Any interest in a Tail of the Dragon run?

[Gordonfan24]

Would any of you fine Marauder folk be interested in an All-Panther Tail of the Dragon weekend? I brought this up at CVN and got about six-to-eight people interested. I figured it wouldn't be a Panther run without some Marauders.

Tentative date: March 28-29, 2009

What is the Tail of the Dragon? Shame on you. http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/default/tongue3.gif
For those not in the know, the Tail of the Dragon is a highway (HWY129) that crosses between North Carolina and Tennessee. It is popular with car/motorcycle enthusiasts because of its 300+ turns in 11 miles. Makes for a fun drive. It's also a very scenic route and a popular vacation destination.

There is a hotel resort right off the highway that looks great. The catch is that their rates go up for the tourist season on April 1st, so it would have to be before then. If you're interested in looking them up, or finding others, you can check out the Fontana Village resorts or visit http://www.tailofthedragon.com (http://tailofthedragon.com/) for other options.

So if you're interested, let me know. I'll keep anyone who is in mind. Just wanted to throw it out there.

And yes, you'd have to be seen with us lowly Crown Vic and Grand Marquis drivers. :P

[Pops]

Hack Goby and I did this last year with the GM. This is a lot of fun to do! Get out and go as you will have a riot. The only drawback is the guy driving is so busy he does not have time to enjoy the views!

[gmtech]

always wanted to ride it, we'll see how much interest this gets

[KillJoy]

I would not recommend this unless you have a Big Brake Kit. But, that is just me.

:up:

KillJoy

[Pops]

You can do it with out the big brakes. You just need to drive a little slower. Its not like you are going to fly thru this. Do watch out for the crazy bikers!

[Paul T. Casey]

I've done it twice. Once in the Marauder (fun), and once with a 1990 Country Squire in the snow (looking back, it was fun too, although not at that time). Like John says, watch out for crazy bikers. I may be in the area at that time, if so, I'll be there.

[FordNut]

I ran it in 13 minutes. Before I had a supercharger.

[Pops]

I ran it in 13 minutes. Before I had a supercharger.

Thats movin! i think a guy would need to drive it a couple of times before he tried that. Also watch out for the cops on the weekends! Do not wind up on the tree of SHAME! :D

[FordNut]

Mid-week for less traffic, while the trees are bare (and no leaves on the road) so you can see around the hairpins, using both lanes in the corners, using both feet for quicker transitions from braking to accelerating...

[Gordonfan24]

I ran it in 13 minutes. Before I had a supercharger.
Nice! I don't know if I would want to really run it or take in the roads/sights/etc... On this trip, though, I should have time to do both. :D

I've got 7 people so far at CVN, and the weekend of March 28-29 is officially the date it will go down, weather permitting.

[finster101]

Specifically 318 turns in 11 miles. Did it 2 years ago on the Fatboy scraping floorboards on almost every turn and again this year on the Roadglide. "The Dragon" is really cool and a nice bragging right but there are actually some much prettier and more enjoyable roads in the area for a car. You stay very busy on The Dragon. You also have to watch out for bicyclist as there are a ton of them in the AO as well. If I can pull it off I will try to be there. :beer:

[FordNut]

Yeah, throw in Cherohala Skyway and Blue Ridge Parkway!

[finster101]

^^^^ +1 ^^^^

[a_d_a_m]

i was interested until i saw all the youtube videos.
pretty much every video talks about how heavily the road is patrolled...including one guy who was ticketed for filming the roadway.

sorry, i'll stick with pennsylvania state rt. 259, which is tons of fun and hardly patrolled at all.

[PantherP71]

I might be interested.

And I was on PA state route 259 with adam at the same time, How ever we had to go a little slower than we wanted do to our host.

But as he stated it is hardley partroled.

[FormulaMarauder]

Watch out for crazy bikers? The tail of the dragon is much more suited for bikes than it is cars. The bikers hate cages (cars) driving on the TOTD.

[Black03Marauder]

I went to the dragon last week...to put it one way a Marauder barely fits in the part of the dragon in Tennessee.


pretty much every video talks about how heavily the road is patrolled...including one guy who was ticketed for filming the roadway.I was there for about 3 hours and didn't see one police car. What I did see was every single vehicle on that road doing as least 30 over the limit. And I mean EVERYTHING. I saw a UPS truck going around corners at 70 with its suspension keeled over as far as the laws of physics would allow. I got passed by a F430 going the speed of light.

It doesn't seem like a road thats patrolled enough to me. I could be wrong, but thats what I saw. Maybe it had something to do with me being there on a Wednesday afternoon.

and yes Im game for a Marauder run on the dragon...if I dont end up working those days.

[LilCop2002]

Many of my friends and coworkers have run that stretch of road many times. The Blount County Sheriff Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol did make it publicly known that they did step up enforcement on the Dragon. Are they out there all the time? No. Are they hammering people? Yes they are. I'm game whenever you guys are. It's only 10 mins from my base.