SUNDAY

just motored back from the Dragon and had a great time. the rain all day saturday was a bit of a drag (and put a dent in my t-shirt sales), but nonetheless, i met a lot of great people.

two events really made it special for me:
1) the drive-in movie. first, I love Cars and second, I can't remember when i last went to a drive-in movie. to do it in my favorite car and have other minis around was a blast. the organization of it was great... perfect screen, picture and sound

2) the midnight dragon drive... and no, I didn't drive it, but I was a passenger with a fantastic driver who really showed me what these cars (and mine) are capable of.
some backstory...

this past WEDNESDAY

i motored over to Fontana for my first time this past wednesday. I didn't leave Memphis until 5 p.m., which meant I hit Rt. 129 at about 12:00 or 12:30. It was dark and there were no other cars on the road. and, one other thing... I didn't realize I had to drive the Dragon to get to Fontana!!

anyway, i was tired by the time I was "on" the Dragon and actually got a bit car sick driving it, so I pulled over. I thought, this is pretty tough... I wonder what the Dragon is like?

I made it to the cabin and all was fine (except I made the people I was sharing a cabin with stay up late - sorry!) the next day, I was talking with some friends and they said:
- "uh... you were on the dragon."
- I said... "are you sure?"
- "Yes," they assured me.

I was still skeptical, but after checking the map and talking to others, I realized I had indeed driven the Dragon... granted I was doing it at about 20 mph, in the dark, with a sick stomach and tired!

since I was a vendor at the event, I didn't spend any time on Thurs-Sat. driving. I was at my spot selling t-shirts. that was great and I met a lot of nice people, but eventually I'll go back as an attendee to motor around the rest of the area.

SATURDAY NIGHT

on Sat. night, looking for something to do, I met up with some of my club members (midsouthminiacs.com) and they encouraged me to go on the midnight drive. I said no way! I wasn't confident enough to drive it and definitely not with lots of other MINIs on it. I also mentioned how I had gotten car sick just driving it in. Eventually, they offered a dramamine and said I should go along as a passenger, but they didn't pressure me, which was great.

I thought about it for a while, took the pill and then decided to do it.

It was a BLAST! the fellow club member I was riding with was a great driver and he never flinched. very confident and good driver. for some naive reason, I had no idea that people drove the dragon... well, let's say, that aggressively.... yes, I'm clueless as i realize that's the reason for the event... anwyay, it was a lot of fun, and I didn't get carsick... either because he was a great driver, or the pill or because of his heated seats. people had decorated their cars with lots of cool glow-in-the-dark sticks, as well as some cool magnetic lights. and I really enjoyed getting to the end, where everyone lifted their bonnets to shine their headlights in the sky. I saw someone overheating... hope that was fixed okay. then we motored back to Fontana .... another great neck-snapping, twisties ride.

special thanks to my friend... a great driver... and fellow club members who encouraged me. i am really glad I did not miss this. i learned what these cars are capable of and how well they are engineered for this exact type of road. the tires just stick to the pavement. incredible. and had a nice ride through the night with the sunroof and windows down.

so the last part of the story... today I had to drive home and go through the Dragon again. I was a bit worried. I had a great time as a passenger, but I was less confident as a driver. and I figured there would be lots of drivers doing their last Dragon run. I hoped that there wouldn't be many people on the Dragon when I left. I tried to get up early and go, but didn't get going until about 8:15. fortunately, there weren't too many people, so I got some practice on the road from Fontana to Deal's Gap (which is a pretty fun part in itself). there was one guy behind me, somewhat close, but I think I kept a decent pace. I pulled over at the Deal's Gap gas station to let him pass, but I think he went inside.

So I started on the Dragon. It was a real challenge for me, but it truly showed me how responsive these cars are. eventually, I slowed because of a non-MINI driver in front of me who was taking it easy. however, the guy behind me showed up again and was somewhat insistent that I... move along. the car in front of me pulled over and so did I, then the MINI behind me passed and I went on behind him. I followed him for a bit, but then he disappeared and I just took my time, learning to shift when i needed to and watching the road closely. there really wasn't much other traffic in either direction, so that made things better and the day was beautiful... a bit overcast, but nice.

eventually I see the other MINI driver in front of me. I couldn't believe I had caught up with him, but it turns out there was another, non-MINI driver in front of him taking his time. and this is the only part of the story that makes me a bit mad... the MINI driver was right on the other car's tail and stayed that way for a long bit before the other driver finally pulled off. I realize the other driver could have pulled off sooner, but I think that tailgating a non-aggressive driver is not a way to shed good light on MINI drivers (or others driving the Dragon) anyway, the MINI guy blasted off and I never saw him again.

I realize people want to drive the Dragon and have fun with their MINIs, but intimidating other drivers isn't a great thing to do. end of sermon.

at some point I got behind another non-MINI driver who was taking their time and I decided to do the same and that was just as nice too.

hopefully non of what I mentioned here disagrees with the site guidelines... if it does, please let me know and I will edit.

thanks again to everyone I met and for a nice time. it was fun to finally see what "real" twisties are like!

Max

 

Very nice post

And for the person who was tailgaiting the other car, he is very lucky the car in front did not have road rage and the thing turn into an ugly event

Drivers like that give everyone a bad name.

 

Awesome post..
I was a Dragon Virgin, until this weekend. It was amazingly awesome, and I cannnot wait until next year. Is it time yet? Driving the Dragon Friday morning, with all those other awesome cars, just . whats the word? AWESOME.
When I pulled down to the lower dam, and saw that line of beautiful mini's ready to roll. I was like a kid in a candy store. Each car, made my eyes widen, pointing at different things. I had a bad case of the iwantitis. I met so many friendly people, who offered advice, and gave me so many ideas, I don't know what I want to do first.. oh yeah i do.. go to work, make more money and get out there motoring.
I had my car blinged out by Aesthetic Creations. Ohhh AHHH sweet! I orginally was going to call the car Ruffcat.. but.. its been dubbed..
The Union Jackie..
Thanks everyone for a great weekend, can't wait to do it again!
The Union Jackie
aka, teamruffcat

 

Thanks for the kind words! Tar Heel MINI Motoring Club worked all year to make this event happen and having it come off without a hitch and great weather made it a blast for us to do! I think we had 108 MINIs and the final total that we generated to give to Camp Carefree is $2277

Thanks again to everyone who made it great!

 

mini_dreams - it was great meeting you - glad you got to enjoy a drive back on the Dragon - just takes some practice to get your confidence up - I've been "training" pretty hard for the past few months to be ready - and was completely comfortable both Friday and at the Midnight run - but that's after a LOT of hard twisty miles on my own. Just takes practice. If you want to be my co-pilot next year, you're welcome in my car.

And if you're up to driving at Midnight, I'll be happy to follow you - or you can try to follow me.

 

Great Post and close to my own experiences as a newbie on the Dragon! Also, great T-Shirts, I wore my MINIAC home!

 

Wow...great write-up! You make me want to be there even more than I did already. I hope that the planets align properly and that my husband and I can drive our MINIs cross country and experience this with everyone next year.

 

thanks!

thanks lilruffcat! i think i may have seen your MINI... any pics?

you are welcome... i couldn't remember which club had sponsored it (just my brain) but I'm glad you chimed in... i love when events are well organized and the fact that so many of these events were for charity makes it even more enjoyable. and yes, the weather was PERFECT! - congrats on raising so much!

great to meet you too, Blimey... hopefully we can spend more time talking next year!

your family looked so happy in the MINI at the drive in, but they were mysteriously absent on the midnight drive! I do need practice... i realized it only takes about 7 hours to get over to the dragon... maybe a long weekend ... I better check the schedule first. I saw lots of Audis coming in as I was leaving.

thanks and glad you liked the shirt!

it is worth the trip... although I do love PCH1 up by Big Sur, too... i drove that in a toyota corolla automatic ()... would love to do it in a MINI with a stick. the stick makes such a difference!

 

oh no! how could I forget... the 3rd thing that was SO great at the Dragon...

3) bamaTT's Not So Welcome Dinner!!!!! it was great!

perhaps i forgot it because it was earlier in the week (Thurs)... but it was FANTASTIC. the food was amazing... everything I ate was yummy. i think there might have been a few leftovers

and i met bamaTT... great to meet you! thanks for such an inspired idea and for pulling it off so well. this will probably be more popular than the regular welcome dinner.

 

What time were you on the Dragon? I think I may have met your MINI "friend" as well.

I'm a non-MINI driver, but I was attending with my best friend who IS a MINI driver. Unfortunately, last night I broke a shock driving back to our campsite because I couldn't see a pothole in time due to the fog and nailed it square with the right front. Only took about two turns on 28 to figure out what was wrong. Between that and the left front rotor that I managed to warp this weekend, I had to nurse my car home from Fontana, so needless to say, my last Dragon run wasn't a very "fun" one (could I have possibly picked a WORSE road to have a suspension AND brake problem???).

I DO think I ran into your little friend on the road down, certainly sounds like the same guy. On 28 I saw them ahead of me, one guy pulled over for him, the next car he didn't wait for them to find a place to pull off so he whipped around them on one of the short straights halfway on the wrong side of the road, then I think he dropped off at the gas station there at 28 & 129. Eventually he ended up behind me coming back down the dragon. I would say I was still driving spiritedly, but not nearly pushing the car due to the issues I was having. He came right up so close I thought he was going to hit me, then dropped back. Ironically dropped back out of sight right when I had a chance to pull off, I had planned on taking the next little pull-off, but when I didn't see him I just kept going only to have a mirror full of him two turns later. At that point he got downright agressive about pushing me through the turns, to the point I thought I was going to get hit. With the busted strut and sub-par braking, I nearly ended up in a ditch, finally pulled off at the first possible area and he flew past me and onto the bumper of the MINI in front of me.

It's all good though, I know quite a few MINI people and I know it's not a reflection of ANY other MINI driver I've EVER met, but it definitely wasn't a pleasant experience...especially after seeing the MINI flipped over in a ditch just a day earlier.

As for the event, I completely agree with what Max said, even though I'm not a MINI owner, it was a great time and really cool to see all the different MINIs out and about on the Dragon. You're all a fun group to hang out with and it's really cool to see a group of SO MANY car enthusiasts all together in one place!!! Even with the rain and fog and overcast skies, I still had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed putting my car to the test (well, until it broke that is) on the Dragon.

 

Great Post and as someone who wants to very badly go to the Dragon, this just makes me want to go that much more.

 

Aww thanks you are sooo sweet I enjoyed the NSW Dinner so much that I wanna try & do it again next year. I really enjoyed the casual, laid back atmosphere where everyone could just sit around & gab. It was great meeting 60 or so new friends Plus, YAY!! we made 3-1/2 puppies futures very happy

 

Nice thread Mini Dreams. Thanks.

 

Well, I too was a Dragon virgin until this weekend.
I loved your post and share much of your experiences.
I admit this though, being a passenger first almost made me not drive it myself. I was so nauseous from the ride. My first ride was in my daugther's GP. She had been on the Dragon before.. many times in fact.. so she knew what she was doing. Unfortunately for both of us I didn't handle it well. My stomach ..... Seriously... Granted, I was on medication that was making me sick WAY WAY before I even set out from Ohio to make the trip - but still!

I did drive my little blackeyedsuzie on friday though. Totally glad I did. Totally different experience as a driver. Still a little sick to my stomach though.

I wasn't going to go simply because I didn't want to taunt the ... aggressive drivers up there. I knew I wouldn't drive her as hard as they and I didn't want to get all fired up being afraid ..... to drive my car hard.... to pull off the road in the middle of the MINIMADNESS....
I ended up doing just that, but I obviously did just fine.
So far as I know there were no accidents from our group the whole weekend.

I even drove it on Saturday Morning in the pouring rain! I took it easy for the most part drifting only on a couple of turns.
Go ahead and laugh ... but for me.... It was a white knuckle experience.
My sister would have been freaked yelling I have serious thrill issues.
The best part of the weekend by far was all the great people. MINIs are all about the smile factor and so it was great to meet all the people that have the same love of their cars and OF Other MINIs as well. I Love how interested everyone is in each others stuff just as much as they love their own car. Whether you are MODed out or just love it the way it came, Drive it like ya stole it, or just enjoy being in the seat daily .. Everyone I met was Super Friendly, Very Kind, Very personable, Just can't say enough about everyone I met. The Detriot Krew... The Atlanta Crew... The GP Krew... Ya'll just rocked! My local car club is not the best group of people. Very CLicky. My Soninlaw has a perfect name for them.... HATERS... pretty much describes how the lion's share of them behave. I haven't met up with the MINI group in my area yet though. They always meet when I can't make it. Some where there but I never got to talk with them. Just saw them zoom by while we sat on top on Friday morning the Ohio Adoptee and the AtlantaKrew. I have met the MIDOHIO peeps and they are a great group! I spent all my time with the AtlantaMINIs and they are the bombdiggity. KARL ... a true diamond of a guy. I wish my husband could have come and experienced them... Just can't say enough about how friendly everyone is.
I did get one of my MODs installed and added eyes under the bonnet. Very Fun. Thanks to Whalen... Give a shout out to the guys at Way Motor Works... They are a fantastic group of guys.

In short Even the Girly Virgin of the Dragon got a little taste of man'in up in my MCSJCW04. Not like some of them, but I conquer my first time. Next year I will be more confident... especially since I handled the driving rain on the mountain!

My Only Regret was not getting registered in time and missing out on the T-Shirt to commemorate my first year with all you fine folks. I did get other gear but would have liked to have a MOTD5 shirt. So if ya know of anyone looking to sell a Medium... Drop me a line...

See ya'll next year!