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MOTORCYCLE DIARIEScontinued from pg 29


was our day to finally ride this famous section of US-129 in Tennessee and North Carolina. We left Gatlinburg and headed out


Old State Highway 73, to Old Welland Highway to The Foothills Parkway, and on to US-129. The 11-mile stretch of single lane


highway is amazing. A good portion of the Dragon borders The Smokey Mountains National Park, which is an undeveloped area, so you don’t have to worry about any crossroads along the 11 miles. The road is extremely challenging.


Many of the tight turns are blind, off-camber, or decreasing in radius. In some cases, it’s a combination of all these unique features. You must be alert, not lose your concentration and stay totally focused on oncoming riders or vehicles, because they can, and will, cross into your lane on the tighter turns. On one turn, I was looking


straight into the front of a yellow Jeep with two of the wheels in my lane. The speed limit on the Dragon is 30 mph. It’s strictly enforced, but we did see many riders running hard on their sport bikes in full gear. The road is in very good shape,


and in many spots there are areas to pull over to watch the action or let a faster rider by. Photographers are staged along the route so you can go online once you’re home and look at the various pictures of your ride. We ended our ride of U S-129 at


the Deals Gap Motorcycle resort. This is where the Tree of Shame is located. The tree is a monument of sorts for those who have been bitten by the Dragon. Riders have hung various parts of their bikes from their lost battle, such as handlebars, screens, fairings, and wheels. Some of the parts are dated to explain when the accident occurred. It’s a good reminder how dangerous US-129 really is. After spending some time taking in the resort, we continued down US-


66 BOUNDER MAGAZINE


129 to Robbinsville, South Carolina, for lunch. We noticed that most of the establishments, from restaurants to churches, are very biker-friendly and will welcome you into their businesses. At Robbinsville we turned on to


County Road 1127, Snowbird Road, and on to US-143, which again is a tight, twisty road in nice condition. We stopped to get gas at the


Thunder Mountain General Store, because this is the last gas stop before you get to the Cherohala Skyway. This place is motorcycle friendly, with lots of souvenirs and vintage British bikes and parts. Not only that, but the owner will talk about motorcycles at length. From there we rode to the


Cherohala Skyway (NC-143 in North Carolina and TN-165 in Tennessee), which is probably one of the best roads in the area and a favourite of many riders. We experienced high elevations with breath-taking scenery and some of the nicest big sweepers. We turned onto TN-360 into Venore. This took us through rural Tennessee and then on to US-11 to Pigeon Forge, a destination for many tourists. We left Pigeon Forge, got back to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and completed the 348 km ride for the day.


Day 5 - June 13 This day we enjoyed a beautiful ride down TH-321 to Bristol, Tennessee. Again, riding through the rural area of Tennessee was amazing. The ride was only 165 km, so we took our time and


got into our condo at the racetrack by noon. We planned to attend the NHRA Ford Thunder Nationals on Friday, so we spent some time walking around Bristol Motor Speedway. We took in both the stock car track and the drag strip.


Day 6 - June 14 We didn’t ride at all, except for a short trip to Bristol to look around. Our plan was to attend the qualifying sessions for the NHRA event on Friday afternoon and evening. I must say if you have never been to an NHRA professional event, you should add it to your bucket list. Funny cars and dragsters running over 300 miles an hour, and in the 3-to-4 second range, is something to see. The noise of these Nitro engines is hard to describe except: Scary! We watched the qualifying


sessions and visited the pit area to watch crews rebuild their engines in the 45-minute time allotment. We have all attended many races in various circuits or sanctioning bodies, but these NHRA events are a must-see!


Days 7 and 8 - June 15, 16 We left Bristol and headed up Hwy 81 towards Roanoke, Virginia. We planned on loading the bikes and heading to Winchester to stay the night and then get up Sunday morning and finish the drive home. From completing the Blue Ridge


Parkway and the Tail of the Dragon, riding in rural Tennessee, to taking in the drag races, this was an amazing trip. The area is so motorcycle- friendly, and there was a lot to see and do. We plan to return someday. We


have since learned of more roads and areas we want to visit and ride. Here are some web sites to visit:


www.visitroanokeva.com; www.asheville.com; www. blueridgeparkway.org; www. dealsgap.com www.gatlinburg. com; www.ThunderMountainCabin. com ;www.cherohala.com; www. bristolmotorspeedway.com; www. motorcycleroads.com


www.bounder.ca


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