Heading to Deal's Gap with the MINIs

[BillTheCat]

Think anyone will be able to pick the Mazda out of the caravan? (stooges)

Don't worry... it's all magnetic vinyl.

 

[meicalnissyen]

Think anyone will be able to pick the Mazda out of the caravan? (stooges)

Don't worry... it's all magnetic vinyl.

Dude, I was gonna say, that is a diferent look

Haha nice touch though, youll be like the fat girl mini lottsa attention

 

[Sport6]

Wolf in sheeps clothing!

I think it's funny, nice job!

 

[BillTheCat]

Thanks. I also made up some side markers, MINI Cooper S style, but they weren't done when I took the pics.

Of course, after I washed & waxed the MS3 today, it's currenty pouring rain, and I have to leave at 6:30 a.m. So she may not be as spotless as I'd like starting out.

 

[meicalnissyen]

Thanks. I also made up some side markers, MINI Cooper S style, but they weren't done when I took the pics.

Of course, after I washed & waxed the MS3 today, it's currenty pouring rain, and I have to leave at 6:30 a.m. So she may not be as spotless as I'd like starting out.

I thought you were dong this on the weekend

Mon AM start ?????????

 

[essejkcamraw]

hahaha bill, the rear emblem cracks me up! nice job lol

 

[hectik1]

I thought the Dragon was still closed?

http://www.dealsgap.com/


Have some fun! I like your stealth car!(sssh)

 

[CWPspeed3]

haha nice touch you'll blend right in. im going a little later this year probably end of may. last week i talked with a mini guy who will be heading there for MOTD from MI. sounds like the mini guys have a lot of fun.

 

[jri4]

two words: checkered mirrors!

looks cool though, have a good time!

 

[Knox Joe]

I thought the Dragon was still closed?

http://www.dealsgap.com/


Have some fun! I like your stealth car!(sssh)

It's only closed on my side of the gap. You can still get there from NC.

 

[EvilJen]

I thought the Dragon was still closed?

http://www.dealsgap.com/


Have some fun! I like your stealth car!(sssh)

It's open. Our S2000 group just got back from there on Sunday.

P.S. BillTheCat, your car looks awesome! Now let's see if someone does actually think it's a Mini.

 

[noobinacan]

am sure you know all of this..
..but pls no crossing double yellow
and remember, its not a race track

Last year when I was there over the weekend, there were four incidents ...the 350's and GT-R's were there and some dude ran his uber sweet 350 up on the side of the hill. Another went off the side of the mtn.

and two bikes went off the hill...one of them died.

and in the mtn's if you see a sport bike on your tail...wave em by

have fun

 

[leadf00t]

two words: checkered mirrors!

looks cool though, have a good time!

Hell yeah !!

 

[iguanaboy]

I'm sure they'll get a kick out of that. Looks good.

 

[ms6acton]

haha looks nice!!

i like the checkered mirrors idea

 

[BillTheCat]

I'm not even going to bother quoting, as I am 64 oz into good German beer in "Alpine" Helen, GA.

The MINIs on the Dragon (MOTD) event runs Wednesday thru Sunday. My group caravans to Helen, GA on Monday (today), and arrives at Fontana Village on Tuesday. Most folks arrive Wed/Thu.

Yep, 129 was closed. But the folks at the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort, with a little help from their friends, convinced the NC & TN authorities to open it back up- at least partially. You can run it from the NC side to Tabcat Bridge, but there's no access from the TN side of the rock slide.

Checkered mirrors is a good idea, but if I were to do that, I'd wanna get the stripes printed in checkers, too. And frankly, trying to checker the mirrors would be a major PITA, so I probably won't do it. But next year, I will start the "Counterfeit" process earlier & find a way to mount 2 beer can bottoms in the center of the rear bumper to mimic the MINI Cooper S exhaust.

 

[mndsm]

Damn, I wish I had the time to take either my MINI or my Ms3 there. Have some fun for me, both my cars will be sitting at home....

 

[EvilMonkey08]

very nice. too bad you couldnt add the checkered front fenders......

 

[CWPspeed3]

very nice. too bad you couldnt add the checkered front fenders......

if he was going all out wouldnt he have to do the roof too? checkered or union jack.

 

[BillTheCat]

Got plenty of pics on Killboy, Zeefoto and US129 photos. Some filed me under "Cars" and some under "MINIs." Killboy filed me in different places on different days. LOL

Good thing about 129 being closed: nobody towing boats or campers, no semis, etc.

Bad thing about 129 being closed: LEOs out the ying-yang, allowing very little cushion above the 30mph limit. I kept my speeds around 35-37mph, and was OK. I know at least one guy who got pinched for 45. No complaints on that- 15 over is enough anywhere you go. But in a normal year, LEOs would be patrolling only intermittently. The only relief this year was when they went on lunch break. And I wasn't lucky enough to drive the Dragon during those short intervals.

We had one bad MINI wreck this year, as we seem to have every year. Happened on the Hellbender, the night before our event officially began. It was also wet that night. Nobody was hurt, though.

The New Beetle club was out there with about 40-50 cars in Bryson City, but nobody I know ran into them. They were on the Dragon at some point, though- I saw the pics on their forums. I did see some S2000's and Vettes, and there were 2 Lotuses (Loti?) participating with the MINI club- former MINI owners.

Oh, and this was the first year our event was ever rain-free. (We got about a 1-minute misting on Saturday night, but it hardly even required windshield wipers) It rained right up until Tuesday night, but cleared up from Wednesday on. (Event officially started on Wednesday)

I kept the "MINI Costume" on my MS3 all weekend, simply because it was turning heads, attracting photographers, and getting comments the whole time. Most folks appreciated the effort & got the joke.