In a rental car. Wife and I flew to southeast to hike trails on and around the Appalachian trail. When I realized that we were close to TOTD (stayed in Gatlinburg) while visiting the Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park, I fit the drive into our schedule. We made the drive at the end of the day on Monday, June 11th. It had been a rainy day and at 6:30pm there were few cars on the road. I had the rented Altima slipping along in a good rhythm for the first 5 miles; wife was happy after taking Dramamine. Then I came upon a pair of vehicles that were not exceeding 20mph. I deduced that the lead car was being driven by a person who was timid and insecure in driving the road and the pick up following the car was a "chase" car that maintained ample distance and prevented other cars from tailgating the timid driver. So, I checked my mirrors to make sure nobody was behind me and slowed to 5mph until I had open road in front of me. Then I was able to run the curves until I caught the slow pokes. I did this several times; got to attack the twisties and did not harass the pair in front of me. A fun ride made enjoyable by A/X experience.

 

A spirited run on the dragon in an Altima? You have nads my friend. Glad you had a chance to experience it.

Come on back in September to join with the S2K group.

 

I've passed though twice on my way to business trips, ran the dragon with my snow tires on my family sedan! Lots of fun and were the only ones in our direction. My wife and I were the only guests to stay at Fontana at the winter dates, personal service!

Pace car or not, those other drivers were being inconsiderate and should have pulled over as everyone else does. But I'm also known for pulling the accordion effect by hanging back on well sighted straights (no rear end collisions) and enjoying the curves at a faster pace! But I always flash my lights a couple times first to encourage others ahead to be considerate and pull over in the marked zones.