The Dragon

[pedrocasper]

I just returned from NC/Tenn. Purpose of the trip was to explore the great roads of the Smoky Mountains. I had read all the hype about the Tail of the Dragon (Route 129) and didn't necessarily believe it. Hell, just getting to the "Dragon" presented so many awesome turns that I had a smile securely fixed to my face upon arrival, and I queried out loud, “why don’t these roads have businesses and web pages dedicated to them?” I arrived at the Dragon via NC Route 28 and felt my heart begin to pound (was I nervous?). After a few drinks of water, I said just take it easy and have a great ride. I hit the start button and headed for my first run of the day on the Dragon. After turn 3 of the 318 turns in 11 miles, I knew I had found a road that deserved all the “hype”. If you have ever been there, you know that a small community has sprung up supporting the motorcycle tourists who visit to ply their abilities on the “Dragon”. I imagine most of the owners as being transplanted motorcycle geeks (like myself) who started businesses near Route 129 just so they could be close to the road (not a bad idea). At about turn 30 you really hit the fun…the Tennessee side is where it is at… I shifted out of second gear only once….enjoying riding my r100 boxer café at 5,500 -6,200 rpm range carving corners. Pretending I was Nate Kern blasting by the competition, I enjoyed the road while playing at the upward end of my comfort level, but never leaving it. After a weeks stay and exploring many great roads (Route 28, 441, Wayah Road, etc) I had to do the Dragon one final day. A total of 6 trips that day finished my week on the Dragon. After saying good bye to several good people who I met throughout the week…I headed north and home. I must now add my bit to the “hype”. The Dragon is a road that must have been designed by a very talented rider. He/She knew where to put a reduced apex turn(s) because it would make for a great ride, not necessarily because engineering and road design principals required it. I still have a smile on my face and will likely always crack one when I think of the week that I danced with the Dragon.

[EastTNBeemer]

Hey Pete,
Next time you come down, PM me. There are some other roads that are "dragonesc", but we keep them a secret. We'll blind-fold you and take you out to them, though..."Can yore tars squeel like a pig?" (Deliverance music playing in background) :D

[RTRandy]

Petey,

I rode it July on my way to Nova Scotia and really enjoyed it along with other roads in the area. Did you happen to notice any commercial photographers along the way? If so, you can try: Dealsgap.com (http://dealsgap.com/) and go to "Your Gap Photos".
Look for the date and category of bike you ride and you can order the shots on disk of you riding it . There's also another service called:Killboy.com (http://www,killboy.com) with the same service as well. I got some from both. Very cool !

[pedrocasper]

Thanks for the invite. I'll shall return! The one bumper sticker I like the best was "Paddle harder, I hear banjo music". I live in upstate NY so that sticker fits in well up here too. Pictures - Yes, Killboy was out in the afternoons...I was out in the mornings. Zee snapped several good shots. www.zeefoto.com. If you go to August 4, 2006 I am the guy on the blue "cafe" r100 with the white helmet. Page 1 and Page 6. Once I get the photos from Zee, I'll post one of them.

Petey

[R75_7]

Nice pics! :clap

[John Brase]

Hey Petey,

I was there Aug. 4. I saw you filling up at the gas pump in the morning while I was having coffee. I was on a blue/frost R1150RS.

John

[DarrylRi]

I, too, went to see the Dragon on my way home from the National. It's a fun road and I can see why there's so much hoopla over it.

However, I was also surprised at the number of cruisers out there scraping that expensive chrome off their bikes. Bad riders blowing turns. The Deals Gap Resort was full of cruiser bikes.

I came up behind one guy with his wife/girlfriend on the back, who, though he wasn't going faster than about 35, was spending as much time in the oncoming lane as on his side. I backed way off, as I didn't want to be a part of his accident. His wife kept whacking him on the back every time he'd blow another turn. The lessons didn't seem to be "taking". ;-)

And quite a number of tourists towing boats and trailers through it, too. Doesn't Tennessee require slower vehicles to move over when they have some number of vehicles lined up behind them?

I guess I was kind of glad I had toned down my act when I passed the Tenn. trooper going the other way, near the bottom.

I had also heard quite a bit about the Cherohala Skyway. It's a very pretty drive, not dissimilar to the part of the Blue Ridge Parkway I rode on my way down there. But I was quite surprised to find that the speed limit on the Tennessee side is 30mph. This is a road, with big sweepers, long sight lines and large shoulders, that would be quite comfortable at double that speed, if not more.

I had a lot more fun and lot less traffic on some of the small roads in the eastern Tenn. area. I seem to recall enjoying the J.E.B. Stuart Highway quite a lot, though there was some gravel in some of the corners.

And if you like small roads with lots of turns and practically no traffic, I highly recommend NW Arkansas. I spent several hours not seeing any traffic there until I came into Huntsville, where they were having a Rodeo. Even that wasn't too bad. I will have to go back there and see some more of the Ozarks...

[audioelliot]

The dragon is a fabulous rode you just have to hit it at the right time. In the morning or right before sundown are the best times and definitely during a weekday. About the Cherohala skyway, yes the speed limit on the Tennessee side says 30mph but it is only posted once, and many arguments have risen up that since it is not posted frequently enough, the speed limit is the '55mph is nothing posted' type of deal. I've ridden this road numerous times and never had any problems, and in my opinion is way more fun than the dragon. Oh and by the way there is a road is Southwest Virginia/Southeast Kentucky that puts the dragon to shame, it's just not as long :)

[pedrocasper]

Hey Petey,

I was there Aug. 4. I saw you filling up at the gas pump in the morning while I was having coffee. I was on a blue/frost R1150RS.

John


John: I remember your bike.

[LTOwner]

Have ridden the Dragon several times, and agree it is a great novelty ride. However, think there are many more pleasant roads in that area to ride that are also great fun. Incompetent and inconsiderate traffic on the Dragon is increasingly a problem.

[tgf429]

Leaving for the Dragon on Sept 16th from Iowa City, IA. Would love to meet people on the way down or when I get there. What are the "must see and do's" when I get there?

Thanks

Tom

[pedrocasper]

Tom: Go to www.Dealsgap.com or www.thetailofthedragon.com. These websites provide some good recommendations for local roads that I found to be very fun to ride. Or offer to buy "EastTNBeemer" lunch and he may show you the secret TN roads. :wow

I found riding the dragon in the morning to be the best. I'd get there at 8AMish, have a cup of coffee and then run it for a few hours. (with lots of breaks to chat with folks) If you want to get your picture taken by Zee or Killboy, you will have to go closer to noon time. I recommend you stay away from the Dragon on the weekends -- unless of course you go to watch some of the more aggressive drivers... On Friday I saw increased car and bad motorcycling. One of the VMax crowd guys (they were there Aug. 5-7) was cutting yellow lines without a care in the world. I really thought he was going to kill someone. Just ride at your ability and enjoy!

Pete

[pedrocasper]

Leaving for the Dragon on Sept 16th from Iowa City, IA. Would love to meet people on the way down or when I get there. What are the "must see and do's" when I get there?

Thanks

Tom


Check out the Fontana Damn off of Route 28 in NC. It is worth the drive "over" (across) the Damn, which is the biggest dam damn east of the Rockies!

Petey

[Stuff2C]

I went to the Boone rally this weekend and discovered another awesome set of roads in north east Tenn. Also hwy 58 out of Boone is a fantastic road.

Another weekend to remind me FLORIDA SUCKS! (I can say it as a 3rd generation native) :nyah

www.shadyvalleycountrystore.com :thumb :thumb

[RTRandy]

I went to the Boone rally this weekend and discovered another awesome set of roads in north east Tenn. Also hwy 58 out of Boone is a fantastic road.

My take on the Dragon was certainly fun, but I think highly overrated. If you think about riding 11 miles at 40 mph, your ride is over in a little over 20 minutes. It's seems like more of a big deal for cruisers since many of them have poor riding skills making this road a big deal. I rode it on a Thursday around noon and first caught up to several cruisers taking bad lines or no lines into their turns. I remained patient behind them having heard all the horror stories and after a mile or so they pulled to the right and waved me through. The rest of the way was clear sailing and quite fun. The road by they way is in excellant shape. Super smooth surface all the way and well marked.

The next day I ended up riding Boone, NC to Bristol, TN (or VA?) on a Hwy 421 and found this one was much more challenging than Deals Gap. From memory, I climbed and decended down two mountain passes and many of the turns were switch backs with turns marked at 10 and 15 mph. While slow speed, some of these were a very steep climbs in sharp turns making this one a wild ride for a long distance.

Here's some shots I got back from riding the Dragon.
The guy in the first shot is taking his shirt off so he won't mess up his T-shirt while riding.

http://rpscott.smugmug.com/photos/84227714-L.jpg
http://rpscott.smugmug.com/photos/87969508-L.jpg
http://rpscott.smugmug.com/photos/87969747-L.jpg
http://rpscott.smugmug.com/photos/89157468-L.jpg
http://rpscott.smugmug.com/photos/89157667-L.jpg
http://rpscott.smugmug.com/photos/89157806-L.jpg
http://rpscott.smugmug.com/photos/89158041-L.jpg

[pedrocasper]

I am trying to talk my wife (who rides) into moving to NC/Tenn! I have to admit, Upstate NY has some great roads too...

[dancogan]

[QUOTE=RTRandy]
Here's some shots I got back from riding the Dragon.
QUOTE]

Really neat shots! :thumb

[BubbaZanetti]

nice pictures man, i love that airhead cafe racer!

[k12koop]

If you really want to enjoy the dragon, come after the leaves are gone....

When it turns cold the cruiser are virtually gone. If the weather gets up to about 60 with the leaves gone the pavement gets hot enough (minus the leaves).

It is a real treat when you share the road with about 50 total folks on the loop.

Koop

[pedrocasper]

Yeeeha!

[Visian]

If you really want to enjoy the dragon, come after the leaves are gone....

When it turns cold the cruiser are virtually gone. If the weather gets up to about 60 with the leaves gone the pavement gets hot enough (minus the leaves).

It is a real treat when you share the road with about 50 total folks on the loop.

Koop

Dangit Koop... quit giving away the secrets! Before you know it, the Dragon will be wall-to-wall year-round!

FWIW, with the leaves gone you can see through the woods and know if there is any oncoming traffic.

Ian

[Stuff2C]

I would never discourage anyone from visiting the Dragon. It's like Disney World...you just have to do it ONCE and get a t-shirt.

[pedrocasper]

Unfortunately, track days by me (NHIS) run in excess of $250.00 a day. So, I can't afford to ride on the track as much as I'd like. In my opinion most tracks (at least the ones I have been on) provide for a less challenging ride than the Dragon (or other roads in the area). Wayah Rd and Route 28 are great roads (But with just as much traffic as the Dragon on a typical weekday morning). As stated in my orginal post, the design of the Dragon with the cambers and combination reduced apex turns makes for a very technical ride…regardless of your speed and ability. I live near the mountainous terrian of the Adirondacks and Catskill Mountains and the roads are great, but not as great as the are around Deal's Gap.