Driving nearly 600 miles to see a ROAD?
Apr. 28th, 2004 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greatbearWell, not just to see it, but drive on it. Repeatedly. With several other crazies who are coming from all around the country for the same reason.
It's not just any road.
When one drives a Mini Cooper S, curves cease being obstacles and instead become curious, fun objects that are meant to be enjoyed. Over and over. Tire wear be damnned. So the lure of a road which packs 318 curves, switchbacks, elevation changes and sweepers into a mere 11 miles through the mountains became a lure for bikers and sports car enthusiasts from all over. A little local economy evolved over the years because of this road, US 129, at Deal's Gap in the western corner of North Carolina near Tennessee. So curvy is the road that it was dubbed 'The Tail Of The Dragon'. Like most dragons, it's meant to be slayed. Conquered. Tamed. And, like most dragons, it can bite.
Tomorrow morning I will join an influx of somewhere around 200 other Mini Coopers and their owners converging in and around Deal's Gap for a weekend of socializing, bench racing, swapping mods and techniques, eating chili and of course, driving the Dragon. I have made lots of friends on North American Motoring dot com (formerly minicooperonline), and quite a few will be there in this great convergence of odd-looking little cars. I can't wait to meet them. And chase their asses down the road too.
I have needed a little getaway to do something completely off-the-wall, and this will fill the bill nicely. If you spot any Minis heading towards western Nawth Cackilacky the next couple days, there's a good chance there is a Dragon they need to go and slay.
Woot.
It's not just any road.
When one drives a Mini Cooper S, curves cease being obstacles and instead become curious, fun objects that are meant to be enjoyed. Over and over. Tire wear be damnned. So the lure of a road which packs 318 curves, switchbacks, elevation changes and sweepers into a mere 11 miles through the mountains became a lure for bikers and sports car enthusiasts from all over. A little local economy evolved over the years because of this road, US 129, at Deal's Gap in the western corner of North Carolina near Tennessee. So curvy is the road that it was dubbed 'The Tail Of The Dragon'. Like most dragons, it's meant to be slayed. Conquered. Tamed. And, like most dragons, it can bite.
Tomorrow morning I will join an influx of somewhere around 200 other Mini Coopers and their owners converging in and around Deal's Gap for a weekend of socializing, bench racing, swapping mods and techniques, eating chili and of course, driving the Dragon. I have made lots of friends on North American Motoring dot com (formerly minicooperonline), and quite a few will be there in this great convergence of odd-looking little cars. I can't wait to meet them. And chase their asses down the road too.
I have needed a little getaway to do something completely off-the-wall, and this will fill the bill nicely. If you spot any Minis heading towards western Nawth Cackilacky the next couple days, there's a good chance there is a Dragon they need to go and slay.
Woot.
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Date: 2004-04-28 02:27 pm (UTC)I used to love driving mountain roads like that in my 1986 Volkswagen GTI, back in the day.