Dragons Tail September 2006

The Tail Of The Dragon is one of those things you find out about and realize that you are the only person in America that seems to be unaware of its existence. It is a stretch of route 129 that runs over deals gap. 318 curves in 11 miles (20 kilometers). Its only about 200 miles (321K) from Conyers, so a piece of cake. We figured 4 hours including gas stops and we would eat when we got there as it would still be early. Right.

We left Conyers at around four thirty in the afternoon. Brendan had ridden up from Birmingham so he already had a couple of hundred miles under his belt, and Kelsey had driven up from a job he was working on in Jackson FL. I was the only one that was local, but still managed to delay our departure as one of my contract customers desperately wanted a printer installed to print paychecks, it being a Friday.

We pulled out the parking lot at four thirty, perfect timing for Atlanta’s rush hour traffic on 285. Traffic on the loop was not bad, six lanes whipping along at about 60 to 70 mile an hour, but 85 was a major issue as there was construction that reduced the road to three lanes and in places two. The last few miles before turning off onto 985 took more than an hour. By the time we got to Gainesville it was dusk. We had been on the road about 3 hours and were not even half way yet. For a little spice, it began to rain.

From Gainesville we picked up route 129 and by Cleveland it was dark and wet and we figured, what the hell, it cannot get any darker so we might as well eat. We stopped at an interesting little restaurant painted in Spanish colors with a cactus on the sign outside. Kelsey loves Mexican and Brendan and I were overruled. Well, this place claims it serves Southern cuisine, (according to our very friendly waitress) but it sure was not American Southern cuisine. The Spanish theme continued inside with sombreros on the wall and the menu was an interesting blend of Southern and Mexican. Items like Fried Catfish served on a Tortilla was an interesting item as were Barbeque Burritos. We had the Ribs, very Southern, served with Tortilla chips and Salsa, very Mexican. This was a very confused place. We were the only customers in spite of a festival going on in the square about a half mile down the road. Wonder why that was?

We were now on real back roads and well into the mountains. Streaming rain and pitch black. Just trying to stay between the lines that were barely visible through the rain. Its always an amazing thing to me how bad visibility is on a motorcycle in the rain. One would think that being in the open with only your protective eye gear between you and the road, visibility would be way better than in a car, but its not. Its terrible. Now that we were in the mountains we also ran into heavy patches of fog, and on one stretch, just before we picked up the four lane to Blairsville, the road had been freshly surface, but not painted. I came around the corner, the lines vanished and the road disappeared. My saddle still shows the bite marks from that! Fortunately it was only for a few miles and the lines reappeared and we could maintain a little forward motion again.

I read somewhere that motorcycling was all about endurance, and this night was a test of that. It was slow, cold and wet.

We arrived at the Iron Horse just after midnight, seven and a half hours later. Three and a half to four hours – Yeah Right!

The rain had slowed to a steady drizzle. We got our tents up and were soon in bed. Kelsey got chilled and finally had to get up at five and went for a jog to get warm. He found the ablution block, took a hot shower to warm his core, and went in search of coffee. Brendan and I slept until seven and then joined Kelsey for breakfast and coffee.

The Iron Horse has great facilities and there was a BMW convention going on so quite a lot of bikes and people. But it is not the warm friendly place that you get used to with places that cater to the motorcycle crowd. It was cold and commercial and attempted to Nickel and Dime you to death, charging extra for things like Brown Sugar and Raisins with your cereal.

Still drizzling when we left for the Dragon, but we finally arrived. There is a small lodge at the start of the tail and a typical souvenir store well stocked with souvenirs and clothing. Kelsey bought a rain suit as he was tired of being wet, and Brendan and I bought tag frames for our motorcycles.

The variety of motorcycles was amazing. Everything from Goldwings to a Cushman monkey bike and everything in between. You dream it, and it was there. As Kelsey put it, everyone there with just one purpose – to Conquer the Dragon.

We set off and the Tail proved to be everything we expected. Left. Right. Left. Curve after curve. Each one different and each one a challenge as you had no idea going in, if it was going to tighten up or loosen up. We had heard and read a lot of negative press about squids creating a problem, but did not see any of that. Other riders were courteous and respected that some ride faster than others. We only saw one major wreck. Bike looked bad and oil all over the road. I hit gravel with my front wheel and ended up in the ditch. Brendan was right behind and stopped to help me get the bike back on the road. Apart from a badly bent engine guard (Crash bar to the rest of you!) and a dented ego, both the bike and I were good and continued to the bottom, where, with the help of a 2 x 4 and a winch strap, we were able to straighten the bar and get it bolted back into place. Quite a Saturday.

By now the sun had come out, the road had dried off and we headed back for Robbinsville and lunch.

We had planned to stay over Saturday night and ride some of the other trails. Over lunch I told the other two that my feeling would not be hurt if we went on home. We had done what we had come to do – ride the Dragon. Brendan still had to get back to Birmingham AL by Sunday night and Kelsey had to get back to Jacksonville FL. This would a 400 mile (650K) plus ride for Brendan and as the weather was still a little flaky, we might be better served riding back that afternoon. After some discussion we all agreed and left to ride in daylight what we had ridden in the rain and fog the night before.

During daylight it is a great ride. Beautiful mountains and scenery and miles of twisting back roads through the mountains. There is one section where you go over a mountain pass that has incredible one hundred and eighty degree banked switch backs. It had been fun to ride the previous day at dusk, but an absolute blast in broad daylight. Kelsey was in the lead and provided entertainment. He was following an SUV down and the guy was tanking it as best he could through the curves to stay ahead of Kelsey. We were not moving very fast, about 60mph ( 100K) when Kelsey took one of the turns too tight and got into the dirt. All we saw was one leg frantically taking long strides on the one side of the bike, touching the ground every twenty feet or so, as he fought to maintain control. He got the bike back on the road without incident and the rest of the trip was uneventful.

We hit 985 at dusk and there was long grass on the side of the road. I have no idea what lived in there, but they were large and migrating somewhere. When they hit the bare skin on your face it felt like you had been shot. When they hit the windshield they sounded like a rifle shot and left a large circle of fat. Reminded me of the old joke. “What is the last thing that goes through a bugs mind when it hits your windshield?” – “Its asshole.”

285 was crowded as it usually is on a Saturday night, but the traffic was moving at its normal Atlanta clip of 75 to 80mph so we were able to make good time and were home in Conyers by nine that night.

A great, great trip and not one we will soon forget.