Finally did the Dragon today

[Expatriated]

I guess I'm just about the last one in the motorcycle world to not have done it but I took care of that this morning on my 08 R1200RT.

I have read a lot about the congestion on the road and I wasn't sure what to expect but I think the remnants of the tropical storm combined with it being a weekday kept most people away.

The first time I rode it this morning (about 9am), I saw a total of 3 bikes coming the opposite way and no one on my side. About an hour later, I saw about 5 more and that was it for the whole 2 hours I was there. Not one cop was out but there was a tractor trailer that was taking some turns a little wide (scary!)

I'm sure there may be better roads out there but I had an absolute blast on the Dragon! And the scenery was just gorgeous along the river and the dam. The road was still wet and slick in some parts so I was definitely doing the speed limit or less.

This was part of 2-day, 900-mile roundtrip down from Indiana (about 600 of that was in the rain). This is my first BMW and I continue to be impressed with it.

[pffog]

Well you did it right, mid week, morning, sketchy weather. On a weekend the circus shows up and the complexion changes.

[redrider1100]

I recently moved to North Carolina and once I get my bike out of storage, The Dragon is on my list of roads to hit!

Glad you enjoyed it. -- Paul

[jeremell]

I'm not sure why The Dragon gets all the hype. It is very fun, technical, and scenic. However, you shouldn't miss Hwy 441 from Gatlinburg and the Foothills Parkway between 129 and 321.

[mieczkow]

Recently returned from a trip to the Blue Ridge. Started north of the Dragon because I figured it would be too crowded. Picked it up north of Asheville using NC80 - which was a great ride.

On the way back I took the Foothills parkway, thanks to my sister-in-law's husband who routed me that way on the return trip. Another great ride.

[userw5]

I guess I'm just about the last one in the motorcycle world to not have done it.........


Nope. :brow

[Expatriated]

You guys are right, there is a whole summer of good roads in that area (TN/NC). I've ridden a few others in the area (all the numbers run together) and it seems like it's hard to pick a bad road.

I spent the night at a friends house NE of Knoxville and the road to his house was as good, if not better than the Dragon, although not quite as long.

Looking forward to next year's rally.

[Mongo]

I'm riding down there in October. I'm really looking forward to it.

[RevWillie]

I recently moved to North Carolina and once I get my bike out of storage, The Dragon is on my list of roads to hit!

-- Paul

Yep, we have NC 181, NC 18, US 421 "the Snake", US 64 West, NC 10, and lots of other interesting roads. Get up with some of the local riders and let them show you their favorite roads!:thumb

Welcome to NC--you will love the roads to the National next year.:burnout

[pedrocasper]

Me on the Dragon a few years ago. I can't agree more with the others who posted that there are numerous, no countless, great riding roads in NC and Tenn near Route 129 that should not be missed.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t224/pedro_puku/Picture001.jpg

[DPeakMD]

I guess I'm just about the last one in the motorcycle world to not have done it but I took care of that this morning on my 08 R1200RT....

+1 (or should that be -1) I've not done it either!

Glad you're enjoying your new RT, Expat!

[lineman126]

Plus or minus two!;) I haven't done it either. One of these days I'll get around to it. Maybe when I head down for the rally next year I'll hit it up on the way down.

[The_Veg]

I haven't either, and whether I do will depend on lots of things like timing, etc. With all the other great motorcycle roads on this continent, I can take it or leave it.

[swall]

Is the "Dragon" really that much different from other U.S. routes, like US 321/421 that cross the Appalachians? Or US 441?

[kgadley01]

Is the "Dragon" really that much different from other U.S. routes, like US 321/421 that cross the Appalachians? Or US 441?

not really, but you can buy a cool t-shirt and a set of decals. I've got a Dragon license plate frame on my RT. it gets noticed alot :bolt

[Expatriated]

I consider the Dragon to be sort of a touristy thing to check off the list of things to do since it seems to come up so much in conversation. I think once is enough but personally, I'm glad I did it. If I find myself in the area and the traffic's not bad, I'd do it again maybe, but I won't travel just to do it.

But, as has been said many times, there are TONS of awesome roads in that area.

[rocketman]

Only ridden The Dragon itself in my dreams.... but have done many such roads...

The Dragon's Realm

Chasing my shadow down a bright concrete river.
Slipping through time like wind through fallen leaves.
The Gods of motion attempt to confine me;
To limit my freedom;
To rip me from my machine and hurl me to the ground;
For my Audacity,
My Defiance,
My Arrogance,
For running the white line,
Of claiming control of my being,
and capturing the essence of the road.
A road they would claim as their own.

They whisper clever lies and falsehoods
Trying to convince me that I’m in direct contradiction
To Their Laws,
To Their Rules.

But I know better,
I know I am the master of motion.
I set the limits,
Not They.
I know how to balances the forces
That would tear me from this machine;
That would smash me like some insignificant thing
Against the sun baked whiteness of this concrete river.
I ignore them and they fade away,
Caught in the quagmire trap of my laughter.
I move On.

Riding the endless miles through endless minutes,
Within Time, yet without.
Within Space, yet without.
Within Knowing, yet without.
Within Thought, yet without.

Thinking destroys the moment, destroys the victory.
Seductive,
Serene,
Time out of time,
Moment out of moment,
The distant hills rush forward to greet me.

Soon,
Very Soon,
I’ll be among them, immersed in the Zone once more,
To do battle with the primordial forces.

I climb the back of the dragon, his tail whipping,
Bone jarring shudders run down his spine.
Eyes flashing as he harkens to my call.
He sees me
He Knows me,
He fears me,

He knows who has always won this game we play,
He despises my mastery of him,
But that is as it should be,
It makes the game more real.

He tries to shake me from the path I’ve chosen.
To ride up his coarse and roiling spine.
To arrive at the top
And then back down.
Ever faster,
Ever closer to the edge.

He calls to the false Gods of the road for help,
But They heed not.
Still languishing in the quagmire trap of my mirth,
They respond only with cries of desperation.
I’ve already defeated them once
This time,
This Ride.
Their energy is no match for me,
This Ride,
This time.

I enter the realm of the Dragon’s lair,
One side,
Hard flatness, thrusting upward;
The other,
Nothingness and non-existence.
A shear drop,
Defined by low ribbons of rough-cut rock and sparse metal beams.
Designed only to fool me with false promises of safety;
“I’ll catch you if you fail!”
They proclaim with snake oil assurances
But I’ll not be distracted,
I know the truth,
I’ve seen the lies,
Scattered in ruin by the side of the road.
I’ve been here too many times to be taken in by such deceptions.

Running countless hidden curves.
Beginning before arriving,
Sensing before seeing,
Tracing a single line through infinite futures,
Shedding the confines of the present.
I exist now only in the One Possibility
With absolute awareness.
A path chosen in an instant without thought.
I become the Future
Moving outside of time
Combining the infinite options.
Mired future-lines merged into a single future-point.

Rock strewn road,
wet with spring rain.
The dragons’ spine is no child’s playground.
It’s reserved for those that know
and pursue the thrill
To ride the edge
between Heaven and Hell.

Knees kissing asphalt round each bend.
Body motions,
Weight shifting,
Side to side.
Brake,
Shift,
Throttle,
Shift,
Brake.
The mindless rhythm of a road dance sung to an ageless tune.

Tires clawing blacktop,
Leaving their marks of subjugation.

I revel in the sound of metal meeting pavement.
Leaving behind new scars,
New wounds traced over old.
Machine parts meeting earth they were never meant to know.
I Control the moment,
I Indulge my insanity,
I Command the road,
I Defy the Dragon!

Death pulls up and rides beside me, urging me on.
Trying to distract me from the road ahead.
Trying to drag me back into the present.
For he knows what I know,
He’s learned what I’ve learned.
In this wild escape,
in this wild place,
The only hope is to exist in the future,
To slip into the present for even one moment,
To allow a single moments hesitation,
Or one stray thought,
Is to let the Road Gods win in a game where Death Takes All!

Reaching the head of the dragon, blazing in the light of conquest,
I surrender my control for an instant of revelry,
To absorb the moment and lock it within
Before descending once more,
The conquering hero of the Road.

As our eyes meet, my nemesis and I, I smile the conquerors smile.
In his last moments
He makes one last desperate attempt to dislodge me,
He shudders,
He squirms,
He hates to lose,
But then;
So do I!
Having been defeated once more, he too, like the Gods
Fades into distant memories.

For I am mortal while he is only an image formed in my mind.
A vehicle to transform a road into an image of something more.
A vision,
A dream
On which to ride,
To feel the edge of life.
To know and understand the thrill of facing death.
To ride as though knowing:
Each journey, the last ride.
Each heartbeat, the concluding effort.
Each instant, the final moment.
There is no other approach
to overcome the fear;
Of falling,
Of failing,
Of dying
in some lost place, high in an ancient palace of light,
Filled with the memories of past riders who have come and gone.
Those who survived and left their memories for me to ponder their successes.
Those who did not and left their bones for me to contemplate their mistakes.

I’ve come home,
I’ve sensed the road,
I’ve mastered the machine,
I’ve conquered the Dragon;
And we are One!

copyright 2008 Jeffry L'H. Tank

[deilenberger]

Is the "Dragon" really that much different from other U.S. routes, like US 321/421 that cross the Appalachians? Or US 441?Yeah - lots more incompetant riders on it riding over their heads than on the other roads. I know a few in West Virginia that put the "Dragon" to shame, but I'm keeping quiet about'm. Don't want to spoil them (if you visit my website, you can likely track down the roads I'm talking about.. http://www.eilenberger.net)

[pffog]

Is the "Dragon" really that much different from other U.S. routes, like US 321/421 that cross the Appalachians? Or US 441?

321 and 421 are great roads, but the gap is a little more technical and intense. A two way run up/down the gap has me as tired as a track day session, I will do the 441 in a couple of weeks for the first time so can't compare it.

That said, there are other less famous roads that are as intense and LONGER than the GAP, but if I told you where they were, I would have to kill you :D

I even know a few that make the GAP look like an interstate.

[The_Veg]

321 and 421 are great roads, but the gap is a little more technical and intense. A two way run up/down the gap has me as tired as a track day session, I will do the 441 in a couple of weeks for the first time so can't compare it.

That said, there are other less famous roads that are as intense and LONGER than the GAP, but if I told you where they were, I would have to kill you :D

I even know a few that make the GAP look like an interstate.

Sounds like schoolyard posturing.