Monday, August 3. It is the moment we have been anticipating. These will be the last enjoyable roads for us before we have to endure 800 miles of slab across TN, AK and TX in one single day. It better make it worth while. It better not be over-hyped, over-crowded, teaming with gravel or cops. It better be 316 turns in 11 miles:
This morning we prepare ourselves for the Dragon. I call to insure the new bike. We fuel up on more stolen poptarts and the leftovers of a deep fried sandwich I'd ordered the night before (this thing was seriously deep fried - we're talking a club inside a friggin' funnel cake). The entrance is only an hour away from our hotel but the anticipation combined with a tight road destroyed by endless RVs and boat trailers makes this ride seem to go on forever. We stop to ask for directions at a local dairy barn where we meet the family of awesome: Daddy on an old school bmw with mommy on the back and a little girl in the side car. They confirm that the Dragon is only a few more miles away.
At the moto resort in the entrance we stop to ask a few responsible looking riders about road conditions. They tell us the coast is clear for cops and the pavement smooth. It is a Monday afternoon and not too crowded either...by Dragon standards at least. The Platypus poses for some photo ops and we get distracted for a while by the shiny with no forks:
I admit, I was skeptical about whether or not this road could live up to the hype. All of those pictures of cruisers and upright squids on the website. I was wrong. The road is everything we wanted it to be and more.
Our first pass through we take it easy so Matador can learn the road. I say one thing to him before we ride out:
"I love you and remember, no dragging a knee or a girlfriend." Neither of us have gear with knee sliders on for this trip.
This pass is a bit cluttered and we have to pass a lot of cruisers and cars. We are still feeling out the hanging off and the lean between the two of us on the tighter turns. Matador runs wide in one particularly cruel corner. Next time I give it a little more input on my end and he takes it beautifully.
We stop after the first run at the overlook where everyone turns around.
The other riders had informed us that the cops only come in from the TN side since the NC clip is so short, so if you don't see any cops on a run headed into TN, you can pretty much rest assured there will be no cops on your pass back through. Ok then, so here's where the real fun begins
After our first complete pass we are so completely synchronized that it simply appears Matador is just riding with an extra leg:
We discuss taking turns for each of us to take a spin on the bike alone but decide to stick together. After all, we can go much faster with both of us hanging off, not having knee sliders and all. And for me, I can go much faster in general.
The ride is smooth and a complete blast. I only have one small scare when, because my gloves are two sizes two big for me (really little hands), I go to hang off and the extra finger of glove attached to my hand bends in and gets caught causing me to slam my knuckles into the tank as we turn in hard to enter the corner. Matador is all about the late apex entry and he turns in hard. The jam catches me off guard, hurts like a mofo, and I near slip off the bike during the lean. The strength of my left leg hugging the bike from the outside is all that caught me. Matador is a bit startled but I give him a thumbs up and we're back on!
It's nearing sunset and we realize that we have to leave this most wonderful place and get some miles into TN if we are to make our deadline. The time for our last run through the Dragon has arrived. We discuss that we'll take the last run nice and easy since we've pushed our luck enough for the day. However, about a quarter of the way into the pass I notice Matador pick up the pace at an alarming rate. He is passing absolutely everyone on the road. I'm a bit surprised, since we had discussed taking it easy, but hell, I'm having fun and I guess he just wanted to really enjoy the road one last time before we hit all that slab. A few of the passes are questionable - not stupid, and safe enough for an experienced rider, but pretty damn aggressive. It certainly wasn't anything Shakey wouldn't do anyway.
We pass four cruisers, one by one, while flying into a decreasing radius downhill. "Wow," I think to myself, "I guess he really just could not stand missing that particular corner."
We continue to fly past the Dragon down the still windy and beautiful road. I notice Matador keeps glancing behind to look at me. Hmm, maybe he is wondering if I am ok with the pace? I give him a thumbs up. When we finally stop at a gas station about an hour into TN he has a paranoid grin all over his face.
PM one of us if you want to hear what Matador says to me just then. Or ask someone who was at DITR. Or hell, just infer from the last paragraph.
