hey just wondering if anyone here is planning on going to the dragon next year. i'm just looking for details: how much? and if the roads are going to be closed just for us? hopefully i can see you all there.
angelo

 

The Dragon is a public highway, so it will be wide open to us, motorcycles, tractor trailers, Sunday drivers, minivans and all those other great things that make driving so pleasurable.

I think registration was about $30 last year and the hotel room was right around $80 a night - I shared a room so I'm not 100% there.

Of all the S2000 meets this is my favorite because (other than 2-3 hours on Saturday when you're going and lining up for the main Dragon event) you have total freedom - go out partying with your friends, go do more Dragon runs, whatever you can think of. The Dragon is like no other road I've ever been on - it made me think that I was "surfing" my car.

 

Yeah, I remember you and I waiting for the next "set." Too many Barneys were dropping in.

 

how fast where u guys averaging? are there lots of cops?

 

I'm not sure the average speed. You may hit 75 or 80 in a couple of spots. Most of the Dragon is spent in 2nd gear. Lots of VTEC. It is about 11 miles long with 318 curves. What a blast!

As for the cops, the two times I have been there the cops where not an issue. I saw one at the DragonBall 04. With the FRS radios, it's hard for a cop to sneak up on us.

Number 1 rule is DO NOT CROSS THE YELLOW LINE!

Go and slay the Dragon. You will not regret it. I would advise getting there sometime on Friday so that you can get a run or two in before the weekend starts. It is less crowded during the week.

 

The weekend we were there that road was pretty crowded and there were some idiots (not in S2000's - mostly Corvettes ) driving into other lanes - which brought the Troopers out for safety. As long as you were staying in your lane and being reasonable on the speed limit you didn't get a ticket that day. Just to give you an idea of how many cops were out there - I would say there were 2 cops for every mile of road. Most of us just went on different roads after all the cops showed up and still had a blast!

The speed limit is 30 MPH, which doesn't sound like much, but when you hit 45 that road starts to get a tad challenging. On one run I would say I may have averaged close to 60 (almost the whole way through - except the major turns) and managed to break 100 just for a short stint (so I could say I did it ). I would think a new commer to RWD should approach that road with 40 to 45 MPH on the brain and really know how to slow down with the clutch - that road is just too twisty to totally rely on the brakes with a S.

 

Must... slay... dragon. What a good road. I haven't even seen photos of it, much less driven it, but I'm totally interested. Where is it?

- Jeremy (jnn4v)

 

Here are some shots of Skip after all the police started rolling through (the only time you'll see pictures taken while driving on there).










Even doing the speed limit it is still hard to get a decent shot in, so most of these were taken on the straighter parts.

 

It is highway 129 in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee sort of between Robbinsville NC, Deals Gap, NC, and Alcoa, TN.

Great road. There are two official events every year, a Spring Wake the Dragon and a Fall DragonBall.

 

Awesome. Thanks for posting the pics and the info. It'll be hard to wait for the spring event, but I'll definitely be looking forward to it.

- Jeremy (jnn4v)