A friend of mine just canceled a trip to New Orleans because her husband's work banned travel across state lines unless you want a 2 week unpaid holiday / quarantine when you come back (it's a small, family-owned company of 50 or so people... engineers and manufacturing facility)
That's messed up. You have a chance to catch it anywhere. Just because he crosses the state line he needs to take 2 weeks unpaid leave?!?! Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
Such is the nature of being an At-will employee (which is almost all employees in Texas, where they are located)
The Covette museum has their dragon run on Sunday before the Minis on the dragon. Dave might get to run with the vettes Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
On Monday sales of minis skyrocket and Vette values plummet as vette owners sale their cars and run to buy MINIs. If Dave or Collin run with them they won’t know what hit them.
Hahaha I can’t save MINI’s poor sales, but I was pointed bye last year by 1 CTSV and 2 Vettes on the Foothills parkway last year on one day. Being a better driver in a smaller car is easy, but I can’t help those mid-life crisis cars driven by old men with small weenies. You have to have skill, and control to push any car hard and scare yourself. You cannot be scared to hurt your car or get it dirty.
You gotta remember, not everyone is out there to push themselves, push their car or prove that they have a big swingin' dick. I save that for the privacy of the track (except for the dick part, which I save for the privacy of my bedroom. I'm happy enough there and don't give a shit what anyone I might meet on the Dragon thinks about it). Some of us are out there for a nice, spirited run in the beauty of the springtime Smoky Mountains in a fun car with some nice people. I care more about the safety of others on public roads than I do about pushing/scaring myself. I know that I've personally saved 2 motorcyclists from serious harm by keeping my car well within my/its' limits and being able to compensate for their screw-ups due to excess speed & dick-measuring on those roads. One numbnut on a sportbike was coming up from the Fontana lower bridge, rounded a turn too fast and understeered into my lane. I had to go off-roading to give him the extra foot he needed (his jacket hit my side view mirror). A Harley Fatboy carried too much speed into a turn, fishtailed and came across into my lane while locking up his brakes. I hit my brakes very hard and we stopped, face to face, with him about 1 foot off my front bumper. He took a deep breath, gave me a quick salute and moved off to the side (to clear his shorts and catch his breath, I assume). Long story short: I don't fuck around on those roads.
I agree with you 110%. Not into running 10-10's on public roads, justa too much risk. It's so easy to put your car on the track these days. Back in the day to do that you had to build a race car to go on track. These days you show up in your street car-toy car & have at it. Is this a great age we live in or what?
It’s not a biggest dick contest, it’s all about practice and knowing how to drive. Our group does not run full 10/10’s at the Dragon and the roads around it. Some people think we do and the fact is we are better drivers with better brakes and suspensions. Notice I did not mention power. Power is worth nothing if you can’t drive. If you bring a “stock” car or someone with just an better then OEM anti-sway bar, and silly EBC pads you should not push your car at all because you are the ones that always go off and crash. Hopefully, with Covid-19 most people (LXM type) will not show up and stay home this year and the rest of us can enjoy the area.
Hopefully, Covid-19 will be somewhat under control by the time of MOTD. Luckily, we spend most of our time in very small groups and a lot of the time in our individual MINIs. Praying for continued progress and for those who need help. 635 people and 442 MINIs! Come on 700! We leave in 43 days!
Message from Barry this morning (personally, I'll be skipping the welcome/goodbye dinners, as usual. social distancing, folks! I'll probably skip the brew swap as well in favor of some beers or some single malt around a campfire): As of today (March 14th 2020), we still plan on having the event. Unless there is direct order from either Fontana Village, the CDC, State of NC, or some other authority that has jurisdiction. This is an ever evolving situation that requires diligence on everyone's part. From cleaning your hands & stopping hand shaking to cleaning your homes and your MINIs, we can all do our part of stopping this virus. If you feel sick or if you're at risk for underlying health concerns, please do not attend the event. Aaron's Note: For those not in NC, the NC Governor has suggested canceling meetings where 250 or more attendees will be in close proximity to each other (mid week... 3/12 or so), but it is NOT a demand/order at this time.
Barry, thanks for the update. Also, thank you for everything you do to put this awesome event together! And thanks to all the other volunteers!
Leave in 35 days! Hopefully. Sending out prayers and good thoughts to everyone! Stay safe! Drive fast, take chances! Lol. Hope to see you all soon.
I called Fontana yesterday afternoon. The told me that they were closing indefinitely and that my cabin reservation had been canceled and transferred forward automatically to the dates for MOTD 2021. They were unsure if they would be allowed to be open for the MOTD dates. I am unsure of the source, but I saw a post on the MOTD Facebook page that several of the main attraction roads (The Dragon, the Cherohala Skyway and others) were to be closed to all but local traffic in the near future. My plans aren’t canceled yet, but it sure looks like it might be a long shot at this point.