SGT at the dragon

[frozenpoet]

Who would be interested in a Southern get together (SGT) at the "Tail of the Dragon"? For those that might not know, the world famous Dragon is outside of Knoxville, TN and consists of 318 turns in 11 miles.

I'm going to set the date as

MAY 11, 2013

Tentative meetup at 10:00 (can be changed if needed/wanted) at the last pull off on Chilhowee Lake, TN. If anyone has a little more info about this spot like mile marker please share.

It would be the large pull off after the bridge heading south.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=tail...36223,0.084543&t=h&hq=tail+of+the+dragon&z=15

Closer shot
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=tail...36223,0.084543&t=h&hq=tail+of+the+dragon&z=17

 

[frozenpoet]

O, and the timeframe I'm looking at is around the start to end of may.

 

[Cyclerosis]

I might be up for a road trip if I can get off work. Also, a good friend of mine lives in Nashville, so it would be a good opportunity to catch up with him.

 

[TechiePilot]

Very doable!!
This would be awesome to have the 700 fleet out on display, oh yeah, and to say we didn't leave anything on the tree of shame

 

[dduelin]

I am usually within a couple hundred miles of Deals Gap sometime in May. May I suggest May 11, 2013 as I am going to be camping at Meadows of Dan, VA that weekend? I'm in for this event.

Deals Gap on August 18th 2012:

 

[frozenpoet]

From May of this year on my 93 CBR600F2, the last day of my 2500 mile trip.

The weekend of May 11th works for me, I like that time of year for this. The tourist crowd isn't as bad yet, it's cool/cold in the mornings but gets nice once the sun comes up.
Gatlinburg/pigeon forge is down around that area too for those that want to bring the S/O and make a weekend out of it.

 

[frozenpoet]

tree of shame

 

[gpd211]

My 2000 VFR about 15 min before I made my donation to the tree of shame. Keep us posted on dates and what hotel your planning on using.

 

[frozenpoet]

This is where I stayed at earlier
Bestwestern.com, the World's Biggest Hotel Family.

Pros: close to the dragon, it's quiet, the room has a Jacuzzi tub, free breakfast, not that expensive.
Cons: pretty much away from everything, the breakfast didn't have meat (the owners were veggies)

So, unless there is any big objection, I'm going to set the date for May 11th.
I plan on being down there the entire weekend though...

 

[dduelin]

The Phillips Motel in Robbinsville is a favorite of mine. It's clean and cheap and at the bottom of the hill so to speak. If there are 2 or 3 of you the cottages are the thing to split.

This particular weekend I am going to be camping about 300 miles away in VA so I'll have to day ride down to the Dragon if we meet that Saturday.

 

[frozenpoet]

This is getting a lot of views, any comments, suggestions, or questions feel free to leave it.

 

[gpd211]

After seeing many of these posted and participating in a few it may be better to make a weekend out of it. Have the starting meeting in the hotel parking lot and have several routes planned out (there are ALOT of better roads in that area than the dragon. Less traffic and less wanna be moto gp races off the dragon). Also an advanced group and sight see-er (or beginner) group may be good. Don't want a new rider to be pushing too hard to keep up with more experienced rider.

 

[frozenpoet]

In the back of my mind this was my general plan, but the dragon would be the big draw for those that don't know the area. The cherohala skyway is great for the views. Wayah Rd would be one of those roads that you described and with I think 7 waterfalls along the road it has some pretty stuff to look at too. I'll have to dig out my map of the "more famous" roads in that area.

 

[frozenpoet]

This was taken on the cherohala skyway at the highest point.

 

[dduelin]

I think Mount Mitchell is a quite bit higher than 5235 feet, as are several ridges on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Yes, most all the roads in western NC are good but the Dragon is unfortunately the best known of them. If you are an early riser you can get across it and back with little to no traffic even on a Saturday but later in the day it is a dangerous zoo.

Deals Gap ST1300 - YouTube

 

[frozenpoet]

Humm, I stand corrected. Either i read something wrong or remembered what i read wrong.

 

[wickerman]

Put me down as a definite maybe.

 

[daveyharr]

I like staying at the Fontana resort camp grounds. It's about 10 miles down the road from Deals Gap.

 

[danrev]

Sounds and looks like fun. Way too far for me to come, and WAY over my head to try at this stage since I am just getting back into riding after a long time away. Plus I rode much smaller bikes before, so I'm trying to get my wings under me with the NC. But it looks like those who attend will have a great time. Looking forward to hearing reports.

P.S. Like the pics of the bikes in this thread.

 

[frozenpoet]

Sounds and looks like fun. Way too far for me to come, and WAY over my head to try at this stage since I am just getting back into riding after a long time away. Plus I rode much smaller bikes before, so I'm trying to get my wings under me with the NC. But it looks like those who attend will have a great time. Looking forward to hearing reports.

P.S. Like the pics of the bikes in this thread.

Can't say I can blame you, granted the "speed limit" is only 35 but I couldn't tell you what my speed has ever been. The speedo is one thing you can't look at as there is so much going on.

One of the coolest things is there are about 4 different companies that are on the side of the road snapping pictures that you can by online. killboy.com photos - The Original Photographer from US129 Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap is one of my favorite.