MINI Press Release Motoring Alliance returns to MINIs on the Dragon 2018 (MOTD)

Honestly, the Sunrise drive is my personal favorite... plus it leaves early so we get back to Fontana in the the morning and you have the rest of the day for other things. Regular MOTD attendees have probably been down those roads before, but they never disappoint. If we get a clear day, the views from the Foothills Parkway are stunning and you really understand the "Smoky" in "Smoky Mountains".

 

Love the foothills parkway. It’s great to run anytime and even better with government park restrictions which means the rangers are not on duty and using radar.

 

I’m finding this years lack of MOTD content as concerning as much as my just now bringing this up! WE ONLY HAVE JUST OVER 40 DAYS PEOPLE! So far just over 600 people/400 cars on the counter, and only the couple regulars that already posted, along with one I didn’t expect from here.

I will definitely be around Fontana, hell, I live here! There’s some things I haven’t seen posted anywhere that some of you might need to know about though...

US 129 south of Robbinsville (near the intersection with 19/74) is down to one lane for a half mile stretch... They have a temporary traffic light that cycles every 3-5 minutes, so if any large groups get caught up here it could be a big separation. Easiest pulloff to regroup would be the Park & Ride area across from the creepy old gas station at the intersection. It’s closed due to a retaining wall being rebuilt before the highway fell off the mountain.

US 28 (Hellbender) On the south side of Fontana (the route most everyone takes into Robbinsville) is FULLY RE-OPEN after a massive rockslide that happened in December. (Directly after Rainbow Falls) There may be some lingering side work though throughout the summer.

US 129 south of the Dragon (from around Yellow Creek all the way into Robbinsville) is under a massive tree/brush clearing project. They are cutting down everything 50 feet off of and up to the pavement. They routinely close the road with a flagger and some of the delays can be long. That is expected to last all summer.

US 19 through Nantahala Gorge, is also under the same tree clearing project, and has the same delays.

There are also several repaving projects on multiple side roads of the main routes, with delays expected.

As of right now the Dragon section of 129 is good to go! Not as smooth as years past but still in good shape. Same for 28 into Fontana from the Killboy store.

I’m looking forward to the week, and so far everyone who has posted in this thread is invited to my house! Some of you have been there, but it can still be a pain to find!


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Hopefully, one day I will make it there. I finally have worked out most of the bugs in my MINI and begin driving it again in February. I got so frustrated with trying to fix things and spending money on it that I parked it for 10 months.

 

All good Sully, the lack of hype isn’t just here. Unfortunately it’s everywhere! I guess MINIs are just losing momentum as an actual fan base product. The numbers of registrants speak for themselves 4-5 years ago almost double the amount of people would already be on the list for MOTD, all the forums would have pretty much Dragon content only on the most recent posts, and all the Facebook groups simply didn’t exist. It’s really nothing to do with the board. Everyone that is a regular still keeps up, but with group upon group on Facebook a lot of the new enthusiastic MINI owners doesn’t have a clue because it’s rarely talked about.



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I know how you feel! I figured it out the other day and I have actually driven the only MINI I have left for about a year and a half out of 9 years of owning it... My first MINI I had for 2 years and it was broken for 6 months of that and used as a weekend only car outside of that... The only MINI I had kept going and drove every day was my R60 which thankfully never gave me any problems. Yet I’m still here! (Occasionally)







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I was wondering about that... there does seem to be a lack of excitement from previous years. Maybe MOTD has turned into a bunch of regulars that don't need the hype because they have already been there enough times... they love it, but it just isn't the exciting / unknown thing anymore.

 

We'll try to find it, Dick. It will give us something to do after the Cigar Salon before we leave Friday morning. [instructions?]

 

We "regulars" are still excited about going to and being there, but, the original Generation 1 excitement of the "new" MINI has left and the newer generations seem to have forgotten how unique our cars are, probably because some of our Generation 1 compatriots have made it clear that they do not care for the later generations.

 

I and my other are very excited about the Dragon as it is the beginning of Spring and we get to see all our old friends that we have been seeing for the last ten years. I do not look forward to seeing new d-bags thinking that they are racecar drivers and acting like idiots in and around Fontana.

I do not care for SUV MINI’s running on the Dragon at all. It is also no secret I hate the fish face F56.

The people in newer cars / generations do not show respect to the area and the road or the people are driving on the road with. They are to concerned with 2-way radios, waving at everyone and not paying attention while driving.

 

Well, I remember a whole lot of R53 drivers being inconsiderate on the roads (crossing the yellow, driving too public roads like they were a racetrack). There used to be huge argument threads over on NAM for weeks after MOTD. I think there are just more of them now, so it's easier to pigeon hole a holes into the 'other' bucket, rather than a 'like me' bucket.

 

I will wave with one finger, you guess which one.

 

A lot of new attendees are like that. If it is a broad brush so be it.

I understand in todays society everyone gets offended at everything but the facts are the facts.

As far as R53 drivers using the Dragon as a racetrack, well our smaller group has its problem drivers also. I am not pretending that we don’t and I live in a glass house at all.

I go on runs in the daytime and drive like a normal driver. If I want to blast down the Dragon, or better local roads, I go out late at night or early morning. I always get pissed at people crossing the yellow line.and driving like idiots and truth be told their are not a lot of R53’s on the road like it used to be. As everyone like to remind me times have changed and the first gen is a dead generation. So if that’s true who is the group that are driving like idiots?