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Blue Ridge Parkway and the Dragon
Pulled out at 3:40 Tuesday morning 10/09. Wanted to make sure I had time to get to the north end of the parkway then come back 60 miles and set up my tent before dark.
Making great time until I hit my first gas stop. I pump gas and get a cup of coffee since I haven't had any yet. As I walk back out to my bike one guy walks by and says, I had a 68 Bonneville. Then another one coming the other way stops and says, I had a 69 Bonneville. He proceeds to stop and we discuss my whole trip. We also go over where he's going fishing and the fact that his son owns a Suzuki Ninja. His words not mine. I did not see the need to correct him since it was before 7 in the morning and he had a 6pack under his arm. I did learn that he has a lot of family from the area around the Deals Gap and is personal friends with several people that drive it every day. An hour later, I'm off.
The rest of the day is just a long ride. I make it to Otter Creek campground and see a fellow with a Goldwing pulling a trailer who has his tent set up. He is impressed with the Sprint and asks me to join him after I put up my tent. I get my tent up before dark and go over to join Chester, the 56 year old, Goldwing riding, hippee locksmith. He brings the Bacardi and chili and I bring the cigars and Jim Beam. After much spirited conversation I drift off to dream land.
The next morning I have breakfast with Chester at the local restaurant and head off down the parkway. about 30 miles later I realize I,m going the wrong way and turn around. Another 30 plus minutes and I get back passed the campgroung and start covering new territory. I blame this temporary loss of my sense of direction on Chester and Jim Beam. Along the way I passed a BMW that had, had just a wee bit too much mountain. I hope the rider was okay. The bike looked bad.
I would like to take just a second here to try and describe one of the road signs on the parkway. It's a yellow hazard type sign. A yellow square turned up on it's end. On the sign are the words (spiral curve) with a picture of a 3/4 circle with a pointing arrow on one end. Heres the good part. Below this sign is another smaller sign with a picture of a motorcycle and rider. Still the yellow hazard type sign but rectangular with the picture in black on it. The motorcycle is hiting what looks like a bump in the road and the rider has his arms thrown up in the air. Sorry I don't have a picture. When I decided to stop and take a picture of the next one I never saw another one. I think the jist of the sign is if a motorcycle goes to fast around this corner it will fly off the side of the mountain.
Now I am covering new ground things are good, so of course I need gas. I jump of the parkway and see a gas sign. I follow the sign that says gas. About 8 miles later I'm thinking I have to stick with my choice because to get back to the parkway and the next exit and then find gas is going to be pressing my luck. Right at ten miles I find a small gas station and stop to fill up. Ten miles back to the parkway and again I'm on my way.
Around 2 in the afternoon I see a restaraunt from the parkway so I jump off to fuel the body. I park next to a Harley with an Aussie flag on the back that is loaded down for traveling. As I'm going in I see a female rider on the porch. I knew she was a rider because she had chaps on. After lunch I go out and chat with her. Turns out Amanda is an Aussie living in New York that has been on a 9 week tour of the US. She has to be home on Friday just like me. Only problem is she is going north and I am going south. She was very attractive and she called me love several times but I just couldn't go north. I had a high school football game to be at Friday night. Back to the road and thoughts of love lost.
The road through the mountains is extremely beautiful. The colors for fall are only just beginning to change but the mountains are the mountains. They are beautiful no matter the color. Since I left Tuesday morning I have been wearing a Tshirt under my riding jacket. 20 minutes before I stop it becomes unbearable and I have to stop to put on my insulated liner and winter gloves. Dang it got cold fast.
The morning dawns cold and clear. It got down in the thirties last night and I froze my butt off all night. Another sink bath and I'm off. It's Thursday and I want to get to deals gap before it gets too late so I can ride the dragon a few times. The mountain are beautful again this morning until I run into the clouds. Riding in clouds sucks. It rains in clouds. It's colder in clouds than it is out of clouds. Watching the clouds fall down the side of a mountain makes the cold and moisture worth it. Finally I'm out of the clouds and on my way to Cherokee NC.
I reach Cherokee around lunch time and stop for some of the local cuisine. A word to the wise. When in Cherokee, if you eat at the Riverside Cafe don't order the Fryebread and Chili unless you already know what it is. A funnel cake in a plate with chili poured over the top of it. It didn't really taste bad but it certainly freaked me out when the waitress put it in front of me. I knew I should have ordered the Indian Taco. I did eat most of it.
After lunch it's time to head for the tail of the dragon but first i get a guy in a pink shirt that says, real men wear pink, to take a picture of me standing in front of a green bear. I can't explain it. You would have to see it. Now I'm off to the dragon. Google directions can be very trying. Way too much information. Finally I put the directions away and look at my map and I'm off. Since my head is no longer fuzzy from day one my sense of direction is spot on. I come to the turn I'm planning on taking but see a sign that mentions the dragon pointing straight ahead. Since I'm dumb enough to follow a road sign instead of going the way I know is right, I went straight. Both roads went to the same place but I took the long way around. It was not a problem because all of the roads in this part of the country are either twisty scenic or both. While I was stopped to take a picture airrider3 went by. After many extra miles I finally came to Deals Gap, population 7.
After reaching Deals Gap I went into the store to buy a shirt. I couldn't decide which one I wanted and finally said screw it. I will go ride the dragon and let her tell me what shirt to buy. I went back outside, hopped on baby and headed down the dragon. The first run was nice and smooth. A little speed but not too much. Got to the end and turned around and headed back. The cool thing about the dragon is you can just about run the whole thing in second gear on a sprint. Not much reason to shift. Started off my second pass a little quicker. About halfway through the run I really got into a rythm. It was absolutely my best run. That had to be the sweetest ride I have ever made. I would not have believed you could have that much fun on two wheels. When I got back to the store I went in and bought my shirt and a couple of other things. I was right, she told me which shirt to get. Made two more runs that day, scraped a peg for the first time ever and got rid of those pesky chicken strips on that Dunlop D220, and then went back to the store to buy a drink before I went looking for a campground. I decide to ask the guy in the store where to camp and he pointd me to a little campground on a lake. I had a lake side cabin for thirty five bucks. Got to sleep under a roof, on wood instead of rock. They also had hot showers. That was sweet after two days of sink baths.
The next morning was cold again. Put on everything I owned and jumped on baby and headed back home.
A couple of warnings. To and from the dragon on 64/74 is heavily patrolled. I passed four state troopers. While on the dragon you don't have to worry about corners sneaking up on you because they are all very sharp and you know what to expect. There are a few in the area that should be marked better than they are. One really caught me out and if something had been coming I would have been screwed. I may have missed the sign and I didn't go back and check but I scared the crap out of myself. On my fourth run a guy on a cruiser was laying half in and half out of the ditch. Everyone on the road had already stopped. He had a riding jacket for a pillow and was smoking a cigarette. Why do cruiser riders lay on the pavement smoking cigarettes while waiting on the ambulance? I also sincerely hope he was okay. Seeing two downed riders on one trip is two too many. Stay safe.
Last edited by LoVel : 10-16-2007 at 05:29 PM.
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