Hey all, I wanted to go to the Tail of The Dragon with everyone this year, but by the time I got my MINI (Nov.20th) the rooms were sold out or were high priced.

I also had to use up 2010 “Vacation days” before the end of March so… I also wanted to get fitted for a MC jacket down in VA…
I’ll describe the trip in more detail in another post but just about the Dragon here…

What can I say “Holy Crap” ….
This might be a little embarrassing. When I finally made it into the Deals Gap area I wasn’t sure what to expect but the weather was great (77* sunny Sat 3/19/11) it was just getting late..4ish..
I got on the road and it started out curvy but not too bad as I went along it was a little bit more challenging..some of the turns jumped out at me but when I got to the end I said..gee that wasn’t too bad, what was everyone talking about..?
I went a bit further then I found some really tight turns at 20mph.. and said humm ok..
But then I came upon The Dragon Inn (no Chinese food here) at Deals Gap.. with the Tree of Shame out front..
When I pulled up I noticed a bunch of bikes both sport and cruisers.. I spoke to someone inside and they pointed and said “that is the Dragon…” what I thought was 129 was actually 128… opps no wonder why it was easy…
I quickly ate my late lunch and said now’s the time…
Climbed in my MINI started up and put on the sport button..I figured I needed the torque to get me though the turns…

Did you guys know there are no guard rails on most of the run.. and 200’ drop offs?

Well lets say I got a bit spirited driving on my first run..I came upon a cruiser who was enjoying a more relaxed pace.. I didn’t want to push him so I backed off, then a sport bike with 2up on it was on my boot….
The cruiser pulled off, I took off with the sport bike up my boot… he had to back off on some of the turns… The speed limit was 20 -30mph. I know at some points torqueing through the turns at 42-45.. I had to pull over..It was getting rough.. I let the sport bike go.. the girl on the bike waved and yelled “nice car”..

When I got to the end or was it the beginning (TN side) I pulled into the parking area, the sport bike was pulled over so I went to chat with them..

He came over and with his Southern accent “ooooohhhh eeeee boy that dem car handled like it was on rails… oooohh eee… It was handling better then my bike in some of dem turns..” ..

I told him that was my first run at it and I was getting car sick…at that point his friend pulled up on a bike and he told him how he couldn’t believe how my MINI handled…

[Even though I was a bit uneasy with my gut… I had to do the Dragon again… it was a long trip down there…

Going back I did pull over a few times..to take pictures and settle my stomach..There were two guys on bicycles on there.. I told them they were nuts… a sport bike almost lost it when he ran up on them in a turn he went on the other side of the yellow…that could have been ugly….

I made it back to the Inn and let myself calm down and 2 guys came over to talk to me about my MINI…. We spoke for a while and I told them I was going on to TN for the night where is a good place the night as it was starting to get dark.. they said Knoxville… I didn’t want to go through the Dragon again …if I did it was about 60 miles away..if I want to avoid it 158…guess what.. I did the Dragon a third time… this time a little slower… I got to the end, I LOST IT… (my lunch that is)…don’t worry I got pics..and no, I was able to do it outside the car… felt better….

I went with the intention to see what it was all about, but also to case out motels in the area..to get one cheap for next year…

I don’t think I’ll be going back
I haven’t thrown up in years..I don’t remember the last time… that wasn’t fun…

But the road was challenging I did enjoy it…

I’ll write up elsewhere about my whole trip and I’ll try to link up pics to a Kodak album..(might take a while)

Good luck and have fun, to you who are going in April. It would have been more fun with other MINIs but.. that’s life…

Dave

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Excellent story. Though the pic of the puke was a little too far...

 

Dragon Rule #1: Dont cross the double yellow lines
Dragon Rule #2: Do it on a empty stomach


All my friends laughed when my response to "How was the Dragon?" was "I didnt throw up, yay me!".

 

Doing it on an empty stomach is always good, my first year I was a passenger,and I can tell you I feel you pain!! Luckly i didn't throw up but I was trying real hard not to, I think my dad would have killed me if I puked in the car!! But once I started driving it myself it wasn't as bad, the CG lock on my seat belt definately helped!! And this year I have a harness so hopefully it'll help even more!!

Great story, I think the puke pics really complete it!!

 

You guys are not making it easy for a newbie to get excited about going!

 

o youll be fine!! but i would suggest that for your first run, do it on an empty stomach, so you can judge how your stomach is going to handle the twisties!! And if your really that worried about motion sickness i would strongly suggest purchasing a CG lock for your seat beat, the less your flung around the car the better!!

 

I'm more worried about getting sick from other people being sick around me than the motion sickness... I've never had any issues with motion sickness but seeing someone else sick makes me feel ill.

 

Well for the past 4 years I've heard plenty of stories of people puking but never actually SAW anybody puke!! So you should be ok!

 

I might buy a few of those Sea Band things just in case. If my bf gets sick in my MINI again, I'll kill him. (We had a bit of a drunk + twisties incident last year... my car was only a month old )

 

That's a good idea, its usually worst for passengers, if my bf every puked in my MINI I'd prob kill him, that's y were gonna take his MINI to the brewery lunch drive so if he pukes on the way back at least it'll be in his own car lol

 

We were on our way out in 2008, my 9 y/o son in the R53 MCS back seat, towing the Brave little Trailer, 4 of us in the Mini. Having driven the Dragon several times that trip, and this being the "on our way home fully loaded up" run, I was driving well, but not pushing it too hard. We let a spiritedly-driven Clubbie S cruise by, and about a mile later, about a mile before the Overlook but 10' PAST the last pulloff, my 9 y/o announces he's...
Not Feeling Well.
At all.
Please hurry Daddy.
I'm gonna hurl.
Please Daddy.
My Fully Laden R53, 4 people on board, Brave Little Trailer a'drifting out back, tracked down the Clubbie and had a QUITE spirited drive to the Overlook, (never crossing the double yellow), and aforementioned 9 y/o anointed the backside of the stone wall - but NOT THE MINI.

This year the family schedule says I'm batchin' it.

Three rules of Dragon Club:
- Never Cross The Double Yellow, EVER. (google "Fail of the Dragon - find yourself there and cringe, ye swine)
- Triple check the car: gas, air, tires, brakes, etc
- Prepare yourself: driving skills, don't go after a double cheese chili dog, no beer-then-drive, EVER.