Today we were hoping for continued good weather as we departed Knoxville, TN, under sunny skies for the dreaded Tail of the Dragon ride in North Carolina on Highway 129. As you may have read, the Dragon incorporates 311 tight curves in only eleven miles over a mountain in Deal's Gap, NC. As we approached the Dragon, the sky began to cloud over and the temperature dropped.
At the north end of the Dragon we pulled into the US 129 Harley-Davidson store for the obligatory T-shirts. Before we could even complete a purchase the sky opened up and soaked our bikes, helmets and gloves with a tremendous downpour with lightening and huge claps of thunder shaking the entire building. Great, not only are we going to ride the most dangerous highway on our entire 6,000 mile trip, we're going to do it in a thunderstorm with limited visibility.
There was no point in waiting any longer, so we shoved off in the rain for the Dragon, seven miles down the road. Entering the first curve, with only 310 remaining, we slowed for red and blue flashing lights of police cars and an ambulance. A red Honda Goldwing motorcycle was lying in the ditch and the rider was being lifted out on a back board by paramedics toward the waiting ambulance. It was not a good omen or the way we wanted to start the Dragon. We motored on. Actually, absent two idiots on sport bikes who passed us on a curve in the rain, it wasn't unlike some California canyon roads at home. But, the rain made it challenging so we just took it slowly and made the eleven miles without any real difficulty.
The difficulty began after we completed the Tail of the Dragon. As we entered a small town, traffic ahead stopped. Apparently Steve didn't see the slowdown. When he did, he hit his breaks on the wet pavement and his HD Deluxe slid out from under him depositing him on the street as the bike slid to a stop on it's left side. Steve suffered some abbrasions to his left arm. His rainsuit did not fair as well. It's now well ventilated. His engine guard, left passing lamp and freeway peg were all damaged.
A young man, Storm Moose, (I don't make these things up) driving with his grandmother saw the accident and wanted to stop but his grandmother insisted on driving home. Undaunted, Storm grabbed his bicycle and rode back to the scene of the accident in the rain to check on Steve. How many young men do you know today who would have done that? Thank you Storm, you are our local hero!
Coming out of the Dragon we parallelled a river for several miles with dozens of white water rafters floating downstream in the rain. No one seed to mind. They were having a great time and so were we.
Some 300 slow winding miles later, we intercepted Interstate 75 into Chattanooga, TN, just in time for the afternoon commute. It took us over 30 minutes to get through Chattanooga and transition onto Interstate 24 to Nashville, TN. Leaving Chattanooga it was clear sailing to Nashville under partly cloudy skies. After checking into our hotel, we all walked downtown past the numerous honky tonks on Broadway. We enjoyed a late super at Jack's BBQ, reportedly the best BBQ in Nashville, and went to bed with full, happy tummies. Tomorrow, we'll be in Nashville all day, no riding.
It's all right here in the dairies my friends, mostly true, most of the time.
John and the Usual Suspects.
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