We all made it and after supper here we are just a sittin' and bullin'.... great weather, lets hope it stays that way tomorrow.

I am in and I am unpacking the bags -- bike and trailer are all put away now.

I got pictures of Don's trike to put up as soon as I get a round tuit instead of all these square ones that I have to deal with right now.

I think we have discovered a gold nugget in the Dog House at Simple Life as when fully occupied it can cost less than $20 per person.   It really does have 6 FULL SIZED BEDS, an additional futon couch bed, a kitchen, a full fridge and a full bathroom and private shower.   It also has a full deck (complete with fire pit and pig cooker smoker BBQ) and its own sheltered parking lot.   We could easily stick 10 people into it and have enough room to walk around at night.   Or we could low ball it with only 4 people and it would cost as much per head as Cabin #4 at Blue Ridge.

It gets down to which side of the world you are going to -- if you are going Dragon side (west side) go to the Big Dog.   If you are going Waynesville side (east side) go to the Blue Ridge.

I also agree with Dave we need to move the early summer Dragon trip to some other section of weeks -- we have had too much rain on the spring trips of late .....


========================


Dave brought his V4 sports touring bike this time and to us it wasn't a big thing as it is a 795 pound bike that handles slowly in the curvy stuff.  

HOWEVER, on the Cherohala Skyway Dave was the demon terror of the crotch rocket guys as they simply could not shake him as he had similar acceleration and similar sweeper handling --- they got distressed and stopped, so Dave just stopped with them until we Savagers caught up.

As always, Hogs were never an issue, nor were the occasional BMW or Honda Flat six.  I finally found my throttle stop and simply didn't have enough go juice to go play at all on several uphill runs what with Dave having power everywhere and Jeb having power on the top end.





=========================

I have also begun cogitation on a Kawasaki Vulcan S, a 650cc vertical twin that is low enough even for me and weights about what a stock Savage weighs.

Will begin looking for a crashed unit or a bank loan take back.   Or a wifey bike that isn't liked as much in the winter as it was in the spring.

Hi guys, Well I got home and took nap, now I feel a lot better and ready to eat. I sure enjoyed meeting all of you all. Deals gap is a great place to visit but if you want any peace and quiet you should you find someplace nearby. All the staff was very nice to us. I am sorry to report that about halfway down the dragon coming home we came upon a bad wreck. It was a large dresser with two people on it. One was sitting up the other laying in the ditch not moving. It looked like a woman. I asked a guy if they would be alright he said he didn't know and they had already called 911.                                                                                                       Oldfeller I am going to try and follow your instructions, but I am dumber than a day old river rock when it comes to a computer. Thank you.

Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 09/07/15 at 14:56:28:


boy that's pretty.  

Speaking of wrecks, we were sitting at the Dragon Lodge and a pair of girls left the lodge on Harleys and one was struggling to get the bike going on that steep little hill and wound up on her side in the ditch opposite the Lodge.   Her friend could not figure out how to turn her bike around to come back and she dropped it over at the first curve "get off point" that they put in there for the wheelie guys to crash on.

And then we saw girl #1 later on sideways down an embankment where she undershot a curve.   We got to wait while the wrecker fished the bike out and up on the flatbed.

This was symptomatic of a brand new thing at Robbinsville which you see at the Hub and at the bike places all over Robbinsville --- RENT A BIKE ---  for a couple of hundred dollars (and required special insurance on you and the bike) you too can go ride the Dragon.   Right now no less.

This is a bad idea in my eyes, as nobody rides somebody elses bike well enough to go on the Dragon.   Plus, there is apparently no skills test before renting the bike.  

However, I did check out the mass of rentabikes out for a Vulcan S ......

I saw one V-Twin (not Harley) on the Dragon on Friday that had drifted over the centerline and hit the fender of a trailer behind a truck.  It looked like the truck tried to get over and give the rider some extra room - it looked like the impact occurred when the rider was about 5 feet on the wrong side of the yellow line.

I believe I saw that crash Don was talking about when I left yesterday morning.  A large V-Twin (not Harley) was laying on the left side in the ditch, with one rider partially trapped underneath it and laying against the bank.  There were a number of folks attending to them - the ambulance and Sheriff came past me about 5 minutes later when I was down on the flat spot by the lake.

Then when I stopped for gas around Jellico, TN a Harley with Michigan plates pulled out of the gas station and attempted to cross the 2 driving lanes to get to the left turn lane....and a car hit his left saddlebag and crash bar - but did not hit him.  He seemed to be a decent rider......he just didn't look far enough up the road before pulling out into traffic.  The crash bar was pushed forward about 5 inches and most likely saved the fellow from getting a broken leg.

The Dragon can be ridden safely if you are a competent rider, show it respect, and don't attempt to go too fast your first few times through.  The sharp curves can be deceptive as they aren't always the same all the way through - some can start out gentle and get really tight (and sometimes that is hidden by the hills and trees).  I believe you should ride it just quick enough to be fun - but slower than your maximum ability....as you might need to avoid the SUV or bike that may be drifting over into your lane!  

 

Dave we saw the same wreck. I forgot to mention pinned under bike. We must have came through before you because we didn't see any emergency vehicles before we turned off on the foothills parkway.

Yeah, another bad case of hopeful bike lust strikes again ......




===================================


That brings up a point we discussed at Monday breakfast -- we need to MOVE this late summer trip a bit earlier to avoid Labor Day Weekend.

Everything was packed tight, including all the bathrooms everywhere.