Why doint we take it from a diffeerent angle , and I'm not sure I'm up the the hike either !!!

How about we go UP hwy 80 this time ?

Some extra thoughts --- mebbe even better thoughts


Mount Mitchell is 50+ miles on the eastern side of Ashville fairly near to Marion NC on Hwy 80.   It makes no sense for Toymaker (who lives pretty much near that side of Ashville) to ride all the way to the Dragon (4 hrs) then to turn around and ride all the way back to the Marion NC area (3 hours).

There is a Super 8 Motel in Marion NC we could stay at for the first night (Monday night) for about the same price as the Dragon, with dual queen beds, a swimming pool and cable TV and a free breakfast on Tuesday am.   Once again, the first night's on me -- so the cost of the hotel isn't really an issue.


http://www.hotelplanner.com/Hotels/201755-Marion/Deal-Super-8-Motel-Marion-42...


Mind you, I don't hate the Dragon hotel per se, but we've done done the Dragon hotel to death and I am trying to get the folks who are going knocking about on these little black line runs to start thinking outside the little Dragon box we done got ourselves into.

(especially since you can't get a room on the day you want it at the Dragon hotel)

This idea cuts 3-4 hours off my first day's travel time and cuts Toymaker's trip in down to about an hour and a bit total from his house.   I don't know what it does to MMRanch's travel as I am unsure as to which way he is coming from.   It also offers Toymaker the choice to sleep comfy in his own bed then a short ride up to meet us for a free breakfast on Tuesday morning and then we all strike off all fresh to trek up to see Mount Mitchell.

What do you guys think?

MMRanch and Oldfeller sleep all comfy Monday night on queen beds at Marion NC and meet Toymaker for breakfast early on Tuesday morning, then we roll and poke and hunt and figure out what's for Tuesday night on Tuesday afternoon from wherever we are?


Who knows where we will be .....  


..... on some little black line on the Google map somewheres or another.

Toymaker, yew ain't a getting off that easy ....  not when the trip was created and tailored jest for you and I had to go fight the vacation time wars for four solid days to just get off on the week when you said you could go.

You WILL be with us in spirit even if your poor mortal corpus is a sitting in an un-ac'd house a showing his kawachunkie to a series of pimple faced teenagers who are hoping to buy it for $1,000 up front and $50 each month fer the next year (with a well used paintball gun thrown in to sweeten the deal iffen you'll jest give them your riding jacket, your helmet and yer chaps and purty please sign the title over to them now so they can get a license plate).

Quit being so durn afraid of Mount Mitchell, they have a road up to it now with handicapped access and an elevator -- you didn't think I wasn't gonna check on that sort of stuff before committing to it did you?  I'm the poor ol cripple one who falls over sometimes when he gets off his bike, not you.

Come on, losing to a Sporster ain't so bad, I though Lancer done taught us that purty good on that first dragon trip.   At least a Sportster will give you a good race as they ARE faster up on the top end than you are.






(Mine is giving me static too, she says I'm gonna kill myself one of these days and she does not approve of the idea)

It would be nice to have at least one handfull of riders to keep company with.

OldFeller  we doin't have to stay at the Dragon proper on my account.   What about the Robinsville motels ?

Swimming pool , a tv that works , better rates , breakfast thrown in as part of the deal ,   all the dragon has to offer is the sound of Motorcycle engins early in the morning and a fire-pit at night.

I'm just fine with winging it for a few days .... durning the week most motels have good rates and plenty of room.

Or what about TelacoPlains on the Tn side of the skyway for a night ???  In June total round trip was a little short of 2000 miles and I loved every mile of it. !!!

I'm OK with going on to Maron if that works out better for the rest of our folks .

OldFeller we can go South into North GA. that whole area is GREAT riding.

All we need is a starting point. !

You guys ever heard of the Diamondback? http://www.diamondbacknc.com/   Its a great ride and you're gonna be right at it if you go up Highway 80.

My Mom and Dad have a place on 80. After you go under the Parkway you go a mile and a half and their place is on the right. I was riding Highway 80 when I was 16 yrs old. I'm 56 now. I'm having a bad summer healthwise (I have Lupus) or I would have been at the Dragon. If I'm able I'll join you guys I will, I'll have Mom to fix lunch for us one day.

I can stay wherever you guys are staying. If you want to explore the Mt Mitchell area there's a pretty little campground about a quarter mile from Mom and Dads. There's a couple of National Forest Campgrounds on 80 and several more private ones. I believe Little Switzerland has a motorcycle cabin especially for bikers if it hasnt been rented. It will sleep several people. There's a good size campground on the Parkway close to 80, I'm having a brain fart and cant remember the name of it. If you go down the Parkway there's some awesome riding around Grandfather Mtn. You could stay a week and not begin to cover that area. I had a great childhood spending my summers growing up there. I always had a trail bike. Back then you didnt have to have a drivers license or a vehicle license to ride the fire roads in the National Forest. There was a fire road that runs from 80 all the way down to Old Fort, over 30 miles one way. Can you imagine a 12 year old kid being able to ride 60 miles of dirt roads? There was some really tight switchbacks, I learned to flat track at a tender young age LOL.