NCBusa2001
Registered
Well lets start by saying, OH MY GOD. That doesn’t even come close to describing my trip in total. First of all let me thank those who gave advice on the location and trip planning. It was the most fun I have had riding two wheels to date (which might be a sad commentary). For those of you who have not traveled to scenic NC, a trip to the dragon is worthwhile in deed. I am planning trip back ASAP, but it is a 7 hour drive, unfortunately.
Started out last Monday, got started late so we ended up staying in Ashville, NC and riding the Blue Ridge parkway. It has elevations upwards of 5000 feet and overlooks “craggy gardens†which is composed of dozens of smaller mountain peaks. It is peak leaf season there now so it was a beautiful site indeed. The parkway is a great drive and packed with bikers of all sorts.
Tuesday it rained so went spent the day driving around looking for a bike for Kim. She fell in love with a yellow cbr 600, but again she couldn’t reach the floor. So we looked and looked but not a single possibility. By the way has anyone seen the specs on the new R1, WOW.
Wednesday we drove the rest of the way to Robbinsville and started up 129. Checked in to the Tapco Inn and rented a cottage overlooking a river and rapids, sweet. Then out for a ride. Let me start by saying, if you haven’t ridden on a road that has 318 curves in 11miles, you haven’t really experienced riding to its fullest. We stayed for hours and went back and fourth. By the end of the day the outside edge of my hands were almost bruised due to the CONSTANT pushing on the bars. There are very few straights on this road. Those that are there you can throttle up to maybe 70 or 80 but then it’s slamming hard on the breaks to make the 30 mph curve. I stayed in second but occasionally got into third. But it is mostly just curves, and curves and….what, ahh yes…more curves. The penalty for rider errors is pretty severe though as there was only one side of the road (the other was a drop off). There is a “tree of shame†for those who have paid the price. Fairly morbid, but a useful reality check given the location and proximity to the nearest hospital, a helicopter would probably be about your only way out alive. Like I said, middle of nowhere, right. Check out the website “tailofthedragon.com†, very nice people there.
For a Wednesday there were bikers everywhere, keep in mind this is in the middle of NOWHERE. Out of the hundreds of other bikes it seemed like half were BMW’s, someone please explain that one. I did not see a single Busa anywhere. I didn’t have any bad comments from anyone, except one dude on a beamer that said, “Are you trying to qualify or something.†I met some very nice people, beamers at that. Most were just passing through; one couple was coming from flagstaff, AZ. Another had just come from monument valley, Utah. Insane kind of miles, ya know.
Had to cut it short because my truck started acting out of sorts. The damm thing blew the transmission 30 miles west of Ashville on the interstate. The transmission bell housing was pouring, and I mean pouring oil (It didn’t look like transmission fluid) out. Waited for hours for a tow, to THE ONLY Dodge dealership in Ashville. Didn’t know they didn’t have anyone to work on transmissions. So lets see…stuck, without a truck, at a dodge dealership, that couldn’t fix the problem, and 6 hours from home. Needless to say I didn’t even get K-Y before the f’ing began. Ended up with a decent truck but did loose some money on mine. But that was the only downside of the entire trip.
Here are some pics. Comments or questions are welcome.
Ride safe, Chris
Started out last Monday, got started late so we ended up staying in Ashville, NC and riding the Blue Ridge parkway. It has elevations upwards of 5000 feet and overlooks “craggy gardens†which is composed of dozens of smaller mountain peaks. It is peak leaf season there now so it was a beautiful site indeed. The parkway is a great drive and packed with bikers of all sorts.
Tuesday it rained so went spent the day driving around looking for a bike for Kim. She fell in love with a yellow cbr 600, but again she couldn’t reach the floor. So we looked and looked but not a single possibility. By the way has anyone seen the specs on the new R1, WOW.
Wednesday we drove the rest of the way to Robbinsville and started up 129. Checked in to the Tapco Inn and rented a cottage overlooking a river and rapids, sweet. Then out for a ride. Let me start by saying, if you haven’t ridden on a road that has 318 curves in 11miles, you haven’t really experienced riding to its fullest. We stayed for hours and went back and fourth. By the end of the day the outside edge of my hands were almost bruised due to the CONSTANT pushing on the bars. There are very few straights on this road. Those that are there you can throttle up to maybe 70 or 80 but then it’s slamming hard on the breaks to make the 30 mph curve. I stayed in second but occasionally got into third. But it is mostly just curves, and curves and….what, ahh yes…more curves. The penalty for rider errors is pretty severe though as there was only one side of the road (the other was a drop off). There is a “tree of shame†for those who have paid the price. Fairly morbid, but a useful reality check given the location and proximity to the nearest hospital, a helicopter would probably be about your only way out alive. Like I said, middle of nowhere, right. Check out the website “tailofthedragon.com†, very nice people there.
For a Wednesday there were bikers everywhere, keep in mind this is in the middle of NOWHERE. Out of the hundreds of other bikes it seemed like half were BMW’s, someone please explain that one. I did not see a single Busa anywhere. I didn’t have any bad comments from anyone, except one dude on a beamer that said, “Are you trying to qualify or something.†I met some very nice people, beamers at that. Most were just passing through; one couple was coming from flagstaff, AZ. Another had just come from monument valley, Utah. Insane kind of miles, ya know.
Had to cut it short because my truck started acting out of sorts. The damm thing blew the transmission 30 miles west of Ashville on the interstate. The transmission bell housing was pouring, and I mean pouring oil (It didn’t look like transmission fluid) out. Waited for hours for a tow, to THE ONLY Dodge dealership in Ashville. Didn’t know they didn’t have anyone to work on transmissions. So lets see…stuck, without a truck, at a dodge dealership, that couldn’t fix the problem, and 6 hours from home. Needless to say I didn’t even get K-Y before the f’ing began. Ended up with a decent truck but did loose some money on mine. But that was the only downside of the entire trip.
Here are some pics. Comments or questions are welcome.
Ride safe, Chris
Glad that you two had a good time other than the truck. The Gap is a kick in the pants isn't it? You are right when you say there is very little room for mistakes. The Dragon bites hard if you don't play nice. Respect the Dragon and it will make you very happy.
I grew up about 20 minutes from the Gap (Maryville, TN) and have ridden it all my life. Until fairly recent years when it was "discovered" by sports cars and bikers, I thought God put it there just for me. 
I'll be back for the umpteenth time in about 3 weeks for my B-day. Glad you had an excellent ride and didn't leave parts on the "Tree"!
