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I have a world class bug collection. Hundreds sacrificed themselves to Gollum's bumper traveling at 117 feet per second - young and old, large and small. Now spider fodder. That'll happen on a road trip.
I left Saturday morning, from Gloucester where there are buds and a few blossoms, but where it is still early Spring at the end of April. With my usual enthusiasm and with only light traffic, I made it to Salem Virginia before stopping, which is a bit south of Roanoke. Salem, VA
Sunday morning, refreshed by the hospitality of a Super 8 room, Gollum and I closed the remaining distance, arriving in Marysville Tennessee around 10 am.
I was delighted to discover that although we arrived a day early, that Dennis and Jane (proprietors of the Dragon Pit Inn and Barbecue) had a room for me, so I gave Gollum a bit of a bath and headed south to renew my relationship with the Dragon. The Overlook, at the north end
From Sunday through Tuesday, Gollum and I did the Dragon shuffle, the boogie, but never the bump.
The three wheeled boogie
I spared a few lives in that interval, which is why one does not push too hard. In the first case I came around a downhill tight right hander onto a short straight, to find a bike in my lane trying to pass three cars in the opposite direction. Fortunately for him I had two feet of dirt to my right which I used to open a gap for him.
Then there's the standard of a rider exiting a turn coming at me and crossing the center line. Spared him.
Then there was the bike that decided to leave a lot on the left hand side of the road above the Chilhowie dam without a good look - and headed for my cross hairs as I passed by at 65. I stopped.
Tree of Shame - Deals Gap
Mishaps occur though, it being the nature of the beast.. Someone managed to stuff a C Class Mercedes into the ditch, and someone else dropped a shiny Harley bagger. In both cases no injuries, which is to be grateful for.
Did I mention there was a gathering of antique motorcycles down in Deal's Gap? Remember the seventies folks?
Immaculately restored Suzuki
My favorite odd duck was a Yamaha four-stroke 350cc twin - with a TURBO!
Great bit of creative plumbing
Monday I had the good fortune to fall in with three old farts in fast cars. One of these gents was a NOLA and PCA driving instructor, and all three were quick. Nice to see the C6 and Z06 well used as intended.
Fast company
Wednesday was the start of Minis on the Dragon 2018 down in Fontana, so Gollum and I went down to the resort to see who was appearing. Best costume goes to this young lady...
Bloody marvelous
Fontana dam is the highest in the Tennessee Valley system...
Gollum and I left Thursday morning at 4 am, and I walked into the Crows Nest in Gloucester at 8 pm the same evening - 1,000 miles in 16 hours, no sweat.
Gollum never put a foot wrong, and the exhilaration of running that road in 3rd gear just never gets old.
Front tires (@ 34 degrees) were 31 psi, and rears were 34 psi.
Four hours later at the Overlook, with the air temp at 70, and tire surface temp at 100 degrees...
Front tires were 41 psi, and rears were also at 41 psi.
Conveniently self adjusting - just add heat.
Lifetime MPG for the car was 28.6 coming south, and had fallen to 28.3 by the time I got home. One day I burned a whole tank of gas without leaving the Dragon...
Rode and dumped several bikes, one on the road. People say a man cannot fly, well sorry that is not correct as I did. God only knows why I am still here today typing away on this thread. I had a three fold wallet in my pocket that day, was a one fold when I got done touching back down from flying.
Quite happy with sticking to four wheels for the last 46 years.
Which is of course from the Latin - "to sleep". This summer has seen the greatest number of hours of oppressive humidity in meteorological records. One must adapt.
While I wish fervently for the safety, enjoyment, and success of the 70 drivers from New England Region now headed for Lincoln Nebraska, and while I look forward to vicariously watching the Solo Nationals unfold, Gollum and I have stopped racing.
After last year's hiatus, when I returned to two events this year my passion had abated, and my fires were banked. So be it - as Brian Levesque teaches - "If you aren't having fun, you are doing it wrong". I had 15 years with four Minis, and enjoyed every mile and every minute.
But Gollum's and my love affair persists unabated, it is just a more relaxed routine - putting around Cape Anne early in the morning, or ranging up to the White Mountains or the Maine coast as impulse dictates.
Gollum's 1st birthday is right around now, we've put about 22k on the odometer, and I still take joy in following a winding road, snicking through the gears, or squeezing those amazing Brembos. It just doesn't get old.
I expect we shall have to go back to the Dragon before snow flies - we shall see.
Sorry to hear that Charlie. But, like you said, when it becomes more like a chore rather than fun it’s probably time to take a step back. Glad you’re still enjoying the JCW. Tar Heel Minis have two events in the NC mountains this fall in case you’re interested. September is MINIPalooza in the Mountains and October is Minis Slay the Sleeping Dragon.
Well, not racing does not mean not driving. I just returned from the Tail of the Dragon. Southbound the remnants of Florence tried to drown me in Pennsylvania, but not successfully.
Dennis and Jane received me to their warm hospitality at the Dragon Pit Inn and Barbecue as usual, along with their attendant crew of hummingbirds. Arriving mid-day Tuesday I washed the car an embarked on what would turn out to be only a day and a half on the Dragon.
Gollum likes the Dragon, and we had many runs, a few of them memorable and none of them scary. No mistakes, no close calls, and thankfully no other folks needed my forbearance. But then there was the rattle!
Which was loud, seemed to occupy the right rear, and eroded my confidence in the chassis as soon as it appeared.
So I came home yesterday, a straight run from 17 hours over a distance of 1,200 miles or so. And stopped by the shop this morning.
And my main man, Joel DeCoff - chief wrench at Mini of Peabody and the unofficial crew chief for Gollum made the fix, bless his heart.
The new end links (another story) for the NM Engineering bar were the culprit, and so we remounted them, with more torque on the lower mount torx fasteners, and Lock-Tite. Now the car is quiet again thank God.
And in the meanwhile I decided to put the Dinan tune on the car, after Joel explained his experience with that product.
And now the 6th gear roll-on is truly impressive. Wanna go from 70 to 100? No problem, just push the pedal and count to five.
I have spent a year of Sundays driving two of the greatest roads on the planet.
1980/1981 I lived in Melbourne Australia, and took a 1000 cc Suzuki out on the Great Ocean Road with a tribe of crazy and wonderful riders - mostly out of Geelong.
1987/1988 I lived in Mill Valley CA, and rode the Pacific Coast Highway up to Point Reyes every Sunday.
Both routes are breathtaking, challenging, and immortal for riders that are truly serious.
The Dragon is quite different.
Beautiful, yes.
Overlooking the Little Tennessee river...
The Dragon is TIGHT! The exit from this turn is the entry to the next, and whole sections must be swallowed at once. It's more autocross and less road race.
And that's why I adore it. I run the dragon in 3rd - digging out of the tight corners and leaping out of the medium speed bends. Early on the brakes, so I can be early on the gas, letting the torque of the engine pull the front end to the exit with a gathering rush that in some cases produces a braking area entry at 70-80 miles per hour.
I had a few memorable runs, but none more so than the morning I let a sport bike rider through, and was startled to be passed twice - not having seen the second bike.
I grinned, and chased their heels through the rest of the road and finally caught and chatted with them,
They were fast, and they never scared me, which is essential as I won't go near anyone over their head out there that's no place for ambition.
God I love the Brembos - when I am looking at trees and the RPM is climbing, that center pedal is really important.
So anyway, I brought Gollum home and the lads fixed the rattle and put a Dinan tune on my sorry butt.
So the Dinan is an interesting contraption. It intercedes...
It stands between the car and the DME (ECU ?) at three points, and through manipulation of the data from these three sources it causes the DME to cough up more power.
They are (and the Dinan harness physically plugs in at each):
charge tube pressure sensor
intake manifold pressure sensor
fuel rail pressure sensor.
I'm contemplating just how that might work, but empirically - it definitely does.
A side note - I just did my fall run on one of my favorite roads in upstate NY, Rt 10 from Piseco Lake to Caroga Lake and found that they had just completed repaving it. Nothing like smooth as well as twisty. If you ever find yourself in the SE part of the Adirondacks I highly recommend making your way to this great piece of road.
A side note - I just did my fall run on one of my favorite roads in upstate NY, Rt 10 from Piseco Lake to Caroga Lake and found that they had just completed repaving it. Nothing like smooth as well as twisty. If you ever find yourself in the SE part of the Adirondacks I highly recommend making your way to this great piece of road.
I have spent a year of Sundays driving two of the greatest roads on the planet.
1980/1981 I lived in Melbourne Australia, and took a 1000 cc Suzuki out on the Great Ocean Road with a tribe of crazy and wonderful riders - mostly out of Geelong.
1987/1988 I lived in Mill Valley CA, and rode the Pacific Coast Highway up to Point Reyes every Sunday.
Both routes are breathtaking, challenging, and immortal for riders that are truly serious.
The Dragon is quite different.
Beautiful, yes.
The Dragon is TIGHT! The exit from this turn is the entry to the next, and whole sections must be swallowed at once. It's more autocross and less road race.
And that's why I adore it. I run the dragon in 3rd - digging out of the tight corners and leaping out of the medium speed bends. Early on the brakes, so I can be early on the gas, letting the torque of the engine pull the front end to the exit with a gathering rush that in some cases produces a braking area entry at 70-80 miles per hour.
I had a few memorable runs, but none more so than the morning I let a sport bike rider through, and was startled to be passed twice - not having seen the second bike.
I grinned, and chased their heels through the rest of the road and finally caught and chatted with them,
They were fast, and they never scared me, which is essential as I won't go near anyone over their head out there that's no place for ambition.
God I love the Brembos - when I am looking at trees and the RPM is climbing, that center pedal is really important.
So anyway, I brought Gollum home and the lads fixed the rattle and put a Dinan tune on my sorry butt.
Now what?
Cheers,
Charlie
First, I wish there were more threads like this.
Next on the Tail of the Dragon, it is truly an exception stretch of road. In skiing you have the Slalom and the Giant Slalom. "Twisties" as I call them are like the Slalom with closely spaced tight turns. The Giant Slalom would be more "canyon carving" with wide sweepers. On "twisties" there are many places where you can find some but I am not aware of anyplace where you can find a continuous run as long the Tail. I have driven the Snake, the Back of the Dragon and numerous of the roads leading off the Blue Ridge Parkway and none of them can compare to the Tail.
I am putting new bearings in my transmission now, another story, but will be hitting the Tail during October.
Next on the Tail of the Dragon, it is truly an exception stretch of road. In skiing you have the Slalom and the Giant Slalom. "Twisties" as I call them are like the Slalom with closely spaced tight turns. The Giant Slalom would be more "canyon carving" with wide sweepers. On "twisties" there are many places where you can find some but I am not aware of anyplace where you can find a continuous run as long the Tail. I have driven the Snake, the Back of the Dragon and numerous of the roads leading off the Blue Ridge Parkway and none of them can compare to the Tail.
I am putting new bearings in my transmission now, another story, but will be hitting the Tail during October.
Charlie,
I sold my '15S a year and half ago and bought a Porsche Cayman S. Your story makes me want to come back to MINI. The handling of my Cayman is impeccable, but I miss the confident feeling of driving my MINI at closer to it's limit. Please keep writing your stories.
Sincerely, Don
Mid October, and those wonderful sticky RE-71 Bridgestones scare me in cold temps and steady rain. Time to bite the bullet and admit the truth...
So Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 215/45-17 on the stock rims, and a few other details - all entrusted to the pit crew at Mini of Peabody.
They set the rear camber at -1.5 degrees - up from my previous alignment of 1.0. Time to calm the bum down for bad weather.
The crew determined I could use a set of front calipers (27,000 miles) so we did that too - and pads of course. That was free, as anticipating the pricey nature of those pretty Brembos I bought a maintenance plan at the time of purchase. Not so dumb perhaps...
But, and with respect, the lads also removed the NM sway bar and reinstalled the OEM components including the end links.
We could not make that bar quiet - despite a fresh set of end links 60 days ago. The rattle from the bum was not acceptable.
Mind you Gloucester is not an environment full of flat roads. The sills on the Blyman drawbridge are themselves a serious test for a sway bar, given their angle and the diabolical twist those sills demand of the chassis. But nonetheless, rattles won't do.
I think the NM quality is very good. As an ex-machinist I can see the precision. I have the uninstalled parts, and they are immaculate. But not quiet.
Sic transit gloria, and now we are once again as quiet as a brick, and ready for bad weather.
But I have to be careful, and the Bridgestone Blizzaks are not Re-71s, and I accidentally spun the front end in 3rd today.
Charlie, enjoy your posts as this is my 3rd MINI in15 years. R56, R598, and F56 MCS. I changed my RF Dunlops for Pirelli P Zero all seasons at 10K. Temps here run from 0-100 F. Dust, snow, and rain. Have 25,000 on them and expect another 5,000 at least. May go with Conti's next, maybe, maybe not. Snowed last night...black ice. When it snows here, we stay home. Not because of the car or tires-it's the other drivers.
Charlie, enjoy your posts as this is my 3rd MINI in15 years. R56, R598, and F56 MCS. I changed my RF Dunlops for Pirelli P Zero all seasons at 10K. Temps here run from 0-100 F. Dust, snow, and rain. Have 25,000 on them and expect another 5,000 at least. May go with Conti's next, maybe, maybe not. Snowed last night...black ice. When it snows here, we stay home. Not because of the car or tires-it's the other drivers.
That’s a shame about the end links. I’ve had my NM 22mm bar w/ end links for a year and a half now without a problem. I did install their billet sway bar mounts with grease fittings. I don’t have any draw bridges to stress things, but I have a lot of RR crossings and less than smooth country roads around home. For the first time I’m leaving my Goodyear Eagle F1 summer tires on all winter. I’m just going to use the Suburban for bad weather. Not sure of your location Charlie, but I’m sure it’s colder than southern Virginia.
05-05-2018, 01:27 PM
