[rit]

So my wife wanted to get out of the house this morning and must have heard me mention the Tail of the Dragon once or twice (ok, maybe a lot more), so we tossed the kids in the car and headed out. We went up Hwy 129 outside Atlanta a good part of the way, then came back down Hwy 28. Here are some pics we took - thought I'd share.

[txusa03]

I hate you, we dont have anything that cool where I am from

[sdiver68]

That 2nd pic? He won't live long.

[Alpine]

Is that the Okoee? (sp?) Looks like the powerplant there.

[edgarj]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Is that the Okoee? (sp?) Looks like the powerplant there.

Funny, that's (Ocoee/Parksville) where I grew up! I had the same thought at first as it looks very familiar, and I've kayaked that river too many times to count. I think TVA used that pump/flume system several times in the region, so it may be closer to the Dragon.

[Mr. M]

Originally Posted by sdiver68

That 2nd pic? He won't live long.

His body is still centered on the bike and his head is pointing up and lookin beyond the corner. looks like good fundamentals to me

[hotsand5]

+1....don't see anything wrong with that picture, aside than possibly going over the speed limit. I think that the speed at the "dragon" is only 35...he's going at least 50 to lean over like that

[Alpine]

Woohoo It is the Ocoee! I knew I recognized that area. Rafted that river many many times.

[teknochild]

id be way to afraid to go take that at a good speed, my luck i would swing my rear out right as a motorcycle was coming through and take him out, they need to make that a one way road and alternate directions every say 6 hours

[aprillin6]

how did u do it?
40.5 mpg?

[aprillin6]

nice pics btw.

[06E90Rostik]

Nice location for pics!

[MacAttack]

[rit]

Originally Posted by edgarj

Funny, that's (Ocoee/Parksville) where I grew up! I had the same thought at first as it looks very familiar, and I've kayaked that river too many times to count. I think TVA used that pump/flume system several times in the region, so it may be closer to the Dragon.

Guys, guys, that's the Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River. It's between the Nantahala River near Bryson City, NC and the Tail of the Dragon near Robbinsville, NC. It's just off Hwy 28. Did you know the Fontana Dam is the largest dam in the eastern US? I didn't until I got back and looked it up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontana_Dam

Here's a Google Earth pic (green arrow indicates where my car was parked in the dam pic above):

[rit]

Originally Posted by aprillin6

how did u do it? 40.5 mpg?

LOL. I thought somebody might ask that. I actually posted that pic because this trip took me over the 3000 mile mark (ugh - already! - the cars only a couple months old). The 40.5 mpg is what I was getting that very moment, not my average. When cruising, it often gets into the 40 - 50 mpg range for a few minutes, depending on speed, incline / decline, etc. For the record, I'm averaging 21.1 mpg so far.

[Paul330d]

Originally Posted by rit

Here's a Google Earth pic (green arrow indicates where my car was parked in the dam pic above):

Lol, I wonder how long it will be before Google Earth goes live and we can watch people moving about in real time? I say 15 years, as long as the civil rights people don't put a spanner in the works...

[remmib]

Nice location for some driving pics

[BMW0]

Nice pics, road trips are a great experience.

[diesel007]

Originally Posted by Mr. M

His body is still centered on the bike and his head is pointing up and lookin beyond the corner. looks like good fundamentals to me

Originally Posted by hotsand5

+1....don't see anything wrong with that picture, aside than possibly going over the speed limit. I think that the speed at the "dragon" is only 35...he's going at least 50 to lean over like that

You guys ride much lol? That rider is coming around a blind corner dragging knee, and the reason it’s so stupid is because that is not a controlled environment. The reaction time on a bike has to be magnified ten fold and that rider is leaving everything to chance…eventually they will crash and could easily die from the injuries. All it takes is an oil slick on the street and it's by by.
Good fundamentals are for the track where the environment is controlled and crashes almost never end in any substantial injury.


RIT: Nice pics!

[teknochild]

Originally Posted by diesel007

You guys ride much lol? That rider is coming around a blind corner dragging knee, and the reason it’s so stupid is because that is not a controlled environment. The reaction time on a bike has to be magnified ten fold and that rider is leaving everything to chance…eventually they will crash and could easily die from the injuries. All it takes is an oil slick on the street and it's by by.
Good fundamentals are for the track where the environment is controlled and crashes almost never end in any substantial injury.


RIT: Nice pics!

do YOU ride much? i dont ride at all, bever ridden a bike once, but i know that that place is THE destination for bike riders and 80% of them go there to do exactly that, and most of them dont stay in there lane like that guy that go out into the opposing lane around blind corners

that guy seems very reserved

[diesel007]

Originally Posted by teknochild

do YOU ride much? i dont ride at all, bever ridden a bike once, but i know that that place is THE destination for bike riders and 80% of them go there to do exactly that, and most of them dont stay in there lane like that guy that go out into the opposing lane around blind corners

that guy seems very reserved

I have been riding since I was 17 (25 now). I have tons of track experience too. You can be fast and smart on the street without dragging your knee, that is a squid move and eventually fate will catch up to that rider. I used to ride like that until my friend died and now I take it to the track. I have had 3 lowsides and countless track runoffs and never even broke a bone.

[rit]

Originally Posted by diesel007

RIT: Nice pics!

A huge compliment, coming from you! Thanks everybody for the nice comments on the pics.

The guy on the motorcycle was going pretty fast. I tried to take two pictures of him, but the 2nd shot came out just empty road. The crowds were pretty sparse while I was there. The weather forecast had called for rain, and I understand it's usually too cold for most bikers to be comfortable this time of year anyway. Of the bikers I saw, I'd say about 25% were riding very agressively. There are non-govt-issue signs up reminding folks to stay in their lanes, but I saw lots of people (bikers and drivers) breaking that common sense "rule". There are accidents on the Dragon all the time. Just check out www.killboy.com for lots of pics (I think "killboy" relates to winning impromptu races, not people getting killed). Most of what I've seen involves relatively minor injuries, but I'm sure there are deaths from time to time also. At any rate, people do come from all around to ride (and drive) the Dragon, many of them WAY above the posted speed limit of 35.

Here's a guy that was a bit more docile. He was on a bike, technically, but he had as many wheels as I did: