I did this trip June 20, 2007. Route 219 has 318 curves in 11 miles, the
road is known as the Tail of the Dragon. This was my first trip to the Dragon- I
took it easy, never scraped a peg.
The picture on top was taken by a
professional group, Killboy.com, that hang out and take pics of all the traffic
on the road. You can then access their website and order pictures from them.
(You can also find more pics of me on there. Go to 6-20-07, click on cruisers,
set it to see 100 thumbnails and I'm on the third page, starting with pic 202.
I ordered some pics, I bet they do pretty good business.)
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When I first got there, I was anxious to get a pic on my bike by the sign.
I had a sport bike guy take this one. |
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Here's the parking lot. I was there on the first day of the Honda Hoot,
which was in nearby Knoxville. A bunch of bikes had come from the Hoot to ride
the Dragon. On the left, a group of bikers are getting instructions from their
ride leader. |
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Right as this organized ride was leaving, I heard a bike rev, then the
unmistakable sound of plastic and chrome hitting the pavement. The second guy
in line on the ride dropped his bike at the entrance to the parking lot. He and
several others picked it up, brushed it off and the group left. Poor guy had to
endure everyone witnessing the drop. That would suck! |
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I had the camera mounted on the handlebars. (You can see the mount in some
of the other pictures.) My plan was to take video of the Dragon. I would push
the button to start the video, take it through the curves, turn it off if I
thought it was getting too long, then hit it again to start and stop it as the
road permitted my hand off the bars. Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera
set correctly to take video and only got pics of the "calm road."
If you want to see the curves and twisties in action, go to some of
the sites, starting with Dealsgap.com.
They have several links that include bikes on the Dragon. Also, Google "Deals
Gap" or "Tail of the Dragon" to find many Youtube or Yahoo videos
of riding the Dragon. |
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Home up I-40 by Knoxville, then I-81. About 7 hours on the slab; aided by
an Airhawk cushion and my luggage as backrest it was a comfortable ride. |
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Rolling into the driveway. The bike did great, one of the driving lights
burned out and the bike needed a good washing to get some of the Great Smokey
Mountains off of it. It was a great trip, be in touch with me (ddc@ctvmotors.com) if I can get you
additional details about this adventure. |
