2010 Dragon 6-8

Tuesday morning, and the beginning of the Dragon ride, could not come early enough. Jim and I grabbed what passed for breakfast at the hotel, and hit the road. The plan for the day was to meet Dave and Peter for lunch in Tellico Plains and then do the Cherohala over to our hotel in Robbinsville. Depending on what time we got to Robbinsville we might also have time for a Dragon ride.

I had planned a few choices for our morning ride, and let Jim decide. We could make a beeline for the Devil’s Triangle west of Knoxville, and then continue to Tellico Plains on roads of unknown quality, or stay east and do the Foothills Parkway and Scenic 360. The Devil’s Triangle would probably be more interesting than either the Parkway or 360, but the rest of the ride would probably be nothing special. Jim opted for the safer route, so we headed east in search of the start of the Foothills Parkway.

The first part of the ride was pretty crappy, lots of commercial zones on busy 2 and 4 lane roads. We did have one eye-opening moment when a semi truck carrying what appeared to be a giant cauldron pulled in front of us. Sign on the back said “Caution – hot molten aluminum”. That would be one nasty accident! With visions of 2 model T-1000 cybernetic bikers in my mind’s eye, the truck pulled into the Alcoa Aluminum plant. Oh, that explains it.

Finally the sign for the Parkway appeared, and our long-awaited road trip to the Smokies got properly underway. The first thing that awaited us as we started the Parkway was a sign promising road construction for the next 10 miles. Nice.

The northern part of the Parkway was OK, nothing too special. We had the road completely to ourselves on this Tuesday morning, and the perfect pavement showed no signs of any construction. The temperatures cooled as we rode higher and higher, and the road got more and more interesting as we headed south. Both of us had heard tales of very strict law enforcement in the area so we kept things very much in check.

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Jim's spanking-new Versys on the Foothills Parkway

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My ratty old Multistrada on the Foothills Parkway

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The Foothills Parkway

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Let the fun begin

Before we knew it we reached the southern terminus and the intersection with 129. We could see the Dragon road closure on the TN side – so close yet so far. We were way ahead of schedule for our lunch meeting, so we decided to turn around and make a run back up to the high point of the Foothills Parkway – this time with more gusto. Definitely a fun stretch of road, the southern half has some short straights connected with good sightline turns, some with surprisingly long durations. It was a nice warm up for what would follow over the next several days.

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Southern end of the Foothills Parkway

We enjoyed the views at the top for a bit, then headed back down the Parkway again. The constant downhill on the way back did leave to some “runaway train” moments, but we had a blast. 129 west had some very nice moment as it undulated and snaked back and forth for a few miles, eventually connecting us with 72 and our short connecting ride to the start of “Scenic 360”.

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This was Jim on (I think) Scenic 360

Which is exactly what it turned out to be – scenic. Not a challenging road by any means, but lots of nice lake views and mountains. No reason to do that road again. Tellico Plains arrived quicker than we anticipated – we had some time to kill in town. Parking the bikes it quickly became obvious that it was going to be a properly hot day. We couldn’t wait to run into the motorcycle gear store located in the center of town, Tellico Motorcycle Outfitters. This little shop had more useful gear than 4 or 5 regular moto dealerships combined. If you’re ever passing through the area check them out.

Window shopping done, we found a shady bench to wait for the other half of our group. Every time we heard the roar or wail of approaching bikes we knew not to look up – they both ride BMW’s so their arrival would be stealthy.

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Waiting in Tellico Plains

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This tasty V11 Guzzi pulled in while we were waiting. Love the rebel flag on the helmet.

Eventually they glided into town, and our posse was complete. First order of the day was lunch, accompanied by LOTS of sweet tea (did I mention it was hot)? I couldn’t help but notice Dave was sporting some fingerless gloves – something not befitting a man of his age and position (on an RT). Since he was obviously in need of new gloves we returned to Tellico Motorcycle Outfitters where he quickly found a suitable replacement for his lost gloves.

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All together at last

The Cherohala Skyway beckoned, and we were eager to be on our way up and out of the heat. It felt great rolling out of town with 3 buddies in tow.

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View from the Cherohala Skyway

The Cherohala Skyway is a great, great road. Almost constantly twisting and turning, it climbed from 900 feet elevation in Tellico Plains to over 5,400 feet. It was a relief to feel the heat melt away with every mile we rode and bit of altitude we gained. The road is not technical, nothing that could really catch you out unless you were really not paying attention. There was a fair bit of traffic, both the 4-wheel passable kind and the 2-wheel variety. We stopped several times along the way to take in the views and let it soak in that we were finally doing this.

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Jim is happy as a clam to be here

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Peter, me and Jim (photo by Dave)

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Our group enjoying the Cherohala

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Jim's in the lead, with Peter and Dave right behind

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Dave's low aux lights make him easy to spot in a group ride

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What a beautiful road

At one turnout near the east end we pulled in so I could get some action shots of the boys, and we parked alongside a bunch of sportbikes whose riders were also taking a break. Once we removed our helmets it quickly became apparent that they were getting even more relaxed than we were – the sweet aroma of weed filled the air. I have to say, getting high and then hopping on your sportbike is a head-scratcher for me.

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These guys were getting high on more than just life

I sent the boys back up the road a bit so they could come past me for action shots, and instructed them to stop at the next turnout to wait for me. After the last of them went by, with action shots in the bag, I geared up and rode ahead to rejoin them. As I turned a corner I saw them, with a Dave and Peter returning the favor by shooting me. I didn’t want to just pull in and make for an uninteresting shot, so I continued rolling through the turn and figured I’d stop at the next turnout. Only there wasn’t any, and I ended up going clear to the end of the Skyway to wait. Hopefully they didn’t spend too long waiting for me to come back.

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Dave 'coming round the bend

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Peter on his K1200GT

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Dave got a pretty good pic of me as well (photo by Dave)

We got behind a group of cruiser riders heading into Robbinsville, and truth be told they kept a pretty good pace. The road was new to us, so we weren’t exactly tearing it up either - which was good because there were one or two decreasing radius turns that could easily catch your out if you got too complacent.

The cruisers eventually let us by and we rolled into Robbinsville around 4pm. We checked into our rooms at the Microtel, and agreed to meet downstairs in 30 minutes to head to the Dragon.

With the Multi shed of it’s hard bags and their attendant weight, I pulled out of the hotel lot and pointed the bike west. I can’t recall the last time I was this excited about going on a ride. I don’t think I’m too jaded yet, but I have been lucky enough to ride motorcycles in some interesting places on some terrific roads. I’ve ridden through lots of West Virginia and Virginia, most of New England, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Rockies in Colorado, southeast Ohio (don’t laugh – go there), the Adirondacks, and the Italian and Swiss Alps. I’ve been hearing about the Dragon for over a decade now, and it’s always been on the to-do list. Here I was, finally, on a picture-perfect late afternoon with 3 of my best riding buddies working our way on 129 to the start of the famed 11-mile stretch which sports no less than 318 curves. Oh man.

The road from Robbinsville was pleasant enough, sweeper after sweeper and not much civilization to slow you down. You can pretty much set your cruise to 60 and just arc your way west for 15 minutes. Well, that is until the Gold Wing in front of you decides to come to a stop to look at the dirt bike in the woods, which caught Dave by surprise (he may have been gazing at the dirt biker as well) causing him to really lay on the brakes, which triggered a chain reaction ending with Peter nearly skittling the lot of us like bowling pins. Heads firmly back in the game we continued our way.

The last section of 129 leading to the Tail of the Dragon store started to get really twisty, and I foolishly thought this is what we were in for once the Dragon started in earnest. When we pulled into the parking lot to regroup I mentioned this to Dave, who was the only one of us to have ridden the Dragon before, and he gave a very hearty laugh. “That’s nothing!”

What can I say about the Dragon that hasn’t already been said? I was a little afraid the road wouldn’t live up to the hype, as several STNers have made comments along the lines of “it ain’t all that”. Well, my friend, in this rider's opinion the Dragon IS all that – and a bag of chips. I’ve never been on a road that was so intense, so unrelenting, so perfectly paved and banked, so….perfect. It may not have the most breathtaking scenery to look at, but that's OK since taking your concentration away from this bit of tarmac would be a very bad idea.

As the curves kept coming and coming I was getting more and more impressed - this road never lets up for a moment. I don't think I changed out of 2nd gear more than a handful of times on the way up. This is a road that demands you start perfecting your cornering craft if you want to make any time on it. I found it a fantastic learning experience, and I was getting more and more lean on as the corners rolled on. It was such a relief to ride without worry of the pavement quality (do that in PA or NJ at your peril), you could really concentrate on reading the turns ahead, your body position, speeds, etc, and not keep watching the foreground road for gravel. The Dragon took a good chunk out of my chicken strips, and I feel made me more confident in the cornering ability of the Multi. Not so much on our first run up the road, but on the return trip (and later runs) I really had the confidence to start leaning more and more, giving it a little more gas and seeing that nothing bad was happening.

It probably helped that we had the road pretty much to ourselves. I didn't come across a slow rider in front of me to pass, or a fast rider behind me wanting to pass me, the whole ride. There were a couple times sportbikes would zoom past us going the other way, and that was a bit disconcerting at first. No suprise, but some of these guys are FAST - and riding with seemingly no room to spare.

At one point I passed Killyboy, who was packing up for the day. I was kind of jazzed to finally see his operation in action, having long been a fan.

We stopped for pics at the dam overlook, and to decompress and talk about what, for three of us at least, was a new experience. After a bit we continued on the couple of miles past the overlook to the road closure, and then doubled back and did the Dragon back down. If anything the trip down was a little nicer (as SLK50 had pointed out) because some of the sightlines are better.

Dave (nearlyseventy), Peter (gasgauge), me (KenDenton) and Jim (trflyboy). 4 very happy fellows

On the way back we stopped at the Deal's Gap resort for a bit, took some pictures of the Tree of Shame, and generally absorbed some of the "pit lane" atmosphere of the more dedicated sportbike riders camped there.

We had learned too late in the trip planning that Robbinsville was in a dry county, so we asked around for the closest place to get some beer for take-out. No one really had a clear idea, and the bar at the resort was locked up tight. When we got closer to Robbinsville we asked again, and the concensus was Andrews, NC was the closest spot. Unfortunately it was getting late, we hadn't had dinner yet, and Andrews would be at least a one-hour round trip on the other side of Robbinsville. We sadly resigned ourselves to a non-drinking evening, and rode over to the Huddle House.

The owner of the Huddle House came over to us while we ate, and turns out he's a pretty experienced motorcycle world traveler. We sampled his recommended burgers (which where, of course, just OK - this was the Huddle House after all) while he told us of a trip on his Buell Uly through Central America. At one point he whacked a pothole (crater?) so hard it broke both wheels and the swingarm. He holed up in a hotel near the only Harley/Buell dealer for hundreds of miles while he waited for his wife to fly down with the replacement parts in her luggage. Yikes.

After a very lengthy dinner and dessert we returned to the hotel, where parking was at a premium. Bikes took up pretty much every available spot, so we had to get creative. We talked about what we could do tomorrow, and called it a night.