"Ya gonna hit the drag'n? We luved tha dragg'n maan!", my new pal asked.
"We're not sure. It's not planned on the route but we may swing by and check it out", I replied.
The Dragon (http://www.tailofthedragon.com) is US129 near Deals Gap, the lower left area of the Smoky Mountains where the TN/NC state line intersects the park. It is a short 11 mile run with 318 curves that many motorcycles and cars visit for the challenge. We held the decision off until we got closer.
We had liftoff at 9:10am and headed west towards SR143.
As we hit 28, we pulled off on an overview.
Didn't catch the name but here it is...
As we were starting to load up after about a 10 minute break, a black (fast of course) ST rode past us, in the same direction we were going. We waved and he waved back. About 20 seconds later, he was headed the other direction on the divided highway. Next thing, I heard the ST roar up next to me as we were just beginning to mount the ST.
"Nice ST!", the rider shared.
"Yea, back at you!", I mentioned back, being sarcastic as the motorcycles were almost identical.
We introduced ourselves; his name was Tim and was on a 4 week tour from Sacramento, CA. Tim had hit Canada and was on his way down to hit the tail of the dragon.
"You guys doing the DRAGON??!!", he asked excitedly.
"Not sure, maybe. We are certainly headed that way"
After chatting for about 15 minutes, Leslie and I decided to mount up on the ST and ride further. We shared our goodbyes and mentioned that we may see him up at Deals Gap (location of the tail of the dragon).
As we appoached the turn for 19/74 to bypass the Dragin, we decided to bear right and GO FOR IT! We figured that we could not be all the way down there and NOT do the tail of the dragon, right? We had to atleast see what it was like!
Not but just a few miles on 28, we were riding and the temperature was already beginning to rise. I was riding with my sunglasses and the visor on my helmet was opened for air, even if it was hot air -- whack- STING! A wasp or yellow jacket pegged me right on the forhead between my sunglasses and helmet. I hit the brakes and made a quick pull off to the grass on the side of the road.
"Oh man! He got me good!, I was yelling. I could not recall a sting hurting so badly. That, or I am just a big whimp. Leslie had no idea what happened but she nursed me back to life with the first aid kit that I brought along. I hoped that I was not alergic to the sting.
About 10 minutes later, we pulled over and checked the sting and enjoyed the view...
As we hit US129, home of the dragon, we saw the meeting place on our right, the PACE, the dragon. As we made the right onto US129, it was not long before the tail of the dragon was upon us. Here's a map...
Thanks again to http://www.tailofthedragon.com ... gotta visit the site.
Many pictures are snapped and updated at http://www.killboy.com
The road winded and included quick hairpins and crossbacks, as expected. I still was not use to the ST, especially with the load we had on her. By the time we were about 3/4 complete (unknown to us), my hands began to tire. I'll tell you, it is a wild ride to be making a left hand turn and have a sports bike coming at you on the inside and them laying it down to their knee. I hated that sound. ;)
I will post a pic of us on the curves after it comes in the mail. For now, http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY005Z020801&po=802&c There are a few before and after this one.
As we reached the top, I made some frieds. The view was really nice, but it was becoming brutally hot in the sun.
This couple was from New Albany, Indiana and just recently swung by the area just weeks ago.
Here's a pic of us showing off our helmet hair (and no, that's NOT my helmet).
We decided to do the dragon again! Go! Go! Go! I figured it would be a little different because we will be dropping in elevation going back, and it was; it was better. Because of going DOWN in elevation, the ST kept its speed up much better through the turns (I did not back her off as much as I did going up the dragon). It was much more comfortable going down. Hey, an ST just passed and it was Tim, whom we met hours earlier! We saw him a few times but never spoke again.
This is a typical curve on the Dragon (note: the length between the curves and the skid marks over the double yellow).
We pulled into the dragon...
"Hope he plans on spending some coinage. These Hondas just don't require any maintenance!", he shared.
This is the Dragon's "Tree of Shame". It contains items from motorcycles that have wrecked while taking the Dragon.
RiSTa get's her 'Taming the Dragon' tattoo! Good job ol'girl...
We hit the road (129) south to Cherohala Scenic Skyway. The Skyway was amazing; a MUST route. It was so wild because we may have seen a half dozen cars/motorcycles at the most. We felt like we were the only people on earth, riding the ridge of the east. It also gave us a brief escape from the heat but we were reminded of it once we hit Teleco Plains. We took 315 south to 64/74. 315 was really nice except that they mowed the sides of it earlier and they left chunks of gravel and grass in the road, so it was a constant alert road. A little sample...
The themometer was reaching 97 degrees and decided to pull off and wade in a creek for a little while to try to cool off. I removed my shirt and drenched it in the water and threw it back on. It helped a bit.
We boogied on US64/74 west to Cleveland and pulled over to call Shannon and Dad to let them know that we were running a little late but kept from eating anything through the day to save our appetite. We made our final destination, Shannon's new house in Ooltewah and hit our Faifield Inn for a shower around 7:00pm. We all went and gragged some grub.
