tail of the dragon: worth it?

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by Capt Spaulding

On the skyway a couple of guys on Harley's caught us. The BRZ was substantially faster in the corners but they'd wind me up on the straights.

GD..... and harleys are grossly slow except for a few models.

[WolfpackS2k]

I'm doing my mtn trip in tandem with a Focus RS on Cup 2 tires. Wonder if I'll be able to put any distance on him on any of these roads.

[TwistedGray]

Haven't been there since Yellow Wolf (I think that's what we called him) was out there changing sportbikes on his taxi yellow Goldwing. I remember him running an Iron Butt on the Dragon one evening. I don't think they ever approved him though.

Such a fun, technical road, but fortunately we have plenty of that in California, too. We have our own Dragon out in the Sierras

Does the older couple still run the Two Wheel Inn outside of town?

[Capt Spaulding]

Originally Posted by Summerwolf

GD..... and harleys are grossly slow except for a few models.

It wasn't so much the bikes as the riders that caught us. These guys knew the roads and their bikes. I was treating the straights as bridges between corners and they would push a bit on the straights.

No denying, they knew their stuff.

[WolfpackS2k]

Originally Posted by pinski

Other fun roads in western NC are the Diamondback like you pointed out, the Rattler (NC-209), NC-197 between I-26 and 19E, NC-80 (Devil's Whip). If you want to venture up to VA, the Back of the Dragon (VA-16) is fun.

I still appreciated your suggestions, but you failed to mention that part of 197 is GRAVEL. As I had no idea how long that went on for, I turned around and that totally fucked the rest of my day, whomp whomp.

The Rattler was OUTSTANDING - holy shit what a great road!

Tail of the Dragon was a clusterf*ck. Arrived there at 8:20 am and there was just too much traffic. None of the people there just using the road for regular travel were letting sports cars by, it was really aggravating. Did 4 runs but all were complete messes. A real shame, but it IS a public road so what can you do.

Drove my buddy's Focus RS on one of the runs. Fun car, but I thought it would feel faster. Also thought the exhaust would have been louder, hehe. It stuck really well though - never had any understeer.

[pinski]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

I still appreciated your suggestions, but you failed to mention that part of 197 is GRAVEL. As I had no idea how long that went on for, I turned around and that totally fucked the rest of my day, whomp whomp.

Shit - I had no idea! Very sorry. I'll have to remove that from my queue - I've been on all the others, but only recently have been told how great 197 is, and by bikers no less. I can't imagine they run on gravel, so they must have a better idea of where to get on/off than they told me.

Glad at least the rest of the trip was fun.

[WolfpackS2k]

It's all good. Because we turned back we weren't able to check out Diamondback or Devil's Whip, but those are the 2 roads "closest" to Raleigh so I'll make a trip out there again just for them some day soon.

We did some sleuthing with Google Maps later that night and discovered that most of the road is paved. Might just be 1-2 miles of 197 that are gravel (and this was starting around 8 mile when traveling eastbound).

[Gunman]

I use this to hunt roads.
http://www.bestbikingroads.com/motor...es-__3082.html

[guybo]

OK, coupla questions before I go to the Dragon in October.

-Will I have any trouble finding 93 up there? I'm tuned on 93 but I can tune for 91 or whatever if they don't have the good jungle juice.

-What else should I see while up there? We're going to cruise the Blue Ridge Parkway as well as the Tail of the Dragon and Deal's Gap. Is there anything else to see up in them thar mountains besides trees and the KKK?

[CAPSLOCK]

Originally Posted by guybo

OK, coupla questions before I go to the Dragon in October.

-Will I have any trouble finding 93 up there? I'm tuned on 93 but I can tune for 91 or whatever if they don't have the good jungle juice.

-What else should I see while up there? We're going to cruise the Blue Ridge Parkway as well as the Tail of the Dragon and Deal's Gap. Is there anything else to see up in them thar mountains besides trees and the KKK?

You'll have no problem finding 93. Actually, the Motorcycle stop across from Killboys and Fontana Village only have 93.

We just came back from our 4th year at MATG (Miata's At The Gap). The Dragon is great don't get me wrong, but it can get pretty crowded especially on the weekend. I prefer the Moonshiner for driving as my turbo Miata prefers the longer straights. The Cherohala Skyway is great for the scenic view and don't forget the top of Fontana Dam and Cheoah Dam.

Cheoah Dam also known as Fugitive Dam where Harrison Ford jumped off in the movie "The Fugitive". Its right at the bottom of the dragon.

[Gunman]

93 is common.

Sights to see:
The Fugitive train wreck
Fugitive dam
Tunnel to nowhere
Elk along 441
360deg curve on 441

[WolfpackS2k]

^^I totally saw all you Miatas at the Tail. Hard not to, haha.

I drove past that dam and didn't even think about The Fugitive. Makes sense now! Also it's worth noting that the drive around Santeetlah Lake is a pretty great drive in and of itself.

That 360 degree turn on 441 is pretty ridiculous. I was so amused with it at the time that I took a screen shot of it on my Waze directions.

[Yardjass]

Originally Posted by CAPSLOCK

You'll have no problem finding 93. Actually, the Motorcycle stop across from Killboys and Fontana Village only have 93.

We just came back from our 4th year at MATG (Miata's At The Gap). The Dragon is great don't get me wrong, but it can get pretty crowded especially on the weekend. I prefer the Moonshiner for driving as my turbo Miata prefers the longer straights. The Cherohala Skyway is great for the scenic view and don't forget the top of Fontana Dam and Cheoah Dam.

Cheoah Dam also known as Fugitive Dam where Harrison Ford jumped off in the movie "The Fugitive". Its right at the bottom of the dragon.

Hey there, vadriven buddy!

[Capt Spaulding]

guybo: If you have time a trip to Biltmore could be interesting. General Spaulding and I did that on our trip in June. It was amazing. We never had trouble finding 93 for the whole 4000 mile trip.