Freelance and I were leading the way at times and we had no previous experience on those roads before, that actually made it more exciting being his passanger! We'd see a sign saying curve ahead slow to 30mph and we're going 70+mph!!! It's as much fun as you want it to be and then some. Hopefully they'll even have the raffle at the end of the trip, that was a very nice addition to all the fun, winning really nice prizes!

jruhi4

I also recall a straight portion with a little dip that, when I glanced down at the speedo, I was doing 120!
Still, you're welcome to go as fast or as slow as you feel comfortable. The key is common courtesy. If you're in a slow mood and the car behind you wants to go faster, let him pass you whenever there's a chance. Should you want to go faster than the guy ahead of you, he'll more than likely let you by as well.

bluelex

that makes sense.....will do if i go....any dates yet?