Sep 07, 2019

Today we headed off with a plan to find a famous road / ride for motorcycles called the Dragon / Tail of the Dragon (US129) situated in North Carolina and Tennessee which has a staggering 380 curves in an 11mile stretch with 12% grades and 15 – 20mph corners. All kinds of awesome. Not surprisingly we found all the motorcycles we hadn’t seen since we got here and the road to and from it were also some of our favourites with sweeping corners, gentle grades and beautiful shaded green surrounds. Very reminiscent of our previous ride down the Skyline Drive / Ride through the Blue Ridge Mountains. We were grateful for the shade as it was quite hot.

We were surprised to get into Pigeon Ford and find a massively bustling Gold Coast on Steroids! There are theme parks and musical and theatre options with meals all over the place, but I think we will opt for a quiet dinner in. Felt like it was a big day.

 

As we headed off to find our road we rode alongside the Ocoee River and multiple dams and hydro facilities. Lots of white-water rafting opportunities and Zip lines available. This was an opportunity to get close enough for photos.  

 

And again.

 

Fuel stop and we discovered Doc from the Cars movie. Unfortunately to quote his owner and restorer “she just laid down on me”.

 

We found green surrounds and shade nearly all day but had our hands full on the Dragon Tail, so this is a shot before we got there.

 

The Tail of the Dragon.

 

Some only of the 100 plus bikes parked up at the Den....and look at that a Triumph Rocket converted to a trike!

 

The Tree of Shame commemorating silliness and tragedy.

 

The Sculpted depiction of the Dragon.

 

Signs to Motorcycle Heaven, well somewhere to stay and eat called the Den.

 

One of the Dam walls from an Overlook (scenic outlook) as we start to descend.

 

Some of the silliness in Pigeon Forge, King Kong.

 

We are staying the night at the Music Road Resort, Pigeon Forge and as you see you don’t have to go to Cuba to see old cars. There were quite a few here.