Just woke up - a little hungover lol.

Gravenhurst's weather report shows no signs of rain there so... I'm heading out in a bit : )

You guys welcome a MS6?

Yes but you have to stay all the way to the back

Nice ... sounds like I'll be getting some good mileage from all the hydrocarbons :lol2:

1st one here... Haha. See you all soon.

We can probably tolerate certain other Mazdas ... BACK OF THE LINE! ;)

Enjoy th cruise guys, wish this was for tomorrow so I could come, but no....I have to get ready for a wedding...

stuck in traffic ... don't think I will make it in time .... you guys have fun.

Awesome cruise with excellent weather! Going to Korean grill house at commerce gate (505 highway 7 east) at 7pm.

Thanks for organizing this Footman.

yes, thank you indeed, i had fun!

pics?

Epilogue
 

Thanks to those who showed up and had faith/confidence in the weather holding out. Indeed, we were blessed and rewarded with excellent sunny skies shortly after Newmarket and for the rest of the day.

We had 13 RX8's and 1 MS3 on site. The day went smoothly for the most part, enjoyed some excellent lake breeze all along Keswick (Lake Simcoe area). Then we had some yummy ice cream at the pastrie/ice cream shop in Washago where the lady owner is a former RX-8 driver herself. She remembers us being there 2 years ago doing this run.

Southwood was an epic blast around 34 km of constant twisties, elevation changes, and many blind corners which allowed our 8's to stretch its legs and free itself from the mundane roads of GTA.

IT was pure driving pleasure and I have to say again, despite being how far it is, it is the "closest" thing to the tail of the dragon that we have nearest to Toronto.

Hope to see you all again next year.

If popular demand wants it, we could do a FALL CRUISE with a revised route focussing on the fun roads only, or a FALL CRUISE in the other direction towards Niagara.

Great cruise!
 

Thank you all who organized this event, your time and dedication helped create an awesome day with loads of memories. It was nice to meet a couple new faces and I look forward to a fall cruise. :)

jake did you do the fog light rewire i wanna do it to mine too =)

Niagara would be fun. My miata club did a niagara tours years ago with the RX7 club and it was a ton of fun.
Southwood Rd was fun but too much sand on the road.

Great time and thanks for the warm welcome.
I learned some things today. I need better tires and better brakes...and dont follow to closely...
My sincerest apologies to anyone who may have suffered a loss at the expense of my misjudgment.

HAHA err no!

As well organized as your cruises are Andrew.

Lets not mislead some young impressionable minds here, you haven't been to the dragon.

319 bends over 11 miles,starts at 800ft and ends 2000ft above sea level plus 3600km round trip in 5 days.

On a 1 to 10 scale being like the tail of the dragon maybe a 0.01.

Just sayin.

Doug,

No I haven't been to the dragon, I've only read about its stats; hence that's why I said it's the closest we've got without having to drive how far again???

Try 1300km away...

You mind telling me a road that's closer to Toronto that is more fun than Southwood?

Also Doug, a lot of us have had a lot of fun today, and most of us might not be able to afford the time and money to go to the Tail of the dragon, so we seek a more economical driving trip.

Good for you and others who are more well-off and can afford to do the halo'ed Tail of the Dragon. Your comments just ever so "diminish" the cruise we just had as "childs play... easy shits... noobs".

It's not very nice.

Ride Motorcycle Roads in Ontario, Canada at MotoWhere.com

Here are some other options...

365km vs 3600km would be ~10% of the driving experience...

Here are some stats:
'Tails of the dragon' = 318 curves in 17.7km (17.97 curves/km)

'Southwood Rd.' = ~65 curves in 36.8km (1.77 curves/km)

If I had the money and time to drive a whole 3600km to 'Tails of the Dragon', I'd be driving it a hell lot more than just once LOL maybe just go back and forth for a good 4 or 5 times at least...otherwise the 3600km drive might not be very well worth it IMO

now if only they had tracks that are as fun and long as these roads : ) --> well, tracks that are close to toronto, i mean sure there's the nurburgring...

ok JNR RELAX!

you are all about having all the facts and figures first and i just corrected your fact , but hey if you want to get all pissy and bent out of shape carry on.

Doug,

In the context of that post which was a congratulatory note to thank people for coming, you post something to correct some information I wrote?

Who's the real douche here? seriously... I felt that was unnecessary from you.

I understand your logic guys but where you're mistaken is that when you go to the Dragon you don't just drive the Dragon. Just within a few minutes drive of the Dragon is Hellbender, and the foothills of Deals Gap which are both awesome roads and also both make Southwood look like the 401. There's also the Cherahola Skyway which has amazing look out points over the Smokey Mountains.
I'm not joking when I say that you can leave your cabin/hotel in the morning and drive for 5-6 hours on all different roads with barely any straight roads.
It's also not as expensive as you might think. You can rent a cabin at Fontana Village and share it with a few people and then buy your own groceries which all helps cut the cost. If you happen to bring a passenger in your car with you then they can split the cost of gas 50/50 which also helps. If it's your first time down I recommend a full week because then you don't have to rush to see everything and can really enjoy yourself but if time is of the essence you can do a decent trip in 3-4 days as long as your drive there and back in one day which isn't too bad as its approx 13-14 hours one way depending on stops.
Southwood was fun, but everytime I've been on a trip to the Tail of the Dragon there's always been at least one newby who's mind is blown the first time they get there with how ridiculous the turns are in the Dragon. Anything you think it's like (from reading or stories, etc.), multiply that thought by 100 and you might be close to how crazy the Tail of the Dragon itself is.

Anyway, still a fun cruise. Thanks again Footman!

Simon