Excellent read, John!
In Orlando, we had a bit tamer version of "The Dragon", appropriately named
Chase Rd. Named after the Chase family, which owned all the orange groves in that part of Orange county, just south of Windermere. The road began in Windermere, ran through the groves, became part of Vineland-Winter Garden Rd., which terminated at Disney Village (Lake Buena Vista). A run of about 13 miles. The first 6 miles was nothing but curves, virtually every type you could imagine. Tights, sweepers, up and downhill, decreasing radius...all winding through the groves in between various lakes of the Butler chain. Some turns, lose it, and you were swimming. Most others? You were picking oranges out of your teeth.
I had a VERY modded VW Scirocco with a perfed GTI motor and a purpose built 6-speed tranny, with 6th being an OD to help my revs at top bop. My good buddy ran a restored, but stock, '72 240Z. I could build a nice lead on him during the "curvy" part of the run, but he would always walk away from me once we hit Vineland-Winter Garden, which was a dead straight 7 mile stretch down to Disney. My neighbor was a shift supervisor for Orange County Sheriff's Dept., Sgt. Bill Sullivan, coolest cop I ever have known. I convinced him to meet us out there one VERY late night, and hit us with his radar gun halfway down the long straight...138 MPH for the Roc, 145 for my buddy's 240. Very un-nerving to pass a marked car, radar detector screaming...and hope it's not ANOTHER deputy who wasn't in on the game!!
Go out there one night after work (I worked 2nd shift then) for a run, turn right, cross the RR tracks (that was the launch point)...and there's barricades all across the road! Hmmm, maybe a wash-out or something, turn around and go home. For months those barricades were there...WTF!! Nothing in the papers, didn't have a clue.
One night several months later, go out there...and the barricades are gone!! WOO HOO!! Get on the gas, rowing up through the gears, get to the first curve, a sharp right...except now it's gentle...and the road has become 4 lanes divided!! And lit!! Anbother WTF!!! Well, if you've ever heard of
Isleworth, developed by Arnold Palmer, soon to be home to Tiger Woods, Mark O'Meara, Payne Stewart, Shaq O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, and countless other mega-rich, that's what Chase Rd. became.
Needless to say, I was extremely bummed...
