Tail of the Dragon

When we heard about the “Tail of the Dragon”, we decided we had to go and see what all the fuss was about. So my wife, Jeanie, my brother Mike and myself planned a weeklong bike trip from central Arkansas to the Smokey Mountains to ‘ride the dragon’. This was a trip we will never forget. No real close calls, but just a lot of excitement and some the most beautiful roads in the US.
    We left on a Saturday, Oct 1, my wife and I on our Goldwing, My brother on his Harley Fat Boy. We stopped at Hurricane Mills TN for a day and toured the Loretta Lynn Ranch. It was a very interesting place and a lot of scenic roads.
    Then on Sunday we headed to the north end of the ‘dragon’. We arrived after dark and stayed at a real cool motorcycle resort just a few miles north of the actual tail of the dragon. Great place to stay, owned by a biker and everything was biker friendly, especially the people.
    The Tail of the Dragon is an 11-mile stretch of US129 that has 318 curves in it. Challenging is not even a good word to describe it. It’s a combination of excitement, an adrenaline rush, and a constant thought that you hope you don’t lay this bike down. Each year there are several bikers injured and some killed by the dragon. But we made it fine. Even though the speed limit was 30 mph, I think we only got UP to 30 two times.
    At the south end of the dragon we stopped at deals gap and talked to several bikers that had just completed riding the tail. The tail of the dragon was just one of the exciting parts of the trip. We traveled on Hwy 28, which runs parallel to a river and is absolutely beautiful. Then the Blue Ridge Parkway runs thru the Smokey Mountains and has several tunnels you drive thru. We had planned on going over the Cherahola Skyway, but rain and fog prevented that.
    We spent a few days at the Cherokee Indian Reservation in NC and then drove over to Ashville NC to see the Biltmore Estates. Something well worth going to see.
    The return trip was a little rougher. Two days of rain, fog and 18 wheelers passing us going 70-80 mph in the rain. But overall it was a great trip.
    The tail of the dragon has been named one of the top bike/sports car roads in the US. But the ‘tail’ is only a small portion of the beauty you will see in the Smokey Mountains. It was definitely an exciting and beautiful trip, and we will be back.