2018 Tour de Smo'

Same here---we are all set to launch Tuesday morning.  Rather than drive the whole thing Wednesday we'll stop overnight near Nashville for a 450 mile day then finish the remaining 250 miles Wednesday.  I am sure we will have some gorgeous weather during our event no matter what the forecast says.  Alice and I are really looking forward to seeing everyone and the fabulous cruises.  I believe the only scenic routes that come close to these Smoky Mountains  ones are parts of the 101 on the left coast.  We cannot wait!  I don't want to see any  bailing out snowflakes either!  Even Lane has surmounted his three--count 'em, 3--- excuses, and will definitely join us.   Good man, Lane!

See ya'll soon!

If you guys dont bring your cars how can you enjoy driving those roads  Even a few am or afternoons top down will surely be worth the drive down.

I was thinking of driving down -alone but it’s 12 hours one way for me.  but now that I have cruise control .....ooouuu

The drive would be awesome 

Still thinking about it

"The nude dancing reminds me of when Ann Arbor had its own version of a nude beach."

Hmmm...  A nude beach in Ann Arbor.  I'm sure that was a seasonal thing.

"The drive would be awesome"

Yes.  Yes it would, Ray.

"Still thinking about it "

Don't think too long.

IaM-Ray posted:

If you guys dont bring your cars how can you enjoy driving those roads  

Amen.

I’ve got three trailers, all of them capable of carrying a Speedster. I realize I’m just grouchy old man, but I spend enough of my life wheeling a work van and trailer, or slogging along in the minivan. I’m not going to do it on vacation.

Getting past 55 y.o. grumpy... who's grumpy or grouchy... ARRGH>>>> welcome to middle age, oops I mean old age.   

Maybe we need to visit a rejuvenation clinic with daily low dose growth hormone and testosterone and we might grow our hair back and bring colour to it.  

Yeah, but then you would just have colored hair on your back.   Jus’ sayin’......

I am glad you stopped at the back ...

Stan Galat posted:

IaM-Ray posted:

If you guys dont bring your cars how can you enjoy driving those roads  

Amen.

I’ve got three trailers, all of them capable of carrying a Speedster. I realize I’m just grouchy old man, but I spend enough of my life wheeling a work van and trailer, or slogging along in the minivan. I’m not going to do it on vacation.

Stan---I definitely share your sentiment about driving the car rather than trailering it. .  Three  years ago at Carlisle I saw a sports car---don't remember the make--but there was a plaque on the dash that said, "If you see this car on a trailer, call the cops because it has been stolen"!  Same for me.

Road a bike first time to the Dragon.  Long unpleasant ride from Norfolk.  Rest of my trips were done with the bikes on my Kendon trailer with AC on cranking tunes.  No comparison.  I probably would have driven my IM if I still had it.  But now I've got a very bike like spyder.  Its the trailer for me with my bride and I cumfy in the ML.

Sigh...  This year, of course, I will be in the BMW, a car that is better than the Speedster in every measurable way, and a whole lot of fun to drive as well, but I’m sure I’ll be envying y’all in your “plastic clown cars”.

Lane Anderson posted:

I’ll be envying y’all in your “plastic clown cars”. *

^{(*unless it’s raining)}

This area is a Temperate Rain Forest and this year has been above normal. Two years ago, we had drought and fires. Go figure.

If it's calling for rain on Saturday for sure, I'll be there, but not in my Spyder. Driving in the rain in a light weight car with no roof kinda sucks. I'll see if I can borrow something worthy from a friends collection.

If there is just a chance of rain, then I'll drive the Spyder.

Even if it pours, I still want to come and get to know you guys. We could take the band to some brewery, restaurant or whatever to hang out.

The last few days it's been great around here, weather wise. I go to warm the Spyder up so I can tweak on the carbs some, and nothing. The battery was dead, and I even had it on a tender. It's had been acting up the last few rides. So I ordered a new one. I've got one of those silly small Mega Crank batteries in it, and didn't feel like pulling it out and dragging it to the FLAPS to try and find something that'll fit. I crashed on my mountain bike last Friday and my ribs are a bit tender.  Bending over or doing any torso exertion is not fun.

I even made some maps that I need to get printed.

We'll see.

Thanks for the maps, Carlos.  I hope those ribs heal quickly.

I had a tiny Odyssey in my Speedster for 6+ years and I’m convinced it’s the way to go for these cars.  Small, light, leakproof, and can be mounted on its side if you want.  No fumes, so you can even put it in the cabin.

Lane Anderson posted:

"The drive would be awesome"

Yes.  Yes it would, Ray.

"Still thinking about it "

Don't think too long.

Exactly. As we get closer, I'll wager some more people will pull out, hence rooms will become available. I think a couple people have cancelled, Ray, you may want to give the Creekside a ring.

FYI, we have a topless Spyder. We will drive it while we're down there even if it means getting rained on. Nothing I haven't done before.

We're dragging it behind us all the way. It's an 11 hour trip, that's the actual driving part. We're leaving Tueday and driving until exhaustion, but hoping to make Christiansburg VA.

The remainder of the trip we'll do on Wednesday, hoping to arrive early afternoon. The second day should be easier.It's much shorter. I feel better about breaking the trip up. We've done a straight one day run from home to Hickory, NC before. Not a fun day, towing a box trailer.

What is the hotel y'all usually stay at right off I-81?

Carlos, I use a U-1 size battery. Lawn tractor size. That is the standard size Greg uses. Available EVERYWHERE and 22 pounds, which is 1/2 to 2/3 the weight of a standard car battery. 420 CCA at Tractor Supply. 

Danny---Trip Adviser is a great site for locating motels---plus showing the best rates.  Go to T.A. and select hotels and put in the town nearest to where you would likely stay that evening and it will give you some choices.  Also it will show where restaurants are near there too.  You are an inspiration to many wanna be road warriors! 

Jack Crosby posted:

You are an inspiration to many wanna be road warriors! 

Pssst. Reread his post, Jack. He's trailering it.

Stan Galat posted:

Jack Crosby posted:

You are an inspiration to many wanna be road warriors! 

Pssst. Reread his post, Jack. He's trailering it.

Almost. Flat-towing, but yeah. We will drive almost everywhere once we fabricate a new top. To interstate down to NC topless would be tiresome at best.

I know I suggested this last year.  Danny and anyone else coming down 81 should consider stopping in Marion VA and drive the Back of the Dragon.  Goes from Marion VA to Tazwell WV. 

Great road and lots more great mountain cruises around there.  Not a bad place for a get together.

Looking better!

Hey guys, I am sorry to say I have to bail. I need to be in the office (SantaMonica) next week. I thought I had all of my planning meetings sorted but this one popped up. Trust me I would rather be dodging rain, smoking cigars and catching up with friends then flying across the county. Notice I didn't mention the naked fire dancing.

I will be watching with a green eye of jealously.

Sorry to hear that, Joe.  This whole "working for a living" thing kinda sucks sometime, doesn't it?

In the event of any of the "naked fire dancing,"  I won't be participating but I will be taking plenty of pictures, which may or may not be used later for blackmail.

DannyP posted:

Stan Galat posted:

Jack Crosby posted:

You are an inspiration to many wanna be road warriors! 

Pssst. Reread his post, Jack. He's trailering it.

Almost. Flat-towing, but yeah. We will drive almost everywhere once we fabricate a new top. To interstate down to NC topless would be tiresome at best.

Yes he is, but an 11 hour drive of over 700 miles still qualifies as a Road Warrior.   Same for you, Stan as I bet you are coming from at least the same distance.  Be safe!

Someone asked the best way to get to Maggie Valley going East on I-40.  (I can't locate that post.)   40- or 50 miles West of Asheville, NC you would turn South on Highway 276 for few miles to Dellwood, NC where you turn right onto hwy 19 for the short drive to Maggie Valley.  There will be signs along the way.   This is the most direct and quickest route from I-40 to Maggie Valley.

Jack, thanks. That's a real compliment coming from "Iron Pants"!

550 Phil posted:

I know I suggested this last year.  Danny and anyone else coming down 81 should consider stopping in Marion VA and drive the Back of the Dragon.  Goes from Marion VA to Tazwell WV. 

Great road and lots more great mountain cruises around there.  Not a bad place for a get together.

Phil, this is near enough to Christiansburg, where we plan to stop Tuesday night. The area would make it a one (long) day trip for us on a future trip, whether we live in the North, or in about 5 years, North Carolina. That would be a REALLY close trip, only a few hours.

If you end up living in Western NC, you won't have to travel far to drive fun roads. You'll have them out your back door.

True. All the "Dragons" will be close by. I think Phil and I are talking about the "Claw" as a future gathering for all us characters.

Michelle, who you'll meet next week, lived in Lenoir for a while. We have visited, she has family there. I got to see firsthand a few times. Looking forward to living there.

The nice thing about "The Claw" is that the best road starts at Marion, "The Back of the Dragon".  There's no driving to get to the roads.  They are on your doorstep.  Marion has a wide range of hotels from high end to economical.  Decent food too.  Macadoos is a great place for cheap food and craft beer.  Just a thought.  

Maybe I should call my ride "The Picker of the Dragon".

Nah, I wouldn't like droves of mindless people clogging up "my" roads.

You give it a name and they will come.  The "Back of the Dragon" is becoming a big destination cruise for bikers and car enthusiasts.  Good thing is, like the Smokies, there are plenty of other roads less traveled.  The "Back of the Dragon" is much like the Dragon but a little bit longer and has some less challenging stretches where you can relax a bit.  Other drives have rolling hills and country side.  Its a beautiful area.  Just no large metropolitan area near buy like Asheville.    Its NOT as nice as the Smokies, just different.  But in my opinion still pretty awesome.  Maybe people from up north could also take in historic site along the way like Monticello and Montpelier.  Charlottesville is just as nice as Asheville IMHO. 

I'm not going to name anything. I don't want any more people to come here. I want it all to my self. 

In the last few years, I've seen a dramatic increase in tourism around here. Trails wrecked where asshats are riding them when they shouldn't, traffic in areas that never had it, and people driving 20mph because they've never seen trees or curves before that won't use the turnouts to let someone pass. Yes, it's good for the economy, but at what cost. That laid back small town next to pristine forests is no more. Where's my gun? 

Got out and drove part of the Deliverance run.

Nice! 👍

I like it! See you soon, Carlos! On the road in 2 days.

I've decided not to bring my spyder to the smokies.  Weather Thursday and Friday still 60% chance for rain.  Pouring in Charlottesville now.  I'm not towing my new spyder through the rain just to drive in the rain.  I will be in Asheville Tues-Sat.  Hope to see folks on Thursday night in Asheville.  I will not be leading the Dragon run on Friday.  Sorry.  I told myself that if the chance of rain for Thursday or Friday was 50% or less this afternoon then I would load the car in the rain.  Looks like its going to be wet.  

So is this thing still on? Seems a lot of people have bailed. 

Yep, it’s still on.  We’ve lost Mike and Dianne due to the hurricane, and Cory and Jeni due to Jeni’s mom being quite sick.  Not sure why Wolfgang or Robert bailed, but that’s all I know have cancelled.  It’s still a larger group than last year.