The Dragons Tail...We did it!

We came to Tennessee mostly, to stop and see my colleague Mike and his wife, Pat.  But we did have a side goal to check off one of our Bucket List items by riding the Tail of the Dragon.  This motorcycle paradise is touted as being the best motorcycle ride in America, North America, or the world depending upon where you look.  We have checked it off our the "Bucket List."

The Tail of the Dragon is US Route 129 running along side a dammed river/lake in Tennessee and North Carolina. It follows the mountainside through the woods along side the river most of the way. I cannot begin to describe the beauty.  It was just as beautiful as the rest of Tennessee we have seen.  It is quite spectacular.

We rode the Tail of the Dragon on July 4th, 2011. We were told July 4th and most holidays is not a good day to ride due to the crowds of motorcycles traveling the Dragon.  Weekends and holidays are packed on the Dragon, but especially 4th of July.  This area is so popular for motorcyclist, there is literally a traffic jam of motorcycles up and down this narrow 11 mile two lane winding road.  In all of His Power God delivered quiet a great rainstorm about 15 minutes into our journey to the highway turn off to US HWY 129, the Tail of the Dragon.  We rode about 20 miles in pretty much a deluge of rain.
We had gotten ready to go, prayed for God to provide safety and fun, calm our fears, and be with us.  We had decided the dark clouds were too far away and probably would not blow into our mapped trip, so we did not pack our BMW rain suits (from Sierra BWM in 2009 are still new in their packages).

Until this Journey of ours began in May 2011, we have avoided much rain on the motorcycles.  But our journey has had parts of the travels with terrible storms and we have been forced to experience riding in the rain.  Through a great deal of prayer and the protection of Jesus, we have experienced riding in the rain, wind and storms.  The rain has been some of the highlights we have experienced on this journey.  We have had a chance to grow our riding skills along with long periods prayer time.

Back to the journey of the Tail of the Dragon.  During the sprinkles of rain that first started with a drop or two hitting our face shields, Heather was saying things like, "Oh, this is just the Dragon weeping cause we are going to whoop its butt..."
But I was looking to the hills we were riding toward with giant black clouds and could see pouring rain was ahead of us.  I was being more practical saying, "Heather, it is going to be pretty curvy, we are on motorcycles, what about slippage?" Yes these words of concern came out of my mouth as I quietly asked, "Heather, what do you think, should we turn around now before we really get dumped on?"  Heather said, "it's only sprinkling, we need to keep riding."  The rain came down a little heavier and steadier, bigger drops were falling on the road in front of us, now on our bikes, helmets, and directly on us.  We thought we might need to pull over to put on rain gear but remembered we had opted not to pack them.  So began the down pour, the rain came down hard enough to soak us to the bone in a couple of minutes.  We were getting concerned the visiblity was decreasing. We could see about 60 feet in front of the bikes.  On we rode, in staggered formation, one bike in front on the right, one behind on the left of each other.  The day light was covered behind the puffy giant black clouds, thundering and churning the wind and rain in sheets washing over the roadway after drenching us.  Onward through storm we road, setting a steady speed through the swells of standing water.  We talked about the Dragon huffing and puffing at us, trying scare us enough to end our ride up his tail.  The Dragon threw waves of pouring cold rain mixed with swerling wind.  Had we not had each other for support we probably would have turned around.  But instead, we enjoyed the cold knowing we could turn around and ride back to our warm dry clothes.  We joked and talked to each other during our ride to help our fear of riding in the rain and the overwhelming thoughts of riding the "Dragon" with two years of street riding under our belt.
The thoughts quickly came to mind, "Yes, we both have two years of experience on the street, several T.E.A.M Arizona Confident Riding courses, even the T.E.A.M Arizona "Lee Parks developed advanced course called "Total Control" Rider.

We completed these courses with the goal to gain skills on the motorcycle, more control and handling experience.  One of the results of taking these courses was the feeling of confidence both in our skills and in exactly what the bike could do if we let it.  We were more skilled at turns, braking, and leaning which allowed for a better experience riding the road, including 318 non-stop twisties.

Further evaluation of our experience of riding lead us to talk about the weather conditions we have encountered these last two years of street riding.  Arizona is mostly a hot dry climate, so the riding conditions we have experienced have been just that...dry, hot, windy at times.  We realized we needed to rely on our classroom and course work experience from T.E.A.M Arizona to continue through this storm while riding over 55 mph in the pouring rain."

Just as we thought the storm would continue all the way through our ride, the sky opened up to puffy dark clouds mixed with patches of blue sky poking through.  To our amazement the pavement dried out with each mile we rode.  Truly an amazing journey getting to the US HWY 129 turn off to slay the Tail of Dragon.

We arrive at the "head waters" of  the Tail with just a smattering of bikes.  A few Harley riders waiting out the storm were sitting on side of the road talking to the local Sheriff.  We waved and rode by as they each looked at us with cold shivering faces.  We had no idea God cared so much about our fears of riding the Tail of the Dragon with all the twisties and expectations of reported over crowding of motorcycles smashed wheel to wheel on the two small lanes of roadway.

What did our God do just for us?  God let it rain enough to clear off the pavement of slippery oily dirt and clear the road of all the crowds and motorcycles.  God blesses us with abundant blessings!  We did not see one vehicle or person on our side of the road for the entire eleven mile ride of the Tail of the Dragon.  We literally passed six bikes (five Harley's and one new BMW K1600 LT), three small vehicles going the opposite direction and a couple of Photographer Companies parked along the road taking pictures of the riders.  Can you believe it?  Not one motorcycle passed around us at all.  We were excited to be taming the Dragon.  We were thankful to give our fears to our Lord and Savior and He showered us by showing us He cares deeply for our needs.  The experiences of this day was one of the postcard moments of our life.  His Glory, rain, Highway 129, Tail of the Dragon, cloudy skies, perfect temperatures, clean road, just me and Heather, enjoying this ride together, now that is one special memory for both of us.  Amazing and perfect, God's Glory on every turn!  Praise God for His perfect will and plan.  Jesus loves us even while we ride our motorcycles!

Here is some of the description of the road.  This road is a public maintained highway and one of the best maintained roads we have traveled.  It  is incredible!  It is the perfect motorcycle road.  The surface is perfect. I can't remember a single crack or pothole.   The street lines are all freshly painted and clearly marked.  But the best part is the banking of the roadway.  The entire ride is mostly designed at a perfect angle of banking your bike. You do not even have to lean or steer your motorcycle from turn to turn, just float out of the turn to the next banking turn.  Though leaning makes it more fun!   I found myself almost riding on automatic pilot.  The roadway design allows the rider to come from one turn out of the bank and it automatically leans you and the motorcycle precisely over to the correct angle for the next turn.  It was like being at Talladega.  This is an animated jpg of us on one of the turns (not one of the faster turns I might add).  Look at the road behind and ahead of us, all twisties.  Actually there are 318 turns in eleven miles.

We rode the Tail of the Dragon and had a total blast.  I don't think we stopped chatting back and forth expressing our feelings of joy and excitement for more than 10 seconds at a time.  Tip: Want to feel closer to your mate and Lord then Ride the Tail of the Dragon!

We proceeded to ride another 130 more miles to complete a big loop back to Up the Creek RV Camp in Pigeon Forge TN.  The ride is mapped out to create a big loop through the Great Smoky Mountains and National Park named the same.  I believe we explored this spectacular part of God's creation riding the bikes, rain and shine.  We have discovered the joy of riding the Tail of the Dragon along with a ton more rides we didn't get a chance to take so it won't come as a surprise when we say we will come back for a longer stay.  So many more places in the Smoky's that we have not been able to explore, Lord willing, we shall return.

Our hope is to plan a family vacation with Sean, Christine, Baby Keller, Joel, Kara and Sara.  Though we will book time share for them right in the heart of the area so they can jump on the Trolley Bus and enjoy all the sites the towns around here offer.  Joel and Kara should be riding by then so they can take out bikes and ride the Tail with us.  While Baby Keller climbs aboard the 1200 GS Adventure with his Grandpa pa Steve.   Sean and Christine will be following in their car holding hands praying with their eyes open as they watch their first born be the youngest rider to conquer the Tail of the Dragon!  Yes, Sean, Christine and Grandma Linda and Julie and Great Grandma's Dollie or Helen, we have found a helmet manufacturer out of Germany that makes certified baby helmets, gloves, boots and armored gear for children under two years old.

The journey continues:
We left the beauty of the Smokies on July 5th.  We are back in our home away from home, Conway Arkansas.  That is where we took delivery of our Condo XL (rig).  We are back for some planned repairs and warranty work.  We know it is normal to fix or update the rig no matter how new or old, just like our houses.  The list of projects are mostly minor things we ordered back when we took the rig on its maiden voyage.    But most of the items we ordered are not delivered yet so the installation has been delayed several days.  Normal or expected it is still frustrating couple of days.  We want to be out exploring and discovering new places not stuck here in the big tin shed with no view on the side of I-40 waiting for parts and such. We should be here a few weeks. We were expecting a few days in the repair bay but after three days of little noise of workers busy on the rig our expectations have changed.  Needless to say we will be in Conway for a longer period of time.  We will try to have a fun despite the feel of being surrounded by a Fall Out Shelter atmosphere.  It wouldn't be nearly as annoying if we had other people camped out to talk to but it is just the two of us and Brodie.  Brodie has kept us laughing with his Westie hunting attitude.  He has found the rabbit holes and is consistently digging in the holes.  While we were watching Brodie sniff the ground, his tail began to wag rapidly.  He seemed to be filled with excitement and energy.  He began digging in a new hole.  He had removed several inches of grass, bedding material, and dirt from the hole when a tiny baby bunny escaped.  The baby bunny passed just under Brodie's claws and out from under his legs.  We are happy to report the baby bunny escaped before Brodie realized it was not still in the hole and is still alive.

On a brighter note:
We will be off soon for the Rally, though it may be in the truck only!  This year the BMWMOA International Rally will be the 39th International BMW MOA rally. For 2011 the Rally grounds are in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

At the BMWMOA Rally this year Heather as gathered some attention.  In March, she has contributed an article on volunteerism, titled, "Hook to Help in 2011," which was published in the International BMW magazine.  As a result of the article the Board of BMWMOA Motorcycles has invited her to a special recognition "wine and dine" dinner.  I added the "wine and dine" part.  It is not that I am bitter, it is just that I was not invited on the invitation but leave it to Heather to ask the leadership if I can enjoy the Wine/Beer and Food!

I am so proud of Heather and am very glad that people in our circle of influence are noticing her shining talents as much as I do.  She was also asked to be the chair on one of the rally committees.  We are taking on volunteering at the Rally by helping the RV Chair as site coordinators.

Please pray first for the items for the rig still remaining to be shipped to Conway for installation to come quickly.  Also please pray for our safety in travels.  We are all doing great and having the blessed time even in the Fall Out Shelter.
Love you all, Heather and Steve...Call us 602/790-4509 or email stevemkeller@gmail.com  If you would like to get automatic updates of our journey please subscribe to this blog.