Who is planning on going to MATG
 

Just wondering who is planning on making it to the Miatas at the Gap this year. I am planning on being in Bryson City NC that weekend and might finally get a chance to make it to MATG (3rd through 6th).

Concealor104 or whatever his name is has a lodge booked at Fontana. I know there are 3 or 4 other mt.net people hanging out with him.

I unfortunately have something planned the week before so I can't make it out. I also was informed that my new truck and trailer might be to big to actually make it up to the lodge.

Yep i'm there. This is my Super Bowl. I'll be there Tuesday thru Sunday.

Crud I hopped on this too late. Not sure if I'll make it depending on lodging options.

Concealer would probably let you crash at his lodge for the right price. I am slowly debating if I want to come out Saturday and Sunday or not. I have to go see the Descendents in Charlotte NC Friday night, so its only a few hour drive west.

I plan on going (a friend of mine plans on riding down with me as well)... We do not have any lodging planned yet however

Willing to pay in New Glarus alcohol and cash/paypal though :)

I'll be there with my wife. Not sure how thrilled she will be surrounded by car folks for several days, but she did agree to it without any arm-twisting. Looking forward to meeting some of the faces behind the screen names.

I'll be there with a few others. We're staying at Fontana

What's MATG?


So you're free during the weekend? AMS drives their bigass semi-rig up to the lodge..... your truck and trailer can make it just fine :D

I am actually going to see the Descendents in Charlotte on Friday night. I am debating driving the extra 3 hours afterwards to get to the cabin sometime Saturday morning.

I'm disappointed I can't make it since they pushed it back a week and it falls on a work weekend for me. I'll just have to wait until Fall in Fontana this year I guess.

We'll be there! :D

New management at Fontana forced that decision :sad2:

​​​​​​​I know. I also got to get a car done that I feel like driving there. I want AC and cruise control because I have gotten old. Currently my 93LE which is probably what I will take needs a ton of work finished and AC fixed. I am slowly working on it between working on turbo setups.

I'm thinking I may leave from Charlotte Saturday as well and make a long day trip out of it. Baby #2 is due any day now so I know I'll have a sitter that weekend, although Wifey doesn't know yet. Let me know if we can make a train!! Choo-Choo

I'll be there, we have a group of 3-4 cars going.

I've never been, can I easily get a tuck and car trailer down to fontaina?

"Easily" is a matter of opinion and also depends on which direction you come into the resort.

From Chilwohee HWY 129/115/28 I've upgraded the brakes on the tow pig in preparation..... I figure I would have to go slow.

Brakes are less of an issue on the way up.... it's just a REALLY tight road.

I'd do it with my Montero and a small trailer with a miata on it, but that's about as "long" as i'd get. And i'd prefer to do it in a time where there's nobody else on the road, because there's no way double yellows aren't getting crossed.

Hmmmm, do you know if there is a safe place to leave the truck outside of the gap? I could ditch it and drive the miata in. We will be arriving at the gap about 5pm so no telling what traffic will be like.

You'll probably be fine, i'm a weenie. Just go slow.

You will be fine. Concealer404 is just a weenie. Drive flat out.

What time of the day and which day would you be rolling through? If it's during peak hours it'll be pretty sketchy.

If you feel comfortable, there's a Walmart on 411 in Maryville. Maryville isn't the ghetto or anything, typical town. If you REALLY want I could ask some Maryville locals about you storing your truck/trailer there.

Sounds good. Flat out it is. :rofl:

What food options will be in the area? Do I need to bring a grill and cook out or are there enough places to eat? What about gas? Is 93 available? Gha those are such noob questions but I've never been and its nearly 9 hours away from my house so I would rather be prepared than sorry.

I'm hoping to end up in the spirited run, how spirited is it? Is that spirited according to a Sunday driver or a track driver. When we go to Eureka, spirited is as fast as you was to go, treat the road like a racetrack brake when you see God etc. (the ozarks are not patrolled by police)

There's two restaurants and a "grocery store" in Fontana Village. There's also charcoal grills at the cabins. Several of the runs are based around food, like the A&W drive-in run. Robbinsville is the closest town with a few of your typical small town joints(Wendy's,Hardee's, random Mexican place, etc).

There's 93 available right at the entrance of Fontana Village, Tuskegee Motel east on 28 has gas, and the crossroads(Deal's Gap store) has gas although expensive. Robbinsville has more standard priced gas, along with a gas station right before the start of Cherohala Skyway on 129 towards Robbinsville. I actually stop here when we do the A&W run.

Spirited runs are spirited. I think there's two "listed" spirited runs, one for Fat Buddies and one for A&W, I'd vote A&W but I'm biased since I lead it ;) Keep your ego in check, stay in your lane(please!), give enough space between the car in front of you, and you'll have a good time :party:

Here's a run on the gap from the end of the A&W one year.

Excellent, thanks for the info. I'm looking forward to it. This has been on my "must do list" since I was a teenager.

Emphasis on "keep your ego in check." There's been deaths there this year already and there will be plenty of people on the run willing to put people in their place. ;)

Has there actually been an issue with that? Follow the leader, stay away from the yellow, stay within your limits, seems pretty simple to me.


Only once in 13 years have we had an issue with a driver, he passed the lead car on a double yellow. I though he was going to get ass kicked after that one.

Issue might be strong. There's always one or two every year that cause a little grumbling. Usually the "I WANNA GO FAST" guys that don't understand the yoyo effect when caught in the middle of a group. :P

New run this year!

I sometimes find myself sitting around Saturday afternoons and I don't actually like to go up on the hill during Saturday peak hours. I also can't recall a Saturday "run" recently, so why not do a BEERRUN?!

Here's the planned route:

https://goo.gl/maps/vAX2xQ81Ch92

Attachment 229967

The plan is:

When: 2:00PM
Where: Wildwood Grill to Natahala Brewery
Why: Beer

We'll head south towards Franklin for the fun curvy bit. Then stop and stretch there. Gas shouldn't be needed until Bryson City since it's only a 80mile route from Fontana to the beer.

We should be arriving at the brewery around 5:00pm ish. Enough time to get beer, eat, and head back in time for the beer-swap and evening activities.

There's several places to eat near the Brewery:
Anthony's(Italian) - https://www.anthonysbrysoncity.com/
CJ's Bar/Grille (right beside the Brewery)
Bar-B-Que Wagon (on Main Street)

I figure we can decide once we're there or if there's LOTS of people on this run we can disperse in small groups.


It’s important to note that no matter what the pace, nobody gets left behind. If everyone follows one simple group rule, everything works out. EACH DRIVER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ONE CAR DIRECTLY BEHIND THEM. Whenever the group makes a turn from one road to another, you must wait at that turn until the next car in line can see where you’re turning. Because the rule also applies to the car ahead of you, you won’t get lost by waiting. It works out really nicely.

I will once again remind everybody how important it is to only drive the pace you feel comfortable. There is always a faster car and a more skilled driver, so please don’t use anyone else as a gauge for how quickly you should drive, or when you should brake.

Let's all be responsible with the booze! The drive back will be the much shorter route of 74 to 28, a 45min/33mile drive back to Fontana Village.

I'm heading down from Toronto on the Sunday before with a bunch of Canadians - staying at Fontana. Should be some Ecotecs in the bunch.

I'm staying with concealer. Looking forward to meeting more of you guys.

I'm totally stoked

aayyyee me too! It's obviously the mt.net party palace of the weekend.

I will find said party palace

I will also be at the party palace rooming with sixshooter

:party:


When is everyone getting there?

I think we're planning on a run down to blood mountain on Thursday, the normal hillclimb shinanigens Friday morning-ish, the A&W run that late afternoon which ends up on the gap near dusk and is always fun, then the beer run Saturday. This is definitely subject to change, since it's all really laid back. The A&W and Beer runs I'm leading only get cancelled for heavy weather across the whole region. It's pretty damn easy to drive 20min one direction to get into clear skies :D

IDK on arrival. I have a court date on Thursday morning in Tampa and will either leave after or get it changed and leave Wednesday night and drive part of the way. So either Thursday night or Thursday midday.

My crew an I will be there round 6 ish Thursday. I forgot I have to drive through a timezone.

Be sure to duck.

Vteckiller2000 and i will be there on Tuesday. Unsure what i'm driving at this point, or if i'm driving. Dealing with an injury and a hovercar.

Depending on how early I get there Saturday, I may do this run with you that evening and leave from the brewery and head back to Charlotte.

New route for the beerrun, 20-30 min longer, but worth it for a nicer road.

Attachment 229966

Mild change of plans for me.. I'll still be there, but it likely won't be in the miata

I've just received approval to take off Friday. I can head down but if anyone has a spot for me to crash, I'll pitch in. It wasn't certain if I'd have my car, hence the poor planning. I can probably be there for Friday afternoon if leaving before rush hour here.

LMK!

The Party Cabin is going to Tapoco Lodge for dinner and drinks on Wednesday evening. I THINK we're in cabin #628. It'll be hard to miss. There will be an Explorer, a trailer, a turbo Garnet Red NB2, and HOPEFULLY a super hacked up 2000 SE out front.

Come by, say hi, and come to dinner with us.

@unk577 this means yourself and Shandelle as well. :)

Vteckiller2000 and i are getting in tomorrow evening, so if anyone is there at that time as well, come on by. There will be Gin & Tonics and doctored up PBR.

We will be there tomorrow afternoon/evening. Not sure which cabin we're staying in but we'll be there. We'll have the NB, NC, ND, and JohnnyC's NB as well. We'll find ya

Woo! Impromptu Tuesday night party!

I'd like to get on the road by noon, which means we'll be on the road around 2pm, we'll get there between 8-9pm i think.

Hopefully i can still get this appt, but if i get the car sorted this evening, we'll be towing the car into Maryville wednesday morning to get it aligned.

Yup. That under the wire.

I'll be showing up on Thursday morning in what will likely be the fastest straight line vehicle there... Miata is staying home sadly... That said, if you hear something that sounds way too 'MURICA to be a miata, its likely me. Stop over and say hi

I'll be there in a blue miata. Unless I break down.

Speaking of which, I'll have my truck and trailer about 30 min drive outside of Fontana Village if anyone needs something. I'll have tools, random parts, and most importantly a real jack should something come up.

Damn dude, you don't joke around! This is great to know as I'm trying to imagine everyone's trunks hobbled with rando wrenches and tools.

I've been contemplating just bringing a spare wheel and brake pads. Might just be paranoia.

Arriving Thursday night.

What sort of gin concoctions?

I had my hub/rotor/brake/wheel/tire rip off at Barber on Sunday, but it's all back together now. I'm planning on meeting Ben and Cameron in Maryville when Hater is getting aligned.

We(Ben, Cameron, and I) did this route on Thursday morning last year, thinking about doing it again.

https://goo.gl/maps/z33ThKGfeKp

We are in the back at top of the hill

Looks like we're gonna head up there tomorrow with the LFX. And I should have something for you Brian.

Primed and ready. I'll be there about 6-7pm tomorrow.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps0scyeul0.jpg

I'm here but without my wife. After driving the Dragon on my way to the B&B she would have hated it. Looking forward to finally meeting those whom I have known for a few years on the forums.

I will be there tomorrow night unless delayed. White Tundra with topper pulling tow dolly with Montego Blue '96 Miata with peeling clearcoat and light blue hardtop. Kinda hard to miss. Ryan_G will be with me.