Well.....I figured for a few bucks I would buy proof that I was on the Dragon on Sunday.  There wasn't anyone else from the group to act as a witness!  It was far less crowded on Sunday afternoon than it was on Saturday.

Dang fine pic Dave, just wish I coulda done the video of the Dragon like I planned, although I doubt I coulda kept up with you three hollagans. Got xrayed wed. last week and they still haven't called with any results, dang military doc's are slow.
Wife wants all the rattles fixed now so I guess i'm pulling the tank this week and trying to find her a different headlight setup.

Hey OldFellow!  Remember that rattling noise you heard the last day we were riding together and our bikes were idling side by side?  It was my bike.......and it was louder tonight.

It is the headlight ring.  It is really loud, and it makes a sound like the top end is coming apart at idle.  If I take my hand and hold the chrome headlight ring......the horrible racket goes away.  Thank goodness it is not another post Dragon Trip engine rebuild!

Now Dave, since you have had time to think about it some -- I got a tight curlies question for you.

Dragon tight curlies or Hwy 32 tight curlies -- which was the most entertaining to go around?  

Which was the most alarming?   (unexpected/surprising, if you prefer)

Which was the most dangerous?  (tried to kill you the more times)

Which one was the best "controlled portion" of thrill ride (and why)?

Which one would be best for a controlled race (assuming you could do such a thing by having a cell phone equipped person at each end to verify the road was empty of all traffic)

Curves at brisk pace with reserve for braking and URO's (unexpected road objects)... Yep, fun stuff.  I really wish I had felt better and been able to enjoy more of the ride.

Really ?  A car parked crossways in both lanes on a curve while looking at a map ?
Did you stop and suggest they move before they or someone else dies?

I think Hwy 32 is the more dangerous road as it allows you to do what you are going to do in a completely unobserved & unrestricted fashion.

The mix of curves on 32 is insane and some of them are tighter than any that exist on the Dragon so you can't ride at a constant "speed range".  Dragon always has you going about 15 to 50 and all the curves have been rebanked so you can keep to that general speed range.

Hwy 32 has you down as low as 5-10 mph with tires just a scrubbing just to get around a couple of the inside hairpins.  Some are just about "folded road" tight.

The length of paved 32 is considerable right now and if they pave it all it will be 3x longer than it is now.

Dragon is relatively short and it has been just about memorized now.  The Dragon does have things to pass on it and that adds to its appeal.  8 porkchops and a trailer and a van on a single pass is the largest plate I was ever served on a one way Dragon pass, so Hwy 32 definitely lacks in the snack department.  

 They try to make up for it by parking in the middle of the road though.

Dave wrote on 06/26/13 at 04:22:48:



   

All you young little squiddlies, ya'll do plan to come to the mountains with us next year.  

Secret is to start out at the rear of the pack and "ride your own ride" like you always have.   Then you notice how the guy in front of you is doing it, and you start doing that way.   Always copy from the folks in front of you who ride better than you do, that is how you learn.

You come back next year because it was fun, and before long you are in the middle of the pack and are slowly moving up.  Then one day for no reason, it all clicks together and you start to RIDE your motorcycle and you don't even notice it.

Kel was our classic case of this learning progression, he was sitting at dinner one afternoon (on his third trip) arguing that there was no way in hell he was going any 70 mph on the Cherohala Skyway, that his bike wouldn't do 70 on those hills and he can't ride that near fast under those conditions .....

.... until the cell phone with the GPS speed/distance app lit was laid down beside his plate.   74.3 mph top speed, taken from the guy behind him.

He stopped and took a gulp of tea -- he wuz a Dragon Rider now fer shure.

"But we were all just cruising along in a spaced out row, no fuss no bother ...."

For example, Dave rides better than he thinks he does.   He was trying to get home in the rain and was going 65+ along Cruso Rd trying to get back to the cabins so he could take him a hot shower.  

He was wet and he was miserable and he just wanted to get there.  He couldn't read his speedo for all the mist and rain and he wasn't worried about it for much at that point anyway.    I wuz stopped suggesting a stop at a place with an awning to get out of the driving rain but Dave blew on past me, headed for home.   He warn't stopping fer nuthin'.

He made me work to catch him, he did.




and then on Sunday after packing up to go home, he went back for yet another dose of Dragon .....



..... straighten that road back to horizontal and tilt 'ol Dave over to where he was really riding -- that's a Dragon Rider right there by golly.

He still ain't admitting it to himself, but some day soon he'll pass something out in the real world because "it's just going so durn SLOW I jest can't take it any more" and then he'll remember this and do a golly gee to his forehead over the slow corruption that has crept up upon him.