Feeler: SUMMER 2010 Bighorn Canyon Run, As discussed in the UNITED STATES MEET THREAD Options

[lilgreenyoda]

Ok ladies and gentlemen. As was mentioned in the United States Meet thread, some of our more western members have expressed that the drive to get to and from meets like the dragon can be quite unsavory. Thus a more central meet was proposed. That thread got too long for me, but I feel like I have a solution. It's tough to say that many roads in the midwest are in any way comparable to the dragon as most of them are entirely too straight and boring (like in Kansas or Nebraska). Which is why I propose a 55 mile stretch of US Highway 50 between Canon City and Salida Colorado, AKA: Bighorn Canyon. Here is a link to the mapped route ---> http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Canon+City...alida&2s=CO

This road can be quite treacherous in the winter, thus I propose it in the summer, and it was mentioned that some prefered the summer as well. Plus its not as touristy in the summer (Ski resorts in the area). Which means there are plenty of hotels in the area for people to stay in, as well as good restaraunts to get your munch on. And being as a summer run would not be in tourist season, I'm sure the places up there would love a big group, as long as the group is behaved.

The road itself follows the path of the Arkansas River, so there's plenty of sick twisties. There are also plenty of cool places to go for photographic reasons. Now I figure if we run the route "backwards" from Salida to Canon City, we could top the run off with a trip up Skyline Drive. That would NOT be on the list of places to take pictures, and it is not for the faint of heart. That would be a place to pay attention, absorb the AMAZING view, but still DRIVE as you have cliff straight up on the left, and cliff straight down on the right the entire drive.

Right now this is just a feeler, however if it is successful, I feel like it could become an annual gig much like the Dragon. SO. What say you all? A simple yay or nay will give me an idea as to if I should continue with planning and development.

Regards
-MCcelica/lilgreenyoda

This post has been edited by lilgreenyoda: Nov 17, 2009 - 3:55 PM

[dabazied]

Looks like a good possibility, good find on the area. Just gotta see if people are willing to come to that location. Looks pretty.

[lilgreenyoda]

Forgot to mention,

That time of year is plenty warm. Also since there aren't many tourists that time of year, rooms are cheap and there's fewer coppers out to bust people. (Typical if there's nobody to bust speeding, Sheriffs office isn't willing to spend money setting speed traps).

I really hope people would find their way out there for it. I mean, its about as centralized as you're gonna get while still maintaining "entertaining drive" value. I know the road, and establishments in Canon City and Salida quite well.

A duplicate post has been made on Celicatech as well, as some of their western members were putting up similar concerns regarding the dragon run. Hopefully between the two sites, we might be able to get a fairly substantial gathering.

Even if it starts small, and people post up some pictures and say it really was a fun time, the next year might be bigger. If I get enough support, I will also post something on some local CO boards as well, but that would wait to happen until I draw up specific plans.

[dabazied]

Absolutely, sweet, sounds good. And honestly, I'm willing to go to this meet no matter what just to see the area and stuff. If it takes til next year to get it big enough to get sponsor support, then so be it. I'm gonna make some phone calls to some of the car clubs I know that are strictly yota and see what's up as well.

[freddy121389]

I'd be down, figure out a date because I'm already going to the midwest meet i have organized in june

[Tigawoods]

its quite a trip for us east coasters.

[lilgreenyoda]

^That's no excuse! Lol if I'm back from Iraq in time, I'll be driving from further than there to get to the Dragon! Come on now! *Just giving ya a hard time.*

This post has been edited by lilgreenyoda: Nov 17, 2009 - 7:05 PM

[Tigawoods]

i think i can make the dragon. but my car throws a temper tantrum after driving more than 6 hours

[mmmchocolate]

thats pretty close to idaho! i might be able to do it!

[lilgreenyoda]

Ay, I'm legit on putting this together. I love the route, and the start stop points are beauiful. All that I'd really be waiting for is to see how many people are down, and I also gotta get back to get specific plans together. IE: Which restaraunts/hotels are still open, etc as some of those things change from year to year. I have a couple places in mind that are capable of accomodating larger groups, yet are still locally owned and operated.

I am thinking later on in the summer so as to not conflict with other meets, people's school schedules, while still keeping the weather warm thus making the road safer. That will also allow myself and others plenty of time to plan around it. I'm thinking a weekend long event. 2-3 days to go to the really cool picture points, as well as do the actual run around mid-August if that works. Day 1 being meet and greet and pictures. Day two being the run. And day 3 being "hanging out and watching people take off to go back home" type deal.

[freddy121389]

i would personally do mid july just because august i could see people not being able to go because it's so close to school, I start usually mid August too so I would probably not be able to make it if its in august.

[lilgreenyoda]

Fair enough. Time frames are still very flexible. When I get into work tomorrow, I'll post a poll.

[dabazied]

its quite a trip for us east coasters.

Its quite a trip for us west coasters as well, but there will be a decent amount of us there(trust me, they will come lol, one way or another as long as schedules match up). Plus, come on now, I'm soon gonna be on another cross country trip to the east coast, then driving back to Cali, then out to this meet when it happens. 6hrs? What kinda issues you have? Maybe we can brainstorm on getting them fixed, we have some time bro.

[lilgreenyoda]

It's also not the closest road to me. I mean there are some *decent* roads closer to where Im at. But the point of it is to make a smaller commute for a lot of people versus a huge commute for a few. My trip alone would be between 3.5-4 hours depending on traffic. So I'm not being hypocritical here! Lol

[richee3]

I don't know if I'll have the funds to go this year, especially so close to the Midwest meet and in the middle of a minimum-wage motor swap. I'll definitely be in to go next year if this happens, but for right now, I'm just too strapped to take a few days off work and drive that far. If I wasn't already in for the motor swap, I'd be there for sure though.

[dabazied]

Either way I'm going to this.... 2 cars is good enough for me I guess, since no one else is really man-ing up on this and putting much input.

[GriffGirl]

July works for me, the passes are open for sure by then and it's a good time to take some time off from work