Rode 680 Miles to Buy Stickers

[Nice Goat]

My wife and I had other plans this weekend, but the other couple had to back out.  After a bit of searching, she discovered another activity --- a Strawberry Festival in a nearby town.  She called another friend who has kids, and they decided that we should all go to the Strawberry Festival.  A carload of girls going to a girlie festival with crafts and strawberries.  My gag reflex kicked in, and since she is a loving wife, she offered, "You want to go ride instead?"

"Ummmm, does a bear poop in the woods?"

If you don't speak the Southern Redneck dialect, that means "Yes".

I've been wanting to take V1Kky up to The Dragon ever since I got her.  But with the weather and work, this was my first opportunity.  I've only ridden The Dragon once before, on the ST1300, and I thought it was too much work.  Like an 11-mile long Gymkhana course.  It was fun, but I prefer sweepers.  The Dragon would be a hoot on a motard.  But I want to know if I enjoy it a little more on the Versys.

So this plan was hatched mature on Thursday.  Leave Friday, home on Saturday.  Ride 300 miles to ride an 11-mile road and buy some stickers.

I packed the essentials for the trip. 

From left to right: underquilt, sleeping bag, hammock, rainfly, stakes, straps, pillow, sleeping bag liner, sleep mask, chair, stove, food, cup...



All fit in my new Wolfman Expedition medium dry duffel, which is 24" long...



Right saddlebag has green bag (for clean clothes), red bag (for dirty clothes), toiletries, tripod, extra straps...



Left saddlebag has jacket and pants liners, heated gloves, heat troller, 12v chargers, tool bag, GPS...



Wallet, glasses, etc., in the tank bag...



Camera, paperwork, bug spray, sunblock, etc., in the top box...



Bump up the rear pre-load one click and .... we're ready to roll.



Left work just before noon on Friday.  Didn't take long to realize it was going to be a good day.







Met Klaviator in Scottsboro.  We planned to meet at Chevron "A" but we both mistakenly met at Chevron "B".  Go figure!



Somewhere after Chattanooga, we joined a Hawg pack.  "Wild Hogs!"



We stopped below one of the Ocoee dams to use the facilities and get a pic of the dam.



We also stopped at Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground to check out the facilities.



We stopped for fuel in Tellico Plains, then Win started adding layers.  I didn't even zip closed my vents -- a decision I would soon regret.  Temps went from high 50's to low 40's as we crossed the Cherohala Skyway.

We stopped in Robbinsville so Win could get a sandwich to go for dinner.  We arrived at Iron Horse Moto Lodge around 7:00pm.  Win set up his tent, and I hung my hammock.  Then we went to the patio to mingle.  We stayed up talking to other riders until about 10:15, then headed to sleep.

Day 1 expenses:

$10 gas
$5 snacks
$9 camp food
$8 gas
$15 camping fee
-------------------
$ 47 total







Got up around 6:15am so that I could ride The Dragon before 9:00am.  Not much dew this morning, but plenty of fog.  It's so beautiful up here.





Took 28N from Iron Horse, passed by Fontana, and arrived at Deal's Gap about 8:15.  My first pass was okay, but I found my rythym on the return pass.  Pulled into Deal's Gap store to get some coffee and souvenirs.





Do not mess with dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.





Ran into some friends...

[Nice Goat]

After hanging around for an hour or more, I headed south on 129.  Took a right on Joyce Kilmer Rd to go see Santeetlah Dam and Horse Cove Campground.







Finally saw a bear!



Even though it meant doing some 4-lane, I stayed on 129 South into Georgia, through Blairsville, then hung a right and chased a couple sport bikes through Wolf Pen Gap.  Ended up at Two Wheels of Suches, where I had a club sammich and onion rings.  :hungry





Took 60 South back to 19 South, and stopped at Rider's Hill to check out the toys.





Left Rider's Hill for Dahlonaga, then took 52 west to Elijay, 76 west to 411 to Rome, then 100 to Centre, AL, then Gadsden and Cullman.  Got home at 7:15pm.

Weiss Lake







Day 2 spending:

$20 souvenirs & coffee
$14 gas & water
$10 gas & M&Ms
-----------------
$ 44 total

Totals for trip:
674 miles, 31 hours, $91 spent

The roads:

















The souvenirs:

[Nice Goat]

Stickers!  Nom nom nom nom ...





I already had one silver reflective dragon decal on my top box from the Tail of the Dragon store (across the street from Deal's Gap store).  I applied a new Deal's Gap design dragon decal, also silver reflective, on the other side of the latch for my top box.  I also applied a black reflective decal at bottom dead center on the wind screen.

The main reasons to visit the Dragon are (1) to buy stickers, (2) to see the circus, and (3) to get some professional action pictures of yourself.  I'm a narcissist ... what can I say?

There were four photographers set up Saturday morning at The Dragon.  Each vendor had about 14 photos of me --- seven from each pass.  I selected my favorites and purchased a few from each vendor, because I appreciate what they do and want to help keep them in business.  I'm posting them in the order that they were made available on the vendor's website.

Moon Shine Photo http://moonshinephoto.photoreflect.com/ - This vendor had the photos up the fastest, posted same day, and they correctly classified my bike as Sport Touring.  No problem finding the photos looking under May 2nd about 8:30am.  However, the vendor only had three photos that I liked enough to purchase.  After purchasing the photos, I had to wait about three hours for the link to download the pics.







129 Slayer http://129slayer.com/ - This vendor had the photos up same day also, but there are no category groupings to help find your photos faster.  On top of that, the time stamps were off by one hour.  Pics were listed starting at 7:31 instead of my actual pass time of 8:31.  Because of this, I did not find my pictures until Monday.  I liked four pictures enough to purchase.  Once I found them and placed the order, downloading was immediate.









US 129 Photos http://us129photos.com/ - This vendor had the photos up two days after.  My bike was incorrectly placed under "Motards, ADV's, Dual Sports, Scooters, & Misc", instead of in the "Tour & Sport Tour" category.  I liked four pictures enough to purchase.  Short delay of a few hours to receive the download links.









Killboy http://www.killboy.com/ - This vendor had the photos up two days after, but it was late in the day.  My bike was correctly classified under "Touring & ADVenture Bikes".  I liked five pictures enough to purchase.  I placed my order late at night, and received the download links the following day.

[ThumperTriple]

Awesome ride report. I'm really excited to take my FJ up there in October. 

[Argh Oh]

Great report and the pics are almost as good as the ones you take. Nice.

[klaviator]

That was a great ride.  I'll throw a few pics:



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We need to do this again sometime.

[Fencejumper09]

Great ride report and amazing pictures as usual!

These type of trips make me want a more street friendly ride!