"McMike" (mcmike)
08/21/2015 at 11:40 • Filed to: mcsturgis, tutu153, twowheelsbad, tail of the dragon
3
22|
"McMike" (mcmike)
08/21/2015 at 11:40 • Filed to: mcsturgis, tutu153, twowheelsbad, tail of the dragon | 3
| 22 |
Some say the Tail of the Dragon is the best road in America, and that touring bikes don’t belong on it. After riding it last week, I can accurately say that at least one of those statements is 100% true.
As some of you know, I rode my motorcycle from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! during the first two weeks in August. It’s only now that I’m putting all the photos together, and trying to come up with some interesting parts of the trip to share. I wrote nothing down, and only have time-stamped images and a future credit card bill to freak out about sort it out.
The weapon of choice.
McMike, pulling away up ahead at a blistering speed of 28MPH
So, the Tail of the Dragon is pretty windy. Like really really windy. It may not look like 11 miles all scrunched up, but if you stretch it out it comes out to 44 drag races - almost twice the length of an NHRA season!
We were there on a Thursday, so thankfully there weren’t that many enthusiasts out that needed to pass us. I’m also thankful that there are plenty of pull-off areas so you could let faster moving traffic by.
I was expecting to wave a lot of vehicles by, since:
I’m not a sporty motorbike rider.
I was not on a sporty motorbike.
I was fully loaded with two weeks worth of baggage.
Mrs McMike was part of that baggage.
Mrs McMike was nervous.
Neither of us like road rash.
Mrs McMike has fingernails.
Motorcycle parts are expensive.
I brought a GoPro, but didn’t bring a helmet mount. My windscreen was too dirty to mount the camera on my bars, so I put it on my engine guard. The footage was shaky anytime I was on the throttle, that all I have to show from it is these three screenshots of the three cars I waved around:
1. Miata (expected)
2. S2000 (expected)
3. This Minivan.
Big respect for those idiots who can wrestle a motorbike through this thing at speed. It must be exhausting to throw a bike around that road.
Me? I felt like this guy in the video, only like at 1/4 his speed. At only point I just grew tired of the 3-2 downshift, so I just left it in second for the latter half of it.
We did it in 28 minutes flat - which makes out to about 26.5mph average. I understand some do it in close to 11 minutes.
There are a lot of photographer.coms on the dragon (I counted three) and the only thing I kept saying to myself was “ don’t look up, don’t try to be cool, don’t show up in a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ”
The good news is that I didn’t have time to do anything clever/brave/cool, since I was
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
I found it interesting how many non-car/bike people think the Tail of the Dragon is some sort of death trap. As the girls started updating their FB status that were were headed there, one person replied with “Don’t kill yourself,” which resulted in comments from family members that were , “Do you have to take that road?” “Please be careful,” “I’m really concerned,” or “Please don’t.” I’m guessing they also Googled it really quick and the results were nothing but accidents of fiery death and dismemberment.
They replied as if we were trying to cross the border from Tennessee to North Carolina via some ramps and school buses.
Tail of the Dragon Archive footage - date unknown
As much as I would like to spend an afternoon on US129 with something like my
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
, I’ll just scrach the Dragon off my list, and call it a day.
If you like wind noise,
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of hand-held,
landscape
smartphone video I didn’t know was being filmed at the time.
Has anyone else “Slayed” (their term, not mine) the Dragon? What were you expectations?
Party-vi
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 11:48 |
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Mrs McMike was part of that baggage.
R.I.P. McMike, once Mrs. McMike reads this.
MonkeePuzzle
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 11:48 |
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the best graphic ever
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MonkeePuzzle
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 11:50 |
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most boring youtube video of motorcycles ever. the constant sound of bikes reving from 300 to 600rpm is horrific
Justin Hughes
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 11:52 |
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So how many faster cars and bikes did you wave by? Just those three, or more?
I’d probably be just as slow on a bike. Quicker in my BRZ but I’ve got a few hours of track time in it and know what it can do. I’m a lot more of a wuss on two wheels.
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MonkeePuzzle
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 11:53 |
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Mrs McMike was part of that baggage.
have “the girls” update that to their facebooks, then lets see the “Don’t kill yourself,” “Please be careful,” “I’m really concerned,” or “Please don’t”, comments roll in
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McMike
> MonkeePuzzle
08/21/2015 at 11:53 |
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That was my 11 miles. rev, lift, lean, turn, rev, lift, lean, turn, let mini van pass, rev, lift, lean, repeat
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McMike
> Justin Hughes
08/21/2015 at 11:55 |
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Just those three. It was a Thursday.
CKeffer
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 12:00 |
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I went a couple years ago with a group of folks from a car forum I’ve been part of for a long time, and had an absolute blast. Granted I was in a mildly tweaked MINI Cooper S, rather than on a bike, but I thought the road was an absolute hoot to drive when it was clear. For the touring bike , the Cherohala Skyway would likely be a much better drive. It has a lot more broad sweepers than it does tight hairpins, and the view on it is amazing.
As for expectations, I expected pretty much what I got: a road designed by someone who looked at an autocross course and thought, lets base a road on this! The resto fthe trip went pretty much as expected too with LOTS of beer at night back at the cabins, and a whole lot of laughter from being around a great group of folks.
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MonkeePuzzle
> Party-vi
08/21/2015 at 12:11 |
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fingers crossed it is deemed front page worthy so it gets back to her :D
MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 12:18 |
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I bet that mini-van pass hurt your soul.
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McMike
> MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
08/21/2015 at 12:21 |
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I bet that mini-van pass hurt your soul.
Not at all. A Harley and a Minivan have the same relative performance- he had twice the rubber.
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MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 12:39 |
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hahahahahahahahahaha
450X_FTW
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 13:34 |
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Heading down there in a month for a bike trip. Happy to say I’m the under dog with a supermoto bike
Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 13:36 |
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I went on a nice Saturday in October three years ago. Road was packed. It took me an hour each way because I kept pulling over to let people pass. I’m pretty sure I didn’t leave first gear the whole time. I also didn’t want to crash four hours from home
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McMike
> 450X_FTW
08/21/2015 at 13:37 |
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I bet those would be fun. There were a group of them down there from Virginia while we were there.
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McMike
> Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
08/21/2015 at 13:39 |
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I haven’t deleted that shaky GoPro footage yet. I should look at the time, and see how long it took me.
Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 14:11 |
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Obviously his rubbers aren’t very effective. Otherwise he wouldn’t be driving a minivan.
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McMike
> Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy
08/21/2015 at 14:17 |
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LOL.
davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 15:36 |
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At least you were considerate enough to let people pass!
desertdog5051
> McMike
08/21/2015 at 19:07 |
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If you every come to my neck of the woods, I will show you a road that is as good or better. The Devils Trail/Coronado Trail in eastern Arizona. 118 miles of twisties. 5000 feet of elevation change in the White Mountains.
Nauraushaun
> McMike
08/24/2015 at 04:15 |
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Really? How come Harleys have to be 10 times as loud?
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McMike
> Nauraushaun
08/24/2015 at 05:12 |
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Really? How come Harleys have to be 10 times as loud?
WHAT?