Tail of the Dragon

911teo · 08-03-2006, 04:24 AM

My family is in Europe so I am on my own this weekend.

I was thinking of driving up to the Smokies and drive the tail of the Dragon. I know the Dragon is not at its best on Saturday or Sunday.. but it would be just an excuse to take the 993 for a long trip.

Plus the roads up to the Dragon are fantastic...

Anybody wants to come?

RarlyL8 · RarlyL8's Garage

The Dragon is not bad on all weekends. Check out their website for information and events schedule. They have monster car shows periodically that do clog the streets. Killboy.com has all the info on cops and tips on where to go and what to avoid.

Jon Merck · 08-03-2006, 07:15 AM

Hmm, I have always wanted to do "The Dragon". I may be able to do a Sunday run. It is what, about 4 hours from Charlotte?

911teo · 08-03-2006, 07:26 AM

I think so.... it's 80miles west of Ashwille... so 220 miles from Charlotte... I think we can do it in 3-3.5h if we need to (esp coming back)

bill3667 · 08-03-2006, 08:00 AM

I did the Dragon by motorcycle several times when I lived in Atlanta, it's a nice road but gets too much attention IMO. A much better road is the Cherohala Skyway (143) between NC 129 and Tellico Plains, TN. It's a much newer/wider/better road (some 60 miles long) w/ scenic pulloffs. The fact it straddles both NC and TN makes it less likely the local LEOs will be patroling it.

There are many nice roads around that area, unfortunately several of them get clogged w/ tourists heading for the Indian casinos.

911teo · 08-03-2006, 08:28 AM

Bill

thanks for the heads up... I saw skyway on the map.... I'll definetly check it out!

Carl Bauer · Carl Bauer's Garage

I've had my 911 there 3 times.

It's not a long road but it takes a LONG time to drive even if you're not behind a camper or local that is doing citizen speed enforcement. You might avg. 25-30mph on a clear run. Great fun though!

bill3667 · 08-03-2006, 09:27 AM

Which road Carl? Cherohala Skyway or the Dragon? I was north of 100 on a motorcycle on Cherohala, couldn't get half that on the dragon I don't think.

Carl Bauer · Carl Bauer's Garage

25-30mph average on the dragon. The tail of the dragon is much more of a bike friendly road than a road for cars.

The Cherohala Skyway is great; heck the Blue Ridge going NE out of Asheville is great too! You can't pick a bad road up there. I miss NC.

austin552 · austin552's Garage

Great pics. Can't wait to go.

mppickett · 08-03-2006, 06:59 PM

The miatas were there last weekend and the integras are there this coming weekend (sports bikes seem to be there all of the time). Maybe we need a p-car week(end). Here's the link to the calendar.

jdm61 · 08-03-2006, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by EJ11HHF
25-30mph average on the dragon. The tail of the dragon is much more of a bike friendly road than a road for cars.

The Cherohala Skyway is great; heck the Blue Ridge going NE out of Asheville is great too! You can't pick a bad road up there. I miss NC.

Agreed...it has been a number of years but the Blue Ridge north of Asheville is a neat road. Another cool drive, even if it isn't the white knuckle experience of the Dragon, is 441 going up from Gatlinburg to Newfound Gap. You can jump on the Blue Ridge and go north from there. LOTS of cool roads up through the Appalachians.

Rick V · 08-04-2006, 12:47 AM

A local group here is doing a great fun run this weekend. We are hitting the panhandle of W.Va and ridge running south. About 15 of us and the weather is calling for excelent!

Jon Merck · 08-07-2006, 07:55 AM

Matteo, Did you go?

dweymer · dweymer's Garage

Matteo, if you went, how does it compare to the roads through Tuscany? I stayed in Castellina in Chianti and drove everywhere from there, barely a straight piece of road, and a complete blast to drive!

911teo · 08-07-2006, 08:09 AM

It was awesome. I covered 800 miles in 28h.

It took me 3h to get to the Dragon (I pretty much drove all the way at 8-90mph). The I did the dragon 3 times and the look with the Cherohala Skyway.

The dragon is awesome but you always stuble on slower cars/bikes so you possibly do 2-3 miles at 100% and then cruise for the rest of the way.

It is pretty amazing.

I am certainly going to do it again this Fall when my other car is ready..

930Jim · 08-07-2006, 08:13 AM

Be careful on the Blue Ridge Parkway or any state park roads- speed enforcement is heavy and the fines are steep.

911teo · 08-07-2006, 08:15 AM

Donnie

the Dragon is something else. It's incredible as most of the turns are banked. Fantastic stuff... especially the left-right-left with opposite cambers.

The Skyway reminded me more of the Italian roads through the Alps.
The difference here is that I encounteres probably 5 cars in 120 miles... And of thos 5 cars 3 moved over to let me through, 1 raced me (a supped up Chevy Tahoe !!!!) and one that wouln't let me pass at all costs).

But the Dragon is addictive... and the atmosphere is great. All the bikers are there to have fun and everybody is friendly.

I got a lot of offers to swap vehicles from bikers (I take your Porsche u take my ---- fill in with your favorite 2-wheel rocket) which I elegantly declined.

There were also 2 accidents involving 2 bikers... one looked bad. I hope they are fine as it took forever for the ambulance to get there.

911teo · 08-07-2006, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 930Jim
Be careful on the Blue Ridge Parkway or any state park roads- speed enforcement is heavy and the fines are steep.

Agreed... But those are scenic routes, with campervans and family cars.
I did 20 miles of one of those at 35mph... Speed yes, but only in safe conditions.

osidak · 08-07-2006, 09:49 AM

I think fines on the parkway start at $500 and go north very quickly up to a max of $2000 (at the whim of the tax collector) if my memory is correct