2012 Fall Dragon Run Oct 11th thru 14th - Honda CRZ Forum: Honda CR-Z Hybrid Car Forums

Klasse Act · 07-11-2012, 09:49 AM

First off I know I should've posted this sooner but I never got around to it so to that I say I'm sorry. I'm balancing this run on 3 different car forums and I've been setting this up since 2003 where we had 3 of us total and 2 years ago we had a total of 26 cars, this year we've got 17 cars confirmed now but I'm positive the number is over 20 and growing. Oh yeah, I guess I should tell you a little about the run and what its all about and where it is, check this out!

Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap, motorcycle and sport car two lane tourism serving Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap, Cherohala Skyway, Moonshiner28, Devils Triangle, and Six Gap North Georgia. This is the official website for all things Dragon related. Our run first started here, The Contour Enthusiasts Group and has since grown to XceedSpeed where our "home base" is actually at now, but info can be had at those 2 sites, along with Unofficial Honda FIT and Honda Jazz Forum, the Fit guys showed up huge last year, a total of 7 cars from that forum showed up. Our group has all types of cars, ages, backgrounds, etc. The place we're staying is Dragon Pit Inn right on route 129 aka "The Dragon", its our first time at this place. We used to stay at Caney Creek Village in Tellico Plains Tennessee. Caney Creek is on the other side of the Cherahola Skyway or about 65 miles away from where we're staying now. CCV is only 3.5 miles away from where the Cherahola Skyway starts and that road leads right to the Dragon, its a 57 mile road that goes through the mountains, goes up 1 mile high elevation and has large, sweeping turns that are every bit as fun as the 318 turns the Dragon has, yeah I said it right....THREE HUNDERED AND EIGHTEEN TURNS in just 11 miles! Now that I've got your attention, if your into driving your car, I mean DRIVING your car, this is THE place to go, atleast once in your lifetime, I've been going every year since 2003.

A little info about the roads themselves, the Cherahola in particular, ITS NO JOKE OUT THERE! The turns out there can be deceiving and can bite you in the ass if yoru not careful, many of the shoulders go down pretty far, guardrails aren't everywhere on the road and there's one section of the road where its 9% grade going downhill coming from Tellico, this is on the North Carolina side of the mountain, gotta becareful out there for sure. I'm not trying to scare anyone but just informing you. You can go to YouTube and see vids and get an idea about it and that's fine, but know this, when your out there doing it, its a whole different deal altogether........lots of fun though! Then there's the Dragon, while driving on route 129 out of Robinsville all seems to be ok, or so you think but then you notice a huge dam on your right as your cross a bridge and make a right turn that seems to go straight up in the air......this is where the fun begins! You continue up the hill where the road gets twisty right away and a little further down the road you'll see Deal's Gap motorcycle resort on your right, you might wanna stop in there and check things out, get a drink and some shirts, etc but if not, continue up the hill and cross back into Tenn and ITS ON, I MEAN ITS ON!!!! The turns seem to never stop, this is where you've gotta watch your speed and PLEASE, stay in your lane, its narrow out there and with so many blind corners, one minute there's nothing there and then a pack of bikes will appear, surely they're aware of cars for sure, with them being so much larger, even our cars are huge to them. There's nowhere to really turn around out there and more importantly, no side roads to surprise you with a car/bike coming out of nowhere, that's a great thing about the road. About 3/4 of the way through the Dragon there's a small, rock wall on each side of the road where you can park, if its not filled with bikes or other cars and you can stop there and catch your breathe. Continue down the road and the fun keeps coming, the surface here is a bit smoother and finally you'll end up coming to a clearing on the right where there's plenty of parking or you can turn around and do it all over again right away, I suggest you give the car and yourself a break though, you'll need it, trust me! I know what your thinking at this point, where's the cops at, right? Well, they're out there, local sheriff's and state troopers, cars and bikes but there's not alot of places for them to park but they usually find those places and park there. In my years of going down there, I don't see them do this too much but that's not to say you don't have to look for them, along with paying attention to the curves for that matter. Noone in our group has ever gotten a ticket, you've gotta stay in your lane and don't be an idiot, common sense goes a loooooooooooong way out there. The best way to avoid the cops out there completely is the night run, yes, running the road at night. Now you might be thinking, no biggie, there's street lights....NO! There's NO lights from anywhere other then the stars and moon and that also makes for a great setting out there, spectacular. I've done the night run the past 2 years and its been breath-taking, I just follow my buddy in his modded Mazdaspeed 3, so its not like I'm going to run into him with my car, LOL! You need to drive with your brights on for sure, you can't see around the turns because its so dark, so you've gotta pay attention to ony what's infront of you, but in my case I've got led tails to follow, along with his headlights, so being the 2nd car is best IMO.

So, if this is something you'd be interesting in attending with a bunch of car guys we'd love to have you out with us. The place we're staying at got booked up fast, so there's no room there but Caney Creek Village in Tellico Plains Tennessee is the place to stay. If you do infact do this, I'll do whatever I've gotta do to help things along as far setting up a meeting spot that's easy. I know its going to be new for anyone going for the first time but here's the thing, you only take 2 roads to get there, out of Tellico the Skyway is route 165, turns into 143 once you cross into North Carolina and you then make a left turn onto route 129, that's it! Now, if you've got any questions or there's people who've already been there (I know we've got locals here who've gone) please post away your questions and info, I wanna see you out there with us, the more the merrier.....for the most part

Caney Creek Village in Tellico Plains, Tennessee and if you get a room there, tell Dixie, the owner, your friends with "Roger from Deeetroit", even though I'm in Chicago now. Also, if you wanna meet the other guys doing the run, check out XceedSpeed and go to events and look for the Dragon run thread, thanks!

Klasse Act · 07-11-2012, 11:07 PM

Really, 23 views and no interest? I really didn't know where to post this but I thought with it being on the border of Tenn/N.C. it was the right spot. We've got people coming from Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky and other states possibly so far.

CrzyKly · 07-12-2012, 08:33 AM

I already have vacation plans that weekend, otherwise I'd love to join

Klasse Act · 07-12-2012, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrzyKly

I already have vacation plans that weekend, otherwise I'd love to join

Its ok, there will be the 11th annual run next year

I see your in Ohio, have you ever been on the "triple nickel"?

B-rad · 07-12-2012, 10:25 AM

Klasse I'm going to try and make it this year

CrzyKly · 07-12-2012, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klasse Act

I see your in Ohio, have you ever been on the "triple nickel"?

never even heard of it,... google'd it - it's pretty close to me - I'll have to check it out one weekend this summer. thx for the tip!

Carzee · 07-12-2012, 10:54 AM

I may be down, I'm driving there first weekend of August. I'd have to see how the money and time off situation would be later down the road. Also that's a lot of miles for the z to drive in one year.

cyeung · 07-12-2012, 11:09 AM

I'm looking to make it up there on the first or second weekend myself. Barring any changes, my schedule looks like this:

Friday, Aug. 3 - Arrive and take familiarization laps. Stay for an evening.
Saturday, Aug. 4 - Take laps, then go home.

Carzee · 07-12-2012, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyeung

I'm looking to make it up there on the first or second weekend myself. Barring any changes, my schedule looks like this:

Friday, Aug. 3 - Arrive and take familiarization laps. Stay for an evening.
Saturday, Aug. 4 - Take laps, then go home.

Ill be there august 1-5th. I wont thread jack, but hit me up in a pm, might be able to get together and cruise a bit

91CRXTC · 07-12-2012, 03:21 PM

Bit too far for me, would like some more local trips though.

07-11-2012, 09:49 AM	#1 (permalink)
Klasse Act Super Duper Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Elk Grove Village, USA Posts: 1,559	2012 Fall Dragon Run Oct 11th thru 14th First off I know I should've posted this sooner but I never got around to it so to that I say I'm sorry. I'm balancing this run on 3 different car forums and I've been setting this up since 2003 where we had 3 of us total and 2 years ago we had a total of 26 cars, this year we've got 17 cars confirmed now but I'm positive the number is over 20 and growing. Oh yeah, I guess I should tell you a little about the run and what its all about and where it is, check this out! Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap, motorcycle and sport car two lane tourism serving Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap, Cherohala Skyway, Moonshiner28, Devils Triangle, and Six Gap North Georgia. This is the official website for all things Dragon related. Our run first started here, The Contour Enthusiasts Group and has since grown to XceedSpeed where our "home base" is actually at now, but info can be had at those 2 sites, along with Unofficial Honda FIT and Honda Jazz Forum, the Fit guys showed up huge last year, a total of 7 cars from that forum showed up. Our group has all types of cars, ages, backgrounds, etc. The place we're staying is Dragon Pit Inn right on route 129 aka "The Dragon", its our first time at this place. We used to stay at Caney Creek Village in Tellico Plains Tennessee. Caney Creek is on the other side of the Cherahola Skyway or about 65 miles away from where we're staying now. CCV is only 3.5 miles away from where the Cherahola Skyway starts and that road leads right to the Dragon, its a 57 mile road that goes through the mountains, goes up 1 mile high elevation and has large, sweeping turns that are every bit as fun as the 318 turns the Dragon has, yeah I said it right....THREE HUNDERED AND EIGHTEEN TURNS in just 11 miles! Now that I've got your attention, if your into driving your car, I mean DRIVING your car, this is THE place to go, atleast once in your lifetime, I've been going every year since 2003. A little info about the roads themselves, the Cherahola in particular, ITS NO JOKE OUT THERE! The turns out there can be deceiving and can bite you in the ass if yoru not careful, many of the shoulders go down pretty far, guardrails aren't everywhere on the road and there's one section of the road where its 9% grade going downhill coming from Tellico, this is on the North Carolina side of the mountain, gotta becareful out there for sure. I'm not trying to scare anyone but just informing you. You can go to YouTube and see vids and get an idea about it and that's fine, but know this, when your out there doing it, its a whole different deal altogether........lots of fun though! Then there's the Dragon, while driving on route 129 out of Robinsville all seems to be ok, or so you think but then you notice a huge dam on your right as your cross a bridge and make a right turn that seems to go straight up in the air......this is where the fun begins! You continue up the hill where the road gets twisty right away and a little further down the road you'll see Deal's Gap motorcycle resort on your right, you might wanna stop in there and check things out, get a drink and some shirts, etc but if not, continue up the hill and cross back into Tenn and ITS ON, I MEAN ITS ON!!!! The turns seem to never stop, this is where you've gotta watch your speed and PLEASE, stay in your lane, its narrow out there and with so many blind corners, one minute there's nothing there and then a pack of bikes will appear, surely they're aware of cars for sure, with them being so much larger, even our cars are huge to them. There's nowhere to really turn around out there and more importantly, no side roads to surprise you with a car/bike coming out of nowhere, that's a great thing about the road. About 3/4 of the way through the Dragon there's a small, rock wall on each side of the road where you can park, if its not filled with bikes or other cars and you can stop there and catch your breathe. Continue down the road and the fun keeps coming, the surface here is a bit smoother and finally you'll end up coming to a clearing on the right where there's plenty of parking or you can turn around and do it all over again right away, I suggest you give the car and yourself a break though, you'll need it, trust me! I know what your thinking at this point, where's the cops at, right? Well, they're out there, local sheriff's and state troopers, cars and bikes but there's not alot of places for them to park but they usually find those places and park there. In my years of going down there, I don't see them do this too much but that's not to say you don't have to look for them, along with paying attention to the curves for that matter. Noone in our group has ever gotten a ticket, you've gotta stay in your lane and don't be an idiot, common sense goes a loooooooooooong way out there. The best way to avoid the cops out there completely is the night run, yes, running the road at night. Now you might be thinking, no biggie, there's street lights....NO! There's NO lights from anywhere other then the stars and moon and that also makes for a great setting out there, spectacular. I've done the night run the past 2 years and its been breath-taking, I just follow my buddy in his modded Mazdaspeed 3, so its not like I'm going to run into him with my car, LOL! You need to drive with your brights on for sure, you can't see around the turns because its so dark, so you've gotta pay attention to ony what's infront of you, but in my case I've got led tails to follow, along with his headlights, so being the 2nd car is best IMO. So, if this is something you'd be interesting in attending with a bunch of car guys we'd love to have you out with us. The place we're staying at got booked up fast, so there's no room there but Caney Creek Village in Tellico Plains Tennessee is the place to stay. If you do infact do this, I'll do whatever I've gotta do to help things along as far setting up a meeting spot that's easy. I know its going to be new for anyone going for the first time but here's the thing, you only take 2 roads to get there, out of Tellico the Skyway is route 165, turns into 143 once you cross into North Carolina and you then make a left turn onto route 129, that's it! Now, if you've got any questions or there's people who've already been there (I know we've got locals here who've gone) please post away your questions and info, I wanna see you out there with us, the more the merrier.....for the most part Caney Creek Village in Tellico Plains, Tennessee and if you get a room there, tell Dixie, the owner, your friends with "Roger from Deeetroit", even though I'm in Chicago now. Also, if you wanna meet the other guys doing the run, check out XceedSpeed and go to events and look for the Dragon run thread, thanks! __________________ 2011 CR-Z EX 6MT/SSM/K&N typhoon/"mufflerless" exhaust 17" MB Weapons/225-45 Conti DWS/lots of "little" mods Paint surface protection count...(83-37)

07-11-2012, 11:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
Klasse Act Super Duper Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Elk Grove Village, USA Posts: 1,559	Really, 23 views and no interest? I really didn't know where to post this but I thought with it being on the border of Tenn/N.C. it was the right spot. We've got people coming from Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky and other states possibly so far. __________________ 2011 CR-Z EX 6MT/SSM/K&N typhoon/"mufflerless" exhaust 17" MB Weapons/225-45 Conti DWS/lots of "little" mods Paint surface protection count...(83-37)

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07-12-2012, 10:25 AM	#5 (permalink)
B-rad Super Duper Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: aurora, il Posts: 1,511	Klasse I'm going to try and make it this year

07-12-2012, 10:54 AM	#7 (permalink)
Carzee CRZ-FORUM HATER Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 708	I may be down, I'm driving there first weekend of August. I'd have to see how the money and time off situation would be later down the road. Also that's a lot of miles for the z to drive in one year.

07-12-2012, 03:21 PM	#10 (permalink)
91CRXTC Super Duper Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Suffolk Long Island NY Posts: 1,639	Bit too far for me, would like some more local trips though.