06 Far East Ride - Day 4 -NC to TN

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This is the fourth part of a series that is about the ride I took on my 2005 883 Low Harley Sportster ‘Effie’ from Kansas City to Novia Scotia and back. This was part of my vacation from 4 to 20 AUG.

MONDAY 7AUG06

Yesterday left me 35 miles short of The Tail of the Dragon. The goal for monday and Tuesday is to ride the Tail of the Dragon a couple times, then head north to OH and IN to get those states for my ABCs. There are a few IBE cities and other states that I will get on the way. The next scheduled stop will be the TN state HOG rally.

The Dragon is a very popular motorcycle destination. It boasts 318 curves in 11 miles. Riders call them ‘twisties’ and if your bike handles well the feel of gliding and swooping through the Dragon is exhilarating. There is a tree at one of the ends of the Tail that is called the Tree of Shame, if you crash on the tail, then you are obliged to hang a broken piece of your bike on the tree. The way I entered the route in the morning meant I would ride the dragon again on the way out of the area, is that planning or what? My route made the big loop starting on the Dragon, at the completion I hooked a highway that brought me to the Cherohala Skyway a very scenic drive that brings me back around to the start of the Dragon again. The loop is 128 miles. This was a really fun ride. It was recommended on the website www.tailofthedragon.com. There are a couple companies that station photographers along the Tail of the Dragon. These photographers take pictures of all the bikes and cars traveling on the tail, then you go on-line and buy your photos. I must have done okay for speed, because I didn’t have any bikes come up to pass me, although there were lots of bikes out there. Deals Gap had some great stuff and I ended up buying a sign to post on the side of my garage and a mini tank bag that has proved to be a very handy bag indeed. Its called the Scout (that is my son's nick name) I used one side pocket for change and the other for my camera. The bigger main pocket holds my post card list with stamps and postcards, my wallet, extra set of batteries and the GPS when I leave the bike. The bag will expand, but I have never needed to expand it. The bag just uses magnets to secure itself on the tank but with over 17K miles now using the bag I have not ever worried about it falling off the tank.

The dragon is known for getting stuck buses and semi's, the bank of the curve and low ground clearance combined with the sharp corners spell out trouble for the big rigs. There was one bus that was stuck on a curve when I went through the second time. When I went by the bus driver and some guy was having a screaming match in the road, neither were happy campers. I think the second screamer was the driver of the Sysco truck that was located behind the bus, he was now also stuck by default. He could not pass the bus on the narrow corner since the bus was already in both lanes and there was no way to turn his truck around. I took a picture as I was leaving. I just held the camera over my shoulder and snapped it blind. I actually got the bus in the picture, although from this view it doesn’t look stuck.

So I thought I would just be spending the morning on the dragon, but the time change has affected me, or maybe its just laziness. Having this laptop keeps me up at night, I slept in the morning (7:30 CT). Anyway it was 3PM when I started my last run thru the dragon. At the end of the dragon there is a motorcycle shop & café called ‘The Pit Stop’. I was hungry but didn't know what I was hungry for. I was the only customer at the time so I started a conversation with the short order cook. I finally just asked her what was her culinary specialty. She proudly said she made the best Ruben Sandwich in the county. She served me the best Ruben sandwich I had ever eaten.

It was getting hot by the time I left the café. Where I had been wearing 2 coats at 1PM as I was going over a mountain, now I was noticeably hotter. The first destination after the Dragon was Chaska TN this is one of the ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ cities (#81 of 91). The Quest GPS took me to the only thing in the area with this name on it, it was a Church of God sign. So I stopped and took Effies picture by the sign, The road going to Chaska was shady and deserted, sweeeeet. After Chaska it was off to Jellico TN (IBE #64). By the time I left Jellico it was starting to cool off. I had just moved from small backroads and would now be on I-75N for awhile. No need for a coat, just pleasant riding. At some time I realized that there was not any traffic southbound on I-75, a mile or 2 down the roadway I saw a commotion. I would say accident, but I didn’t see any crunched cars. There was about 10 Semi’s all bunched up with some cops, then nothing for 5 miles then the back up started. It had to be 10 miles long. They were sending all the south bound traffic off the interstate. I was thankful I was not heading south today.

TN has a lot of the brown info signs for sightseeing attractions, thats great if your like me and love to stip at those kind of places. I saw one for the Col. Sanders motel historic site, but I missed the exit number. I took the next exit, but didn’t see any directional sign for it so I got back on the interstate. Later on I saw a sign for historic Boones Tavern. Now how could I pass that one up. It was 2 miles off the interstate but was very hard to find, I asked 3 people an each gave me the same directions. I wasn’t looking for a colonel style store front, I thought it would be a log cabin type thing.

Once it got dark, even though it was nice weather, I didn’t want to keep going. It gets dark here at 7:30 -7:45. UUUrgh… reminds me that winter is coming.

I bought a bunch of post cards, but I don’t know when I will get them filled out.

Tonight it’s a stop a Knights Inn (Lexington KY), $50.99 taxes included and free internet. Maybe I will check the XL-List and see what new.

The First Journal in this Series is: 06 Far East Ride - Day 1 - MO
The Route Map for the trip is located in the last Journal: 06 Far East Ride - Day 17 - HOME

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Photos

Effie at Deals Gap
Deals Gap is a neat store that is located on the Tail of the Dragon. The gas pump at the store specifies SUPER DRAGON UNLEADED.

Tree of Shame
Parts from bikes that were crashed while riding on the Dragon.

Cherohala Skyway
The skyway was part of the 128 mile loop that included the Tail of the Dragon. It is a great route to take.

IBE #81 Chaska TN
Finding this town/sign was an interesting trip.

Boone Tavern
I kept asking directions until finally one lady just pointed at it. I was expecting a rustic tavern not a nice colonial style building.