I'm new to this forum via my recently acquired Fit, but I've been apart of www.contour.org for the past 10 years. I've been organizing the running of the Dragon since 2003 and its grown nicely over the years, last year we had 17 cars from 6 states. Most of us have moved on from the Contour that brought us together, but have established friendships over the years that don't need a certain type of car to maintain, ofcoarse The types of people are as diverse as the cars that we've had down there, everything from a Mini Cooper to Cherokee SRT8, Fiero GT to MS3, S2000 to a Saab 9-3 and everything inbetween. I think we had every drivetrain possible and just about every engine number too, outside of a V12 or V10...but who knows what'll come along this year.

We have no "cliques" either, just good car guys and gals, that's all and its a relatively cheap trip, biggest expense for most of us gas getting there. From the metro Detroit and Chicagoland area its about a 9-10 hr trip but I can tell you this, the road is like nothing you've ever driven, even racetracks don't have the typs of turns they've got down there. Then there's the scenery....AWESOME!

Information can be found here about the road itself www.tailofthedragon.com and you can google the Cherahola Skyway as well, this is the road we take to get to the Dragon, a 57 mile ride through the mountains of Tennessee with elevation going up to one mile high and 9% grades at certain parts of it, great roads, great views and great times! The cabins we stay in are here www.caneycreekvillage.com and run by the nicest lady ever, Dixie, southern hospitality at its finest. We get a group rate and the thing about this cabin complex is its only 3.5 miles from the start of the Cherahola Skyway, thus making it very easy to get to and make our 140 mile round trip on for the days fun! Afterwards we get dinner from one of the local small town restaraunts and head back to the cabins for talk around the campfire to discuss our days events...and then go it again the next day.

We've got a poll for this run set up over on the Contour forum, addy at the top of this page, so if your interested in doing this, we'd love to have you along for the ride! This run is well organized, by me and I'm 40 FWIW and I've been doing this since 2003, we have a good time w/o any "fun governors" but we don't accept any "clowns" out there with us either, its in your best interest as well as the welfare of others not to push it too hard out there, its a public road afterall but rest assured, you'll have ALOT of fun without needing to push your car 10/10th of the way and honestly you wouldn't want to anyways

SO, LET ME PERSONALLY INVITE YOU GUYS AND GALS FROM FITFREAKS TO JOIN US OUT ON THE DRAGON THIS YEAR

BTW, don't worry about knowing anyone either, most of us see each other once a year anyways, but being all car enthusists, there are NO strangers among us anyways!!!

 

BTW you don't need to have a Fit to run this with us, I hope to get atleast one FitFreak to make it out with us besides myself. I know its early and I'll keep you guys updated over the next couple monthes. I'm setting this up early because its the way things go w/o a hitch, always done it this way

 

That does look like a lot of fun, too bad I'm a 14 hour drive away

 

i ve takin mine here before to a team integra meet, tons of fun... count me in

 

Jeff, 14 hrs is nothing, especially when you drive this road and also, we've got guys coming from FLA that drive just about that to get there. We've also got a guy coming from NY this year more than likely, maybe not a 14 hr drive, but a good drive nonetheless. We usually take about 10 hrs to get there from the metro Detroit or Chicagoland area. Speaking of Detroit, you could easily meet up with our Detroit group, one guy being one of my best friends for the past 20 years and a couple other guys who made their first trips out there last year. You'd end up meeting up with atleast 4-5 cars, maybe more but atleast that amount. More info for our trip can be had over on The Contour Enthusiasts Group and you can search the forum for all things Fall Dragon Run. The trip isn't expensive either! The cabins range anywhere from $50 a night to $20 a night, the later not having a shower, but you could use any of the other members shower though, this way the trip isn't that expensive, we all care about that. Then there's out host down there, couldn't be any nicer if she tried. I've been going there since 2003 w/o a problem and honestly, we feel like family down there with her and her staff

All you guys, give it some thought and remember, this run is well organized, by me since 2003, no disappointments on that front. I'll do whatever I can in my power to help you do this and make you comfortable with the process. Look at it like this, its basically and organized "parking lot" meet but with something to do afterwards and you end up making a weekend out of it with good guys and gals that you make friends with very quickly, all good guys and gals, no clown or "hotdogs" allowed, we've never had an incident and we wanna keep it that way too!

 

tagged for interest - I wanted to hit the Dragon before I sold my bike - someday I'll go with one, but I may have to do this with the Fit - good way to get an idea of the roadway before hitting it on two wheels in the future.


Can you post the trip details (dates, and such) so I can start planning?

 

We're getting down to the last days of voting and right now the second weekend of Oct, the 7th thru the 10th is going to be the weekend

We stay here Caney Creek Village in Tellico Plains, Tennessee and have been doing so for since 2003. Dixie, the owner, is one of the nicest ladies I've ever met and has taken good care of our group and cuts us a good deal too. Our rooms vary from $20.00 a night to $60.00, but there is one larger cabin with a jacuzzi and yes, you can have roomates to keep the price down, she's cool with that too.

This location is perfect for several reasons. One is location, only 3.5 miles from the start of the Cherahola Skwyay, go ahead, google it and check out the images, awesome. This road is 57 miles long and leads right into the Dragon itself. Along the way you'll experience a road just as much fun as the Dragon but different. Long, sweeping turns with elevation going up to one mile high and 9% grades as well, lots of fun but commands your attention for sure

We use the Thursday as a travel day and come home Monday, but a couple of the guys, not myself, will be arriving on Wednesday, so that's an option for you guys as well. This road is worth the drive you have to get there, trust me on this, even though you don't know me from Adam, yet

Any other questions, post here or PM me, I'm willing to help make this a great time for you

 

....the second week of October (7th thru the 10th)

This event is free because its basically an organized meet, but you'd have to pay for your cabin, food and gas though I've been setting this up since 2003 and we've had every one go off without a hitch or problem. We're hot "fun governors" by any stretch of the imagination but we don't want any "clowns" or "hotdogs" out there with us either, that I can tell you for sure. That road commands respect and I for one wouldn't want to be responsible for crossing the double yellow because I went in too hot and hit someone, especially a bike! Ok, with that all being said, if your interested in going let me know here, PM me or even better yet, come on over to The Contour Enthusiasts Group and introduce yourself to the guys who you'll be riding with. We're all good guys, no hangups or cliques at all, just car guys who look forward to this each and every year Our ages and backgrounds are as diverse as our cars too!

 

my friend and I hit the dragon on our way home from SoWo - best road ever

 

We have two threads started over in the southeastern section of www.contour.org One is the "who's going" list and the other is general information and what not. This is a good way to introduce yourself if you plan on going with us and get a chance to meet the guys going too Like I said before, everyone is cool and we've got a diverse background of cars and people, no hang-ups or "cliques"

 

Hello all! I highly recommend driving the dragon! I went up with some friends for an RSX meet which was the same weekend as the S2Ki meet (awesomeness). We stayed at Fontana Village, and i'd recommend going there to anybody in the area since it's right around the corner from the Dragon. I will be going back next year in my NEW Fit

However, my story doesn't end there. The reason i'm getting a new Fit is because my 08 BOM 5spd Fit Sport was tragically totalled on a road in the area. We drove the dragon that morning and were heading to lunch. We took the Cherohala skyway, which is a road that goes to the top of a mountian and then back down. I made it to the top just fine, but on the way down i passed out and veered off the road into the trees. I'm lucky to be here, and i thank Honda for that. No, i was not speeding and we weren't "messing around" and driving irresponsibly. The speed was roughly 30mph. Seems a lack of blood sugar and elevation shock caused me to go unconscious. Luckily i was not the last person in our group of cars so they saw me go off. Seatbelts and airbags work my friends, and Honda has certainly built a fantastic car.

My 2010 TW 5spd Fit Sport will be built starting this tuesday (june 29th) and will arrive at the dealer for pickup late july/early august.

Here's some pics:





I'm not posting this to scare anybody, and i'm excited to go back to this beautiful place next year!

Thanks again honda, for making a car that never went wrong and did everything i ever asked from it... up until its last day.

I hope you guys have a great trip!

 

First off BOM I'm glad you were alright, it could've been alot worse as you said, especially on the Skyway when your way up there, its a long way down (not to scare anyone) Its good the little Fit is well built, as you've also stated. You've got a great attitude about wanting to go back out there after all this too

I really hope a couple Fits other than the 2 locals show up for this, its something you should do atleast once in life, but usually, after people see what this road is like (the Cherahola Skyway too), they usually come back, year after year!

 

Well, i walked out of the hospital the same day after all the x-rays/ekg/cat scan checked out... so no real harm was done to me. So i'm a lucky guy!

The drive is so awesome it'd be dumb not to go back!!! Even if you don't go for the drive, the scenery is incredibly amazing as well. It's such an awesome trip to make, and the whole reason i went is because i always wanted to do it. I have no regrets about goin even after the accident. And i agree with exactly what you said, "it's something you should do atleast once in life".

for a lol: On the way back from the hospital we HAD to take the Skyway again (talk about eerie) and the gps actually went from feet to miles to display elevation! (albeit it was only like 1.05 miles above sea level)

 

As of a couple days ago, there were only 4 cabins left and in the event they good all booked up, there are other cabins right in the area you can stay at. This doesn't keep you from hangin' out at our cabins and party'n a bit though. The cabins I'm talkin' about are only about 2 miles down the road and even if those are booked, there are 2 motels down the road about a half hour away and it VERY easy to find. Right off of I-75 and route 68, very easy, trust me

IN a pinch, you could crash with one of us on the floor too, just bring your towel and sleeping bag/pillow

So, if you wanna go and stay at our "compound", call the above place and follow the directions I've posted and you'll be all set. This road is A MUST DO!!!

 

Our record was 17, last year and that's number is going to be blown out of the water for sure this year! I see us having closer to 25 and although that number is high for group of cars going out together on a road, its not and here's why.

We'll splitting this up into a couple groups for sure, hopefully based on wake up time, skill level/leasure drivers/"feel it out" drivers/etc. Because of what I'm driving right now I for one don't wanna hold up say, Randy, one of our 2 timers out there with an S2000 who didn't even need to use the brakes he said. For the noobs going, I don't mind being the "guide" out there, I mean I'm the one setting it up and want everyone to have a good time, so why not, I mean I'm driving a Fit, not my old Mini or Crossfire or modded Contour SVT here

I have info about this here, The Contour Enthusiasts Group (southeastern section) and exceedspeed.com (events section) Others have linked it to their own car sites too. Now its hard to say for sure how big this is going to be right now because there's always the "last minute" guys, but I can tell you this for sure, with 15 confirmed right now, not counting the 2 locals here from FF who said they'd go, we'll be closer to 25 cars this year, maybe more and because of what we learned last year, we'll handle the size of the group just fine as we've got plenty of vets going with us (vets is short for veterns) and many guys with organizational skills, again, no worries, come on out but try and get a cabin with us before they're all gone. If they are booked up,ask Dixie to direct you to another cabin company and if for some reason that doesn't work out, there are 2 motels right off of I-75 and route 68 (exit 60) that's about 1/2 hour from us and very easy to find, trust me

We'll handle the meeting up with those not in the immediate area, trust me, I know the lay of the land down there and will keep it all together.

 

Wow, this looks like so much fun. I will be in N. Carolina for a few days visiting family around July 11th.

I wonder how far away this is from Devil Hills, NC.

 

This looks like fun, I'll have no idea if I can go until I get my class schedule for the semester, but if it turns out I could be able to miss a couple of days of class, I might make the 15 hour drive out.

 

Some of our FLA guys drive 12 hrs to get there and if you end up coming out with us, you'd be the first guy W of the Mississippi to come out with us

I can't say this enough, its well worth the drive!

 

Bump for the noobs, nudge for those on the fence and invite to everyone

 

Our group is nearing 20 cars for sure, its growing and growing

We're a little over 2 monthes away, I can't believe it!

www.contour.org for the most up to date info and a chance to meet the other Dragon Slayers! I think you'll be impressed with the variety of cars going out with us this year, its amazing!