Tales from Tail of the Dragon

"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario) 08/04/2017 at 14:17 • Filed to: Tail of the Dragon

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The FP post got me thinking about my experiences on the tail of the dragon.

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Here are a few things I witnessed for the few days me and a few friends were riding on the Tail of the Dragon.

Lady in a Suburban hustling it, tires screeching, around every corner as she hits the apex of every turn...the apex of the road, not the lane. How she didn’t hit someone much less kill anyone I don’t know. We pulled off after following for a mile or so to let the crazy get ahead of us

Harley in the ditch on the outside corner, thankfully for him on the uphill side of the road

Cops. Lots of cops on each end of the road.

My bike laying on the ground (hangs head in shame)

Lots of guys on bikes passing like morons, but at least on a bike your mostly putting your own life at risk

A semi truck which is impossible to take through that road safely (these are banned now I believe)

There’s probably more that I’m forgetting. It’s a really cool road, but unless you get lucky it’s usually too busy to have too much fun on. My friends and I enjoyed the roads surrounding the area more than the TotD. While the TotD is tight and more technical, a lot of the surrounding roads are fast long sweepers which are just as fun as the technical stuff.

Oh, one more thing I saw. A dude with full race suit on dragging a knee around every corner. Literally every corner...while we were stuck going 15mph behind an RV.

Also, anyone who takes a trip down there should stop at Wheeler’s Performance, it’s a neat little bike shop near the TotD and the owner is a hoot to talk to if he’s there.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 08/04/2017 at 14:55

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A buddy of mine heads down that way for a four day weekend every September. He’s mentioned his group usually runs the Hellbender and the Cherohala during the day, and save ToTD for late night runs (“I’d rather deal with the deer and the dark than the idiots” as he put it).

“Never try to follow the Repsol”

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever 08/04/2017 at 15:10

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Makes sense, I’ll probably do the same next time I get down there.

Also, the tree of shame is awesome

Hammerdown > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 08/04/2017 at 15:52

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I was just planning a motorcycle trip to that area, that video on the FP made me reconsider it. I did the Pig Trail in AR earlier this summer and had no issues, but I think the sport bike and sports car douches would drive me insane.

valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 08/04/2017 at 15:59

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I was there this spring with some friends including Peter Black. Got my Wheeler’s sticker and wear it proudly! And a few others.

Two riders in the group went down but nothing serious fortunately. One guy got distracted by a nice C7 Vette and forgot to turn!

Personally I liked Cherohala more with its wider and faster corners. That speed almost bit me in the ass when I took a decreasing radius corner too quickly and went into the oncoming lane. Very lucky nobody was there.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Hammerdown 08/04/2017 at 16:01

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Don’t let it discourage you. There are hundreds of miles of fantastic roads in the area that aren’t congested like the TotD. Just when you do go through the TotD go through in the early morning before the morons wake up.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option 08/04/2017 at 16:03

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I’m with you on the Cherohala. And fortunately when I put my bike down it was nothing serious as well.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 08/04/2017 at 16:23

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My sum total experience on the TOTD: