Well, as some of you know, I recently bought a beater van to haul my bikes around in and took the maiden voyage Thurs - Sunday from St. Louis to Deals Gap.

The van turned out to be PERFECT for just such a trip. It rained on Thursday and we took the van up to the store to take pictures next to the sign. The tail of the dragon was virtually empty and we only had to pull over once to let a couple of bikes pass.

Here's a pic of the van at the infamous sign (my lovely wife acting as Vanna White):


This is a pic of the wife at the dam north of the dragon. She was riding her Shadow, and of course I was on the 1KRR:


This is a pic at the overlook. We didn't take too many pics of us, but KillBoy, Zee Photography, and someone else was taking pics and as soon as they upload them at the end of the week, I'll post up some of their pics:


On Saturday, the dragon got pretty crowded, so we headed off to the Nantahala Outdoor Center to eat at the River's End. If you've never been there, it's worth the ride. I think it's only about 40 miles away and we prefer coming in from Robbinsville and coming down the mountain and watching the rafters and kayakers. Here's a shot of the River's End restaurant:


This was my 3rd trip to the dragon and I have to say it was the most enjoyable - mainly because I was on the 1KRR. This is the first time my wife had ridden her own bike (at the dragon) and she took it pretty slow. I escorted her through each time and she only rode in once and then back out each day and we stayed to the inside and waved people by when they came up behind us. She was slow, but not any slower than some of the Harley dudes that were too macho to move to the side and let you pass -- I had to work my way around several groups of those lug heads. [:@]

Any way... all in all it was a good short trip. We only rode on Friday and Saturday. I don't think my wife could've handled much more. I rode the Dragon about a dozen times while my wife shopped at the store or watched and took pics and video from the overlook. The van was a true champion. One night I even left the lights on in the van for about 2 hours before someone notified me, but the van fired right up without any complaints.

 

great pics! glad you guys made it back okay

 

Great pics.
You really don't look old or fat as one might expect.
Thanks for posting.
Makes me want to go even more now.

 

Look's like you guys had a good time.

 

sounds like fun... alas i wish i wasnt so poor...... lol

 

Is that a GPS on that 1krr?? how'd it work out for you ?

 

nice pix!! great place looks like...

not to step on any toes, but what's up with that first picture...from the looks of the van and where your wife is standing...she looks like she's at least 7 feet tall!!!!!!!!!!!!

t

 

Nice pics, thxs for sharing. In the pic with your wife and the lake behind her, is that a boat launch or just no barrier at the egde?

mike

 

Yeah, it is. It's a Garmin 2620 and I've had it for a while. I bought a mount for my '06 F4i but never used it, so I tried it on the 1KRR and had to get much longer bolts and a couple of spacers to make it work, but it did the job. The GPS makes riding around in unfamiliar areas so much better, plus it helps with finding restaurants and such as well.

 

lol! Nah, she's not that tall. Must just be an optical illusion. They have like a ramp so you can back you trailer, pickup, or van and unload your bikes. She's elevated quite a bit in the pic.