Fall Ride 2013 - Day Six - Thursday, 10/24/2013

Dragon day!

 

The weather was beginning to take on the flavor of winter more so than fall and this morning found us rising to the sub-freezing temperature of 30 degrees. The forecast predicted things continuing in this manner for the remainder of the week, and there were predictions of snow in the mountains come Saturday morning. These forecasts were beginning to impact our ride planning, but today we were determined to make the best of it and head over to the infamous Dragon of Deal's Gap.

 

After a breakfast stop at the Huddle House in Dillsboro, we headed for the Dragon in earnest. It was just over 40 miles of mountain riding before we arrived at the intersection of US 129 and NC 28, the official start of the section of road known as the Tail of the Dragon or Dragon, depending upon who you're talking to. What is for sure is that the so called Dragon is an 11-mile stretch of road with 318 of the tightest, twisting, challenging curves you are likely to ever see. And it is also some of the best motorcycling you could ever hope to experience.

 

And experience it, we did.

 

Before the morning was over, Mr. Sarcasm and I had logged five passes on the Dragon; three to the north and two to the south. Eddie got in three passes for himself aboard Battlestar Galactica. Fifty-five miles of riding may not sound like much, but let me assure you that slinging a motorcycle back and forth through 318 curves every eleven miles of that total is a good way to work up a sweat. But it's a good sweat. A sweat borne of fun and excitement, more so than the physical effort required. A sweat that carries with it the aroma of exhilaration. A sweat that puts a smile on your face and a sense of satisfaction in your heart.

With the Dragon sufficiently slain by all present, it was time to move along toward Tellico Plains to pickup the Cherohala Skyway for a reverse-course-routing to Robbinsville.

We took the highway route over to Tellico Plains, arriving there at 2 p.m. We stopped in for lunch at Krambonz BBQ, mostly because we wanted Eddie to bask in their gloriously abundant and tasty food, but also just because the food was so good. This time, I steered away from the pulled pork sandwich in favor of their brisket. Once again I was shocked by quantity of food that they served. Never before have I been served brisket that was cut like a steak, but on this day that was exactly the case. And, yes, it was a huge portion. That steak-cut slice of brisket was half-an-inch thick and nearly hung off both sides of the plate. And, yes, it was also incredibly delicious. How delicious you ask? Enough so that I can say with confidence that it is the best brisket I've ever eaten!

 

After lunch we gassed up the bikes, and did a bit of souvenir shopping before leaving Tellico Plains behind to make our ascent onto the Cherohala Skyway.

 

It was still cool down in the relatively lower altitudes of town, but as we climbed higher and higher onto the Cherohala the temperatures dipped lower and lower. By the time we reached the peak heights of the Cherohala we were enduring 35-degree chills along with our twisty thrills. Between the cold and the building fatigue that was haunting us all, we were motivated to make a power run across the Cherohala and finished the entire 43-mile route in record time for us. There was no dilly-dallying to check out views, instead we just kept rolling forward until we came to the end of run at Robbinsville, NC.

 

Arriving in Robbinsville, we turned eastward once again and then beat feet for the cabin, where we rolled to our final stop of the day at 5:30 p.m., with 253 miles showing on the trip meter.

 

Our good friends Mike & Diane invited us to dinner that evening and we enjoyed Diane's tasty spaghetti and good conversation before bringing the day's adventures to a close.

 

Back at the cabin discussion ensued about the increasingly threatening weather situation. The mountains to the north of us were certain to get snow and that meant we couldn't head up to NC 80 as previously planned. At the same time, the forecast for the southern mountains was growing increasingly sketchy and the chance for weekend snow was still hanging over us. Cold is okay on a motorcycle, but snow and ice are not. The thought of possibly being snowed in come Saturday morning was a problem of sufficient scale to force us to reevaluate our options.

 

In the end we decided to call an end to the mountain adventures for this fall's riding season. We decided to head south tomorrow and to travel as far as Warner-Robins, GA, where we would visit the aircraft museum on the Air Force base in that city.

 

With that decision made we spent the remainder of the evening repacking our luggage and our bikes for the ride southward.

 

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